Aristotle's major works are typically grouped into the following categories: primary philosophy, practical science, logic, natural philosophy, rhetoric, and poetics. (The works on rhetoric and poetics are sometimes classified as practical science.) Such rubrics may seem a bit confusing to modern students of Aristotle; what Aristotle referred to as "practical science" includes his writings on ethics and politics (works we might think of as simply "philosophy"); what he classified as "natural philosophy" includes his works in the areas of physics, psychology, and biology (topics we would refer to as "science"). This volume attempts to group Aristotle's works in a manner reflective of critical consensus, as well as to provide entry headings which would both guide users according to modern conceptions of the terms "science" and "philosophy" and honor traditional classifications. The entry Philosophy includes coverage of Metaphysics, Ethics, and Politics; the entry Rhetoric covers Rhetoric; the entry Science covers the works on logic (including, for example, Categories and Posterior Analytics), biological works (such as On the Generation of Animals), and psychological works (such as De Anima [On the Soul]). This entry also includes coverage of Physics. Finally, the entry Poetics focuses on Aristotle's Poetics. Each entry's introduction provides a more detailed account of the primary works in that field of study; a brief overview of the textual history of those works; and a survey of the critical reception and interpretation of those works.
