Aristotle’s prose style has never been systematically studied, even though his writings sit at a pivotal moment between classical Greek and the common Hellenistic dialect that followed. This project will analyse every authentic treatise—plus the disputed *Athenaion Politeia*—using literary criticism, narratology, stylometric software, and historical linguistics to map his sentence structures, vocabulary, figures of speech, and use of illustrations and allusions. The gap is striking: Aristotle transformed philosophy, natural science, and literary theory, yet scholars have largely ignored how he wrote. Understanding his literary voice could clarify how his scientific method shaped his arguments—and why his ideas remain so lucid and memorable. The project will also help resolve debates about which later Peripatetic treatises might be his, and show how ancient commentators responded to his style. This is fundamental humanities research with no immediate practical application. But similar work on classical prose has reshaped how we understand the evolution of argument, persuasion, and technical communication—skills that underpin modern law, science writing, and public discourse. A deeper grasp of Aristotle’s craft could eventually inform how we teach clarity in complex subjects.
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Aristotle, a supreme intellectual figure, transformed both philosophy and other disciplines such as natural science and literary studies. Yet his own style and language have been overlooked, although he stands chronologically between classical Attic prose and the Hellenistic koine of most prose genres after the late 4th-century BCE growth of the Greek world. This project addresses his place in the history of literature and language, especially in relation to Homer, drama, rhetoric and Plato, writing a new chapter in the narrative of prose-writing that has excluded him. It scrutinises all his treatises largely regarded as authentic, plus the contested Athenaion Politeia, using methodologies including 'traditional' literary criticism, narratology, stylometric software and historical linguistics, allowing an unprecedented appreciation, in relationship to scientific method and communicative medium, of his illustrations, allusions, syntax, figures of speech, sentence type, paragraph and treatise structure, language and vocabulary. The outputs offer complementary perspectives: 1) illustrations and allusions; 2) sentence types, figures, tenses and relationship with oral communication; 3) vocabulary, language and place in the evolution of Greek; 4) how ancient philosophical commentaries responded to his style; 5) dedicated studies of single treatises or stylistic and philosophical topics (International Conference); 6) annotated bibliography (Website). The results will transform Aristotelian studies by providing the first assessment of Aristotle's neglected status as writer; this will enhance future studies, especially understanding how Aristotle's distinctive literary voice interacts with his scientific method and makes his ideas more lucid, vivid and memorable. The results will also inform future investigations of the Peripatetic treatises for which Aristotelian authorship has been suspected and the precise nature of the style to which his heirs and commentators responded.
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