Metaphysics and beyond – Martha Nussbaum on Aristotle’s indelible ideas

A pupil of Plato and one-time tutor of Alexander the Great, Aristotle’s writings lie at the foundation of modern philosophy – even though all that remains of his works is just a fraction of his lecture notes. In this interview from 1987, the British broadcaster and populariser of philosophy Bryan Magee speaks with the US philosopher Martha Nussbaum, then an emerging Aristotle scholar at Brown University, about some of Aristotle’s most famous ideas and his enduring influence, including how many of his views have been misinterpreted or misunderstood. In particular, the wide-ranging discussion touches on why Aristotle believed that we could never reach beyond the scope of our own experience, his dissent to Plato’s theory of forms, the groundwork he laid for contemporary science, and why he believed there was more to morality and ethics than simple outcomes of pain or happiness.