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The Basic Works of Aristotle

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Not everyone who is interested in reading Aristotle will want to buy the two volumes of the Oxford translation of Aristotle's complete works. If you're someone who is studying Aristotle for a college course or simply want to become acquainted with what he wrote, then I recommend this book. As other reviewers have said it has complete versions of all of the most famous works of Aristotle e.g. Nichomachean Ethics,Politics,Metaphysics and Physics and also the complete Categories and De Interpretatione from the Organon. As for the translations, these are taken from the original Oxford translation published in 12 volumes in the 1920's. They may not be quite as up to date as the translations in the present Oxford translation but they're perfectly acceptable and correct. As it says on the back cover of the book, this is the best one volume edition of Aristotle's works that you can buy.

For several months now, I have been searching for a good one-volume anthology of the works of Aristotle. This is the book. It has the complete texts of several of Aristotle's key works (not just two -- the above book description is misleading), namely, "Categories," "On Interpretation," "The Posterior Analytics," "On the Soul," "Metaphysics," "Nicomachean Ethics," "Politics" and "Poetics." It also has the complete texts of a few minor works along with selections from other minor works. And considering the costs of books nowadays, I found that "The Basic Works of Aristotle" is a great price for the number of complete texts that are in it. On a less practical side, the translations are very good. The introduction seems to be solid (I only skimmed it) and McKeon offers advise for reading Aristotle. There is also an outdated (a lot has been written since 1941) bibliography of secondary sources.

Richard Mckeon's "Basic Works of Aristotle" proves to be the best single volume extract from the writtings of Aristotle. All the necessary prerequisites were applied in creating this wonderful book. The quality price ratio far surmounts that of any other volume. It's comprehensive and concise, lengthy yet time saving. Definitely a steal; please purchase Mckeon's work, it's the best volume out there!

Scarcely any writer in the social sciences and the liberal arts does not begin his exposition with a quote from Aristotle, and yet, it cannot be claimed for him that he started a religion. One reason perhaps is that he put first things first. He began logically with the study of everything; in fact, he is the earliest source of the founding principle of logic, that you cannot both assert and deny the same predicate of the same subject in the same way. His worldview is apt to be less known to today's atomists. It is, in fact, the theory of matter and form. You should not be put off by it, however. Get introduced today; if you have not done so, read some Aristotle now! Chances are, you'll still be reading it 20 years from now, but also, you'll be glad you began at the beginning, at whatever time you began to do so.