category of substance. Again, where he is examining -- as we should put it
-- the relation between facts and their explanations, he regularly speaks of
'the that' and 'the because'.

Aristotle's close attention to ordinary language helps to make his
philosophy accessible -- he does not sail off on a cloud of unexplained
technical terms and abstractions. It also helps to give his style its
attractive grittiness.

In some areas of enquiry it is necessary to go out and collect a great deal
of factual evidence before one can usefully construct theories. Aristotle
recommends and practises the habit of researching as widely as possible
before starting to classify, generalise and theorise. ('It is a capital mistake
to theorise before one has data,' as Sherlock Holmes puts it.) He did, or
caused to be done, much systematic research, notably in biology, but also
in historical studies.

It is true that Aristotle sometimes seems to settle large questions of fact
in a highly unscientific way -- using 'proofs' provided by reasoning where
a telescope or accurate observations would have been more useful. He is
naturally at his best, from this point of view, in biological studies, where
close and skilful observations were possible, and where the lack of precise
measuring instruments was not fatal. This is why he could still be hailed
by Darwin as a genius, whereas his work on matter, movement and the
heavenly bodies, though of absorbing interest to philosophers, is not
required reading for modern physicists or astronomers.

In working out his views on a philosophical problem Aristotle likes to
start by assembling all the puzzles and difficulties, along with the main
lines of argument on both sides of every question. As he goes on to clear
things up, he continues to operate dialectically, that is, by trying out
objections to what he has himself said, and by raising new questions. He
often recognises that obscurities remain, that what has been said is
perhaps true enough, but not yet clear. He has a keen eye for difficulties
and an insatiable appetite for argument, and he is never disposed to rest
on his oars.

Aristotle distinguishes very sharply between different sorts of enquiry.
Some can aim at a high degree of precision and certainty, others for
various reasons cannot. 'It is the mark of an educated man to look for
precision just so far as the nature of the subject in question admits of it. It
is as foolish to accept merely probable reasoning from a mathematician as
it is to demand demonstrative proofs from a rhetorician.' Aristotle is
always delighted if he can find a knock-down argument, an almost

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