Aristotle and Atlantis - What did the philosopher really think about it?

[cicero]

Just for your information I want to announce the publication of my recent book.
It is about Aristotle and Atlantis:

Short summary:
- A study of more than 100 publications on Atlantis and Aristotle from 1749 to 2008.
- Aristotle was clearly not against the existence of Atlantis.
- He was even more in favor of it.
- The alleged word of Aristotle against the existence of Atlantis in Strabon II 102 is clearly not a word of Aristotle.
- This mistake came into being at the beginning of the 19th century in France and got spread at the beginning of the 20th century, as could be shown in detail.

The book is available in German, only.

Title: "Aristoteles und Atlantis - Was dachte der Philosoph wirklich über das Inselreich des Platon?"
Editor: BoD Norderstedt.
Pages: 152.
ISBN 978-3839161661

Homepage of the book:
http://www.atlantis-scout.de/atlantis_aristoteles.htm

With best regards
Thorwald C. Franke

[Qoais]

Congratulations cicero, and best wishes for many sales!!

[Sundra]

What proof do you have that Aristotle believed in Atlantis?

[cicero]

@ Sundra:
> What proof do you have that Aristotle believed in Atlantis?

Well, it is not that Aristotle "believed" in Atlantis, but he was in favor of its existence.
The proof takes 152 pages, it's the whole book, so I can give a rough idea, only.
Aristotle does never speak against the existence of Atlantis (yes, never, this takes me 50 % of the book to show,
and I studied, how the mistake came into being, to think, that he said something against Atlantis),
and Aristotle is in favor of many details of the Atlantis story. - But silent about Atlantis directly.
It is clarified, what the meaning of silence about something (Atlantis in this case) means is in ancient texts.
Furthermore, we have the opinions of other ancient scholars closely connected to Aristotle.
We have also the opinions of modern researchers on Aristotle's methods and geography,
which can be applied to this problem.
Etc. pp.
So it's not a simple but a solid and reliable proof - the word proof is justified to be used.

[Emons]

Will the book be available on amazon.com?

[Emons]

Will the book be available on amazon.com?

[cicero]

Will the book be available on amazon.com?

No. It will not. Only on www.amazon.de
But it will be available on other bookshops, e.g. www.abebooks.com,
where also my first books is availabe.
Shipping to the US is of course a bit expensive ...

[Kitchenakow]

What documents of Aristotle did you study to come to such a unique conclusion?

[cicero]

@Kitchenakow:
> What documents of Aristotle did you study to come to such a unique conclusion?

First, the conclusion is not really unique. Until the end of the 19th century this opinion was common sense. Then it came into vogue to consider a word in Strabo II 102 to be a word of Aristotle on Atlantis. Since then several Atlantis researchers (not in favor of the existence of Atlantis!) expressed their opinion, that the alleged word of Aristotle on Atlantis is uncertain to be a word of Aristotle - and this "uncertain" was only because of their politeness and academic diplomacy, in fact they simply do not believe that it is a word of Aristotle, and they are right, although they do not express it that way.

So this opinion is not unique. The uniqueness is the clear expression of this opinion and the basis of detailed argumentation. So far only few sentences and footnotes exist on the topic in scientific literature, though incredible it is. Unique is also that I could show where the mistake came from and how it developed.

Well, I identified some 30 or 40 passages in the works of Aristotle closely connected to the Atlantis question. Furthermore I studied ancient scholars and their connection to Aristotle. Furthermore I studied the literature on Aristotle how to interpete Aristotle. Etc.

[Sundra]

Didn't he (Aristotle) specifically say about Plato, "he who created it, destroyed it"? 

Why was Atlantis never a subject of study in Plato's Academy if they believed in it?

[cicero]

@Sundra:
> Didn't he (Aristotle) specifically say about Plato, "he who created it, destroyed it"? 

Well, this is the question, whether this is a word by Aristotle - or not.
As I explained in the postings above, it is clearly not a word by Aristotle.

> Why was Atlantis never a subject of study in Plato's Academy if they believed in it?

Well, wasn't it? There are even two dialogues touching the issue,
so to some extent it surely was a subject for study.
But Atlantis was of course no key issue for Platonic philosophy.
Furthermore, the main dialogue dealing with Atlantis was never finished.

[Qoais]

Actually, since the story was supposed to be an allegory as to what happens to cities and states that don't mind their P's and Q's, it SHOULD have been studied at the academy.  That IS part of philosophy.  Hidden meanings and all that.

[LoneStar77]

Cicero, sounds like a brilliant bit of detective work. I hope some day it becomes available in English, so I wish you much success for both our sakes. I'd love to learn German, but that likely won't happen any time soon. I'm still struggling with Cebuano, here in the Philippines.

[Ostanes]

Actually, since the story was supposed to be an allegory as to what happens to cities and states that don't mind their P's and Q's, it SHOULD have been studied at the academy.  That IS part of philosophy.  Hidden meanings and all that.

The hidden meaning is that Atlantis is real and it's Antarctica.