Teleology, First Principles, and Scientific Method in Aristotle's Biology

For scholars approaching Aristotle's biological treatises for the first time, the value of this book is found in the comprehensive way of understanding Aristotle's work that emerges from the collection of Gotthelf's best contributions. For scholars already familiar with Gotthelf's work, the value comes in the chapters published for the first time and from the fact that this work collects together the various parts of Gotthelf's interpretation in the way Gotthelf himself thinks these parts fit together. That the book includes an impressive list of references and indexes (locorum, names, and subjects) further increases its value as a reference for those engaging with Aristotleâs biological treatises. * Byron J. Styles, Mind *
for those who are new to Aristotle's biology this book is an exceptional resource. It contains a wealth of interesting and provocative ideas on everything from the nature of teleological causation, to the relation between Aristotle's scientific theory and practice, to an analysis of the concepts of form, essence and substance, to a discussion of Darwin's views on Aristotle as a biologist . . . there is much to be praised in this excellent collection. While it will likely be of interest mostly to Aristotle specialists, it tackles issues of a much broader historical significance in an engaging and delightful way. * David Henry, Notre Dame Philosophical Reviews *