Essays on Aristotle

By Dr Neel Burton — Psychiatrist, philosopher, and wine writer; Fellow of Green Templeton College, University of Oxford; author of over twenty books.

For as the eyes of bats are to the blaze of day, so is the reason in our soul to the things which are by nature most evident of all.
—Aristotle, Metaphysics

Aristotle is not so arguably the most influential thinker who ever lived. A student of Plato and tutor to Alexander, he wrote on almost everything, from logic, ethics, and politics to animals, dreams, and the soul. Where Plato looked beyond the visible world for deeper truths, he began with the world before him. His questions remain ours, and we feast on his answers.

This page brings together my essays on the Master of Those Who Know.

Aristotle in His World

A Life in Ideas: Aristotle — How the Son of a Court Physician Became the Most Influential Philosopher in History

Aristotle in Paradise — Sun, Sex, and Sea: How Aristotle Invented Science on Lesbos

The Sophists: Philosophy’s First Crisis — How the Sophists Forced Socrates, Plato, and Aristotle to Rethink Truth

Virtue and Happiness

What If We’ve Got Happiness Wrong? — Why Eudaimonia Is Better Than Happiness

Aristotle’s Golden Mean — Is There a Right Amount of Anger?

Aristotle on Friendship — Why Friendship Is Essential to the Good Life

The Ambition Trap — The Psychology and Philosophy of Ambition

God and Genius

Why the God Debate Is a Non-Debate — First, Tell Me What You Mean by God

Why Metaphor Is a Sign of Genius — What the Logicians Have Missed

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Explore more subjects in the Index Scriptorum.

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