Aristotle: New Light on His Life and On Some of His Lost Works, Volume 1: Some Novel Interpretations of the Man and His Life (Routledge Library Editions: Aristotle) by Chroust Anton-Hermann

Author:Chroust, Anton-Hermann [Chroust, Anton-Hermann]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 978-1-317-38067-2
Publisher: Taylor and Francis
Published: 2015-08-14T04:00:00+00:00

Chapter XVI

Aristotle’s Religious Convictions *

The casual reader of Aristotle’s doctrinal treatises may come away with the impression that ‘science’ and ‘scientific research,’ supported by methodological considerations and bolstered by some antiquarian investigations, dominated his whole active life and his entire intellectual concern. Accordingly, there remained little or no room for religious thought or theological speculation. However, this is not the place to discuss at length the religious and theological implications possibly contained in the traditional Corpus Aristotelicum . It is sufficient to point out that different scholars, often motivated by their own religious commitments, have come up with a great variety of widely conflicting suggestions and interpretations with regard to the religious content of the Corpus Aristotelicum . These suggestions range all the way from an allegedly complete ‘religious indifferentism’ on the part of Aristotle, to his fervent affirmation as well as deeply felt awareness of certain fundamental religious problems faced by all thoughtful people. This much, however, appears to be certain: the vital connection between science and Weltanschauung always remained the problematic issue as well as the focal point of Aristotle’s philosophy and of his basic intellectual orientation. Especially in his earlier writings, which are gradually being brought to light, the Stagirite seems to have stressed the living and necessary interaction between an ‘other-world-directedness’—a legacy which Plato and the Platonic Academy had bequeathed to him—and a distinct ‘this-world-concern,’ which constitutes an essential and original aspect of his basic philosophic endeavor. It was this living interaction which apparently gave him a deeper insight into the transcendental world and, at the same time, a more satisfactory and more secure footing in the existential-historical reality. Even if we were to assume that to Aristotle philosophy meant the total sphere of the sciences, and nothing more, we still would have to concede that the very concept of a ‘total sphere,’ which always calls for an integrated and compelling organization of science and reality, may never completely ignore the fact of religion. Religion, then, is a vital aspect of Aristotle’s philosophic thought which has been almost completely overlooked or, still worse, simply ignored—ignored because the conventional views concerning Aristotle’s basic philosophy and philosophic orientation would have to be abandoned if we were to realize that much of his philosophy was inspired and determined by his innermost religious convictions.

In what appears to be an intimate confession made probably during the last years of his life, and what might be called a ‘baring of his soul,’ Aristotle is said to have written to his friend Antipater: ‘The lonelier and the more isolated I am, the more I have come to love myths.’ 1 These moving words, which in their frankness should dispel all doubt as to their authenticity, clearly reveal that Aristotle knew as well as understood the two main avenues to personal religious experience: an adequate insight into the workings of the human spirit, and a true piety based on reverence and awe. In Aristotle’s case, this piety assumes the form of symbols and ‘myths.’

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.