What subjects are covered in Aristotle's treatises?

The Corpus Aristotelicum encompasses a vast collection of surviving treatises covering numerous disciplines, including physics, biology, metaphysics, logic, ethics, aesthetics, poetry, theatre, music, rhetoric, psychology, linguistics, economics, politics, and government. These writings are divided into public exoteric works and technical esoteric lecture notes intended for the Lyceum. While many texts are genuine, others were compiled by Aristotle's school, successors, or later associates.

What we know

• Aristotle and his school wrote tractates covering physics, biology, metaphysics, logic, ethics, aesthetics, poetry, theatre, music, rhetoric, psychology, linguistics, economics, politics, and government. [3]
• The Corpus Aristotelicum consists of Aristotle's surviving works from antiquity preserved through medieval manuscript transmission. [2]
• Aristotle's writings are traditionally divisible into exoteric works intended for the public and esoteric technical works or lecture notes intended for the Lyceum. [2]
• Not all works in the corpus are genuine; some were produced by Aristotle's successors like Theophrastus and Strato of Lampsacus, or compiled under his supervision. [2]

Still open

• Scholars disagree on whether certain texts are unpolished lecture notes by Aristotle himself or notes taken by his students, with alternative interpretations suggesting a deliberately obscurantist style.
• Many modern scholars are skeptical about determining a definitive chronological order for Aristotle's writings due to a lack of evidence.

Where to go next

• how we knowHow did Arabic scholars translate and preserve Aristotle?
• the bigger pictureWhat is the Peripatetic school of philosophy?
• a case in pointWho was Theophrastus and what did he write?
• what followedHow did Thomas Aquinas integrate Aristotle into Christian theology?
• how it workedWhat are the four causes in Aristotelian philosophy?
• an unexpected connectionHow did ancient Greek plays relate to Aristotle's philosophical corpus?While the corpus is heavily weighted toward scientific and philosophical treatises, it famously includes deep explorations of aesthetics, poetry, and theatre such as Poetics.

Sources

• [1]Corpus Aristotelicum (Wikidata Q1054239) · CC0 1.0
• [2]Works of Aristotle · CC BY-SA 4.0
• [3]Aristotelianism · CC BY-SA 4.0
• [4]Abu Bishr Matta ibn Yunus · CC BY-SA 4.0
• [5]Philoctetes · CC BY-SA 4.0