University of Colorado at Boulder classics Professor Eckart Sch眉trumpf's quest to assemble little-known philosophical works by Aristotle has earned the professor a $75,000 German research award.
Sch眉trumpf's Alexander von Humboldt Research Award for foreign scholars in the humanities was granted for distinguished accomplishments in research and teaching and for the pursuit of a project considered worthy of funding. Sch眉trumpf is considered one of the world's foremost experts on Aristotle, the ancient Greek philosopher who lived from 384 to 322 B.C.
"Aristotle is without doubt one of the greatest philosophers of all time, and he was a very productive author," said Sch眉trumpf, who earlier this year published the last of four volumes of commentary on Aristotle's politics. "However, it has been calculated that only one-fifth of what he wrote has survived."
Sch眉trumpf is working on a new collection of Aristotle's "fragments" -- pieces of the philosopher's writings that have survived in quotations made by other ancient authors. Sch眉trumpf is assembling the fragments into an authoritative edition, to be published in Greek with German and English translations.
Sch眉trumpf said his forthcoming edition of the fragments of Aristotle's lost works should provide a more comprehensive understanding of his philosophy.
"Previous editions of the fragments of Aristotle's works exist, the best being from 1886," he said. "It is desirable that this edition be replaced because we now have a greater knowledge of literature from late antiquity, which allows us a better understanding of the indirect tradition of Aristotelian influence."
The Humboldt Foundation's research award intends to honor scholars who have achieved the highest level of accomplishment in their field over an entire career and to further cooperation between these experts and scholars at German universities. Candidates must be nominated by eminent scholars from Germany.
External evaluators selected by the Humboldt Foundation are then asked to assess the international scholarly reputation of the nominee and the quality of their proposed new research. Because scholars from all countries are nominated, the award is extremely competitive. Only about 10 percent of Humboldt research awards are given to scholars in the humanities.
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