books is a late work of the Peripatetic School, and nothing more than an abstract of the other works. An essay On Virtues and Vices is also spurious. The politics in eight books is closely connected with the Ethics. The work is incomplete but masterly, discussing the elements and aims of the State, the forms of government, and the ideal State. The loss of the Constitutions, which treated of 158 States, is greatly to be regretted; but fortunately the greater part of the Constitution of Athens, which belonged to the larger work, has been recovered in recent years from four papyrus rolls of the First Century a.d., fir.st published by Kenyon in 1891. This document is one of the most valuable for the history of Athens, and has at many points corrected and enlarged our previous knowledge. The Economics in three books is the work of the later School.
In the field of Rhetoric and Poetics, Aristotle also made contributions of the highest value and permanence. His Rhetoric in three books treats of the relations of rhetoric to dialectic, the nature of the proof the orator may employ, the use of examples, and language and style. In this work also appe«r beginnings of formal grammar and its technical terms. The Rhetoric addressed to Alexander, which is catalogued with Aristotle's works, was written by Anaximcnes. Of the Poetics, only the first book on tragedy and epic poetry is preserved, but this is of inestimable value for its analyses of the various kinds of poetry and its full treatment of tragedy.
From this enumeration of the most important extant writings of Aristotle, the universality of his studies is evident; and in every field enumerated his influence has been enormous. By him I/Ogic, Grammar, Rhetoric, Literary Criticism, Politics, Psychology, Ethics, Natural History, Physiology, were raised to independent disciplines; he was the first to attempt a history of Philosophy and Government. This many-sided literary activity was the natural result of his method of working, proceeding from the individual to the general; and this method, which collects facts, coTupares, sifts, and groups them according to their relations, and thus obtains systematic knowledge of the subject in hand, has been most fruitful in the history of investigation of every sort, especially in the Nineteenth Century.
Aristotle's service lies in his analysis and clear distinction of ideas and in his studies in particular fields, rather than in the full development of a philosophy. Yet here he made important advances that have been influential down to the present day. According to him. Being has four universal elements: Matter, form or essence, the efiicient cause, and the final cause. These principles enter into the constitution of everything. JIatter is mere potentiality, which through the supervention of Form becomes the Actual. By Form, Aristotle wished to replace the Platonic idea, which, he pointed out, cannot exist apart from the individual. Every change from potentiality to actuality is accomplished by an efiicient cause which is working toward an end, the Final Cause. In the field of Ethics this final cause is man's sununum bonum, happiness, which is defined to be the activity of the sou! in accordance with virtue, b<it under favorable conditions. The problem of free-will Aristotle met by the statement that man has a potcniiality in two opposite directions—for good or evil—which can be freely chosen; by consistently choosing one a man forms the habit of virtue or vice, and thus becomes either virtuous or vicious, as his choice determines. Virtue itself lies between the extremes of self-indulgence and asceticism.
The influence of Aristotle on human thought has continued unbroken to the present day. In the early centuries of our era his writings stimulated scientific inquiry; during the Middle Ages Latin translations from the Arabic versions guided the philosophy of the Western Church, although the real nature of Aristotclianism was little understood. Arabian philosophy in the West during the Eleventh and Twelfth centuries was a combination of Aristotclianism with certain Neo-Platonic elements. With the revival of learning the original of Aristotle's works became gradually known, and from them were drawn the means to combat the errors of scholasticism.
Learned comment on Aristotle began with the First Century B.C., and during antiquity and the early media-val period the amount of comment grew to be enormous. The standard edition of the works is still that by Bekker (5 vols., 1831-40). Volumes T. and II. contain the Greek text; III., the Latin translations; IV., scholia, edited by Brandis; V., the fragments, edited by Rose, and Bonitz's index. A new and complete edition of the ancient commentaries is being published by the Prussian Academy. Twenty-five volumes have already appeared. Of editions of single works, the following are valuable: Trendelenburg's Psychology (1877); Schwegler-Bonitz's Metaphysics (1848); Ramsauer's mcomachean Etliics (1878); Susemihl's Politics (1879); Spengel's Rhetoric (1867); Vahlen's Poetics (1884). LTseful English. works of general import are Grote's Aristotle (1872); Grant's Ethics of Aristotle (London and Edinburgh, 1877); Bywater, Ethics (1890); Jowett, Politics (188.'i); "Newman, Politics (1887); Wallace, Psychology (1884). General bibliography by Schwab, isihliographie d'Aristote (Paris. 1896), For influence of Aristotle upon Arabic philosophy, see Arabic L. guage; AvEBRoiJs.
AR'ISTOX'ENUS (Gk. 'Ap/tr-of r rac, Aristoxenos) (Fourtli Century H.c). The greatest student in Greek antiquity of the science of rhythm and music. He was a son of Spintharus, and a native of Tarentum. He received his first instruction from his father, who had himself been a pupil of Socrates and was well versed in musical matters. He later studied music under Lamprus of Erythrae, and music and philosophy under the Pythagorean Xenophilus of Chalcidice. lie finally went to Athens and became the pupil of Aristotle. It is said that he expected, upon the death of Aristotle, to be appointed his successor, and was deeply chagrined when Theol)hrastus was made head of the school instead. He remained at Athens, however, and is said in the course of his life to have written 453 treatises on various subjects—musical, philosophical, and moral. His method was that of Aristotle. One of his tenets was tluit the notes of the scale were to be judged entirely by the ear, and not, as the Pythagoreans held, by mathematical properties. The only one of his works that has come down to us—and this, not in the original or complete form-—isthe Elenientsof Harmony ('Ap^oviKO Xrotxeia, Uarinonika fitoicheia), in three books. The best edition is that of Marnuard (Berlin, 1868).
