Mortal Imitations of Divine Life: The Nature of the Soul in Aristotle's De Anima (Rereading Ancient Philosophy)

In Mortal Imitations of Divine Life, Diamond offers an interpretation of De Anima, which explains how and why Aristotle places souls in a hierarchy of value. Aristotle's central intention in De Anima is to discover the nature and essence of soul—the prin­ciple of living beings. He does so by identifying the common structures underlying every living activity, whether it be eating, perceiving, thinking, or moving through space. As Diamond demonstrates through close readings of De Anima, the nature of the soul is most clearly seen in its divine life, while the embodied soul's other activi­ties are progressively clear approximations of this principle. This interpretation shows how Aristotle's psychology and biology cannot be properly understood apart from his theological conception of God as life, and offers a new explanation of De Anima's unity of purpose and structure. In Mortal Imitations of Divine Life , Diamond offers an interpretation of De Anima , which explains how and why Aristotle places souls in a hierarchy of value. Aristotles central intention in De Anima is to discover the nature and essence of soulthe principle of living beings. He does so by identifying the common structures underlying every living activity, whether it be eating, perceiving, thinking, or moving through space. As Diamond demonstrates through close readings of De Anima , the nature of the soul is most clearly seen in its divine life, while the embodied souls other activities are progressively clear approximations of this principle. This interpretation shows how Aristotles psychology and biology cannot be properly understood apart from his theological conception of God as life, and offers a new explanation of De Anima s unity of purpose and structure. In Mortal Imitations of Divine Life, Eli Diamond offers an interpretation of De Anima that explains how and why Aristotle places souls in a hierarchy of value. Aristotle's central intention in De Anima is to discover the nature and essence of soul -the principle of living beings. He does so by identifying the common structures underlying every living activity, whether it be eating, perceiving, thinking, or moving through space. As Diamond demonstrates through close readings of De Anima, the nature of soul is most clearly seen in its divine life, while the embodied soul's other activities are progressively clear approximations of this principle. This interpretation shows how Aristotle's psychology and biology cannot be properly understood apart from his theological conception of God as life, and offers a new explanation of De Anima's unity of purpose and structure Contents Acknowledgments Preface Introduction Chapter 1. Defining the Soul—The Serial Logic of De Anima II.1–3 Chapter 2. Unconscious and Stationary Life: Nutritive Soul Chapter 3. Embodied Cognition: Sensitive Soul Chapter 4. Theoretical Cognition and Divine Life Chapter 5. The Soul That Moves the Body: Mortal Self- Motion and the Circular Motion of the Outermost Sphere List of Abbreviations Notes Bibliography General Index Index Locorum