INTRODUCTION. ARISTOTLE AND THE PERIPATETIC TRADITION Proceedings of the Canadian Aristotle Society INTRODUCTION. ARISTOTE ET LA TRADITION PÉRIPATÉTICIENNE Actes du premier congrès de la Société aristotélicienne du Canada

The odyssey of founding the Canadian Aristotle Society in 2017 is a tale that I hope will be remembered in the Society for years to come. It is my hope that great minds gather in good cheer to celebrate an intellectual space within which we can reflect unapologetically on the power and magnitude of Aristotelian philosophy and the peripatetic tradition. Creating the Canadian Aristotle Society was a labour of love that bore fruit after several years of discussion with colleagues and philosophical friends, especially Jim Lowry and Daniel Regnier. In the fall of 2014, I organized a conference at Dominican University College (DUC) on Aristotle and the Peripatetic Tradition. It was the success of this that generated the desire to found the Canadian Aristotle Society wherein such encounters might occur regularly. Despite significant challenges and obstacles to the realization of this project, I was dedicated to its realization and I received support from the right people at the right time. As it turns out, Aristotelians are not confined to the academy. It was a former Dominican University College student, Kimberly Chabot, now working for the Canadian Federal Government, who guided me through the process of incorporating this modest Society. Everything lined up perfectly: the mission became clear, the appetite and inclination were strong in my philosophical community, and the legal process of securing the Society with the Canadian Federal Government proved to be straightforward. Simply put: form adhered to matter perfectly. DUC is an ideal intellectual home for the Canadian Aristotle Society and for regular gathering of its members. Those who visit the College immediately become aware of the depth of the Dominican Friars’ 800-year-old tradition of teaching Philosophy. I am very grateful to both the Dominican Friars and the members of my Faculty in Philosophy for their continued support in this project. In particular, I would like to acknowledge some Dominican Friars for their support in our Society: Lawrence Dewan, Maxime Allard, Pierre Métivier, Yves Bériault, and Michel Gourgues. The spirit of the Canadian Aristotle Society encourages the speculative and classical approach to the textual analysis of Aristotle’s works. Centuries of studies of Aristotle have seen the Philosopher and his works reduced to an ancillary or propaedeutic to various disciplines and intellectual agendas: Religion, Theology, Politics, Economy, etc. Such tendencies rarely permit the depth of Aristotelian thought to be recognized for itself. It is in this sense that it is speculative and classical in nature. The purpose of this Society is to create a convivial environment in which we can study Aristotelian thought on its own terms. The Society aims to foster a general aura of eleutheria – freedom of thought – unfettered by exterior agendas. Although it does not deny the importance of current trends in philosophy, the Society promotes conditions to see Aristotle’s works on their own terms. The following issue draws on papers delivered at two conferences held at the DUC: Aristotle and the Peripatetic Tradition (fall 2014, keynote address delivered by Dr. Klaus Brinkmann), and the inaugural conference of the Canadian Aristotle Society – Aristotle: A Critic of Plato (spring 2018, with the keynote address delivered by Dr. Thomas De Koninck). The theme which marked the inaugural conference of the CAS is significant: Aristotle: A Critic of Plato. In this context we not only perceive Aristotle’s distance from his master, but also the ‘why’ of Aristotelian thought, namely, the dynamic which led to the emergence of Aristotle’s philosophy proper. It is against the background of Plato that one recognizes the distinct and nuanced elements of Aristotle’s philosophy. This double issue echoes the theme of …