The Soul And Its Instrumental Body: A Reinterpretation Of Aristotle's Philosophy Of Living Nature (brill's Studies In Intellectual History)

For more than 1800 years it has been supposed that Aristotle viewed the soul as the entelechy of the visible body which is 'equipped with organs'. This book argues that in actual fact he saw the soul as the entelechy of a natural body 'that serves as its instrument'. This correction puts paid to W. Jaeger's hypothesis of a three-phase development in Aristotle. The author of this book defends the unity of Aristotle's philosophy of living nature in De anima, in the biological treatises, and in the lost dialogues. Aristotle should therefore be regarded as the author of the notion of the 'vehicle of the soul' and of a 'non-Platonic' dualism. The current understanding of his influence on Hellenistic philosophy needs to change accordingly. INTRODUCTION CHAPTER ONE. ARISTOTLE'S PSYCHOLOGY RECONSIDERED CHAPTER TWO. THE MODERN DEBATE ON ARISTOTLE'S PSYCHOLOGY CHAPTER THREE. 'PNEUMA' AS THE 'ORGANON' OF THE SOUL IN 'DE MOTU ANIMALIUM' CHAPTER FOUR. WHAT BODY IS SUITABLE FOR RECEIVING THE SOUL ('DE ANIMA' I 3, 407b 13-26)? CHAPTER FIVE. ARISTOTLE'S NEW PSYCHOLOGY IN 'DE ANIMA' II 1-2 CHAPTER SIX. THE SOUL IN ITS INSTRUMENTAL BODY LIKE THE SAILOR IN HIS SHIP ('DE ANIMA' II 1, 413A8-9) CHAPTER SEVEN. ARISTOTLE'S PROBLEMS WITH THE STANDARD PSYCHOLOGICAL THEORIES CHAPTER EIGHT. THE ROLE OF VITAL HEAT AND 'PNEUMA' IN 'DE GENERATIONE ANIMALIUM' CHAPTER NINE. 'FIRE ABOVE': THE RELATION OF SOUL TO THE BODY THAT RECEIVES SOUL, IN ARISTOTLE'S 'DE LONGITUDINE ET BREVITATE VITAE' 2-3 CHAPTER TEN. 'PNEUMA' AND THE THEORY OF SOUL IN 'DE MUNDO' CHAPTER ELEVEN. THE ULTIMATE PROBLEM: HOW DID ARISTOTLE RELATE THE INTELLECT, WHICH IS NOT BOUND UP WITH 'SÔMA', TO THE SOUL, WHICH IS ALWAYS CONNECTED WITH 'SÔMA'? CHAPTER TWELVE. ARISTOTLE'S LOST WORKS: THE CONSEQUENCES OF REINTERPRETING THE PSYCHOLOGY OF 'DE ANIMA' CHAPTER THIRTEEN. THE INFORMATION ON ARISTOTLE'S 'EUDEMUS' CHAPTER FOURTEEN. THE FIFTH ELEMENT AS THE SUBSTANCE OF THE SOUL CHAPTER FIFTEEN. THE COMPARISON OF THE STEERSMAN AND HIS SHIP IN ARISTOTLE'S LOST WORKS AND ELSEWHERE CHAPTER SIXTEEN. THE SOUL'S 'BONDAGE' ACCORDING TO A LOST WORK BY ARISTOTLE CHAPTER SEVENTEEN. THE INTEGRATION OF THE PSYCHOLOGY OF ARISTOTLE'S 'EUDEMUS' ΑND HIS 'DE ANIMA' CHAPTER EIGHTEEN. FINAL CONSIDERATIONS AND CONCLUSIONS BIBLIOGRAPHY INDEX NOMINUM INDEX LOCORUM