Christopher Shields studied English Literature and Classics at Bowling Green State University, in Ohio, before taking an M.A. and Ph. D. in Philosophy from Cornell University. He has been Professor of Philosophy and Classics at the University of Colorado at Boulder, Professor of Classical Philosophy at the University of Oxford, and is currently Shuster Professor of Philosophy and Concurrent Professor of Classics at the University of Notre Dame. He has held visiting positions at Cornell, Yale, Stanford, The Humboldt University, Berlin, and the Chinese University of Hong Kong.

The Clarendon Aristotle Series is designed for both students and professionals. It provides accurate translations of selected Aristotelian texts, accompanied by incisive commentaries that focus on philosophical problems and issues, The volumes in the series have been widely welcomed and favourably reviewed. Important new titles are being added to the series, and a number of well-established volumes are being reissued with revisions and/or supplementary material.

Christopher Shields presents a new translation and commentary of Aristotle's De Anima, a work of interest to philosophers at all levels, as well as psychologists and students interested in the nature of life and living systems. The volume provides a full translation of the complete work, together with a comprehensive commentary. While sensitive to philological and textual matters, the commentary addresses itself to the philosophical reader who wishes to understand and assess Aristotle's accounts of the soul and body; perception; thinking; action; and the character of living systems. It aims to present controversial aspects of the text in a neutral, fair-minded manner, so that readers can come to be equipped to form their own judgments. This volume includes the crucial first book, which the original translation in the Clarendon Aristotle Series omitted.