Аристотель. О философии: книга третья

Философия. Журнал Высшей школы экономики. 2025. Т. 9. № 1. С. 349–393.

Makarova I.

Translator: Makarova I.

This publication presents a translation of the third book of Aristotle’s dialogue “On Philosophy” (Περὶ φιλοσοφίας), which was lost in late antiquity and has since been reconstructed, along with an accompanying explanatory introduction. In the third book of “On Philosophy”, Aristotle raises questions about the nature of the soul and the world, as well as how knowledge of the world and the divine is possible. Through this work, we observe how Aristotle’s own cosmological, ontological, and epistemological frameworks took shape within the Academy, and how his argumentative prowess was refined through debates with its members. In “On Philosophy”, Aristotle introduces for the first time his doctrine of the ether—a unique “first body” endowed with an eternal, rational nature and perfect circular motion. This concept allows him to critique Plato’s doctrine of the creation of an eternal physical world and to advance his own teaching about its uncreated and imperishable nature. Aristotle thereby demonstrates that cosmological and physical theories need not be relegated to “plausible myths” but can instead form a fully rational doctrine built on the collaboration of sensory perception and intellect. 

Keywords: космос, Бог, душа, Платон, Аристотель, эфир, мудрость, Академия Платона