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> Aristotle is notoriously a terrible writer. Is this really uncontroversial? I can't say I've heard that said before, or found Aristotle more difficult than o
by 0xddd 6y ago
> Aristotle is notoriously a terrible writer.
Is this really uncontroversial? I can't say I've heard that said before, or found Aristotle more difficult than other texts of that time. Obviously there are stylistic differences between this and Plator's dialogues, but I imagine a large part of your impression could be due to the particular translations you read.
- rdlw 6y agoI've read Aristotle in two classes, and both times the professors have commented on the writing style to prepare us. In an ancient philosophy class, Aristotle still stood out as densest and dryest.
- naravara 6y agoPretty incontrovertial. Most of our surviving writings “by Aristotle” are actually lecture notes from his students rewritten later. So it’s got a lot of the hallmarks of being written by committee and coming across as being very dry. Compare this to Plato, whose writings were actually pretty entertaining even as pure fiction. He’s full of side stories, lurid metaphors, and funny turns of phrase.