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Articles 1 - 23 of 23
Full-Text Articles in Arts and Humanities
Imagination As Thought In Aristotle's De Anima, Matthew Small
Imagination As Thought In Aristotle's De Anima, Matthew Small
Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository
Aristotle appears to indicate in various passages in the De Anima that imagination is a kind of thought, and my thesis attempts to make some sense out of this claim. I examine three possible interpretations of the claim that imagination is a kind of thought and eliminate two of them. The first states that Aristotle only calls imagination a kind of thought in a superficial “in name only” sense. The second, more radical interpretation, identifies images as the most basic kind of thoughts. My final chapter defends a more moderate position—inspired by Avempace and the early Averroes—which steers between the …
Aristotle's Account Of Time: A Moderate Realism, Pierre-Luc Boudreault
Aristotle's Account Of Time: A Moderate Realism, Pierre-Luc Boudreault
Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository
This dissertation proposes an interpretation of Aristotle’s theory of time as a whole from a study of Physics IV. 10-14. It addresses interpretive issues and objections pertaining to Aristotle’s view about the nature of time, its existence, as well as its unity and universality. In response to these problems, the interpretation of some ancient and medieval commentators – Themistius, Simplicius, Philoponus, Albert the Great and in particular, Thomas Aquinas – is by and large defended against recent interpretations. It is argued that by defining time as “the number of movement with respect to the “before” and “after” (Phys. IV. …
Berkeley On Infinite Divisibility, David Mwakima
Berkeley On Infinite Divisibility, David Mwakima
Western Ontario Early Modern Philosophy (WOEMP) Online Events
Berkeley, arguing against Barrow, claims that the infinite divisibility of finite lines is neither an axiom nor a theorem in Euclid The Thirteen Books of The Elements. Instead, he suggests that it is rooted in ancient prejudice. In this paper, I attempt to substantiate Berkeley’s claims by looking carefully at the history and practice of ancient geometry as a first step towards understanding Berkeley’s mathematical atomism.
Modes Of Argumentation In Aristotle's Natural Science, Adam W. Woodcox
Modes Of Argumentation In Aristotle's Natural Science, Adam W. Woodcox
Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository
Through a detailed analysis of the various modes of argumentation employed by Aristotle throughout his natural scientific works, I aim to contribute to the growing scholarship on the relation between Aristotle’s theory of science and his actual scientific practice. I challenge the standard reading of Aristotle as a methodological empiricist and show that he permits a variety of non-empirical arguments to support controversial theses in properly scientific contexts. Specifically, I examine his use of logical (logikôs) argumentation in the discussion of mule sterility in Generation of Animals II 8, rational (kata ton logon) argumentation in his discussion of cardiocentrism throughout …
The Goal Of Habituation In Aristotle: A Neo-Mechanical Account, Dioné Harley
The Goal Of Habituation In Aristotle: A Neo-Mechanical Account, Dioné Harley
Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository
Standard interpretations of Aristotle’s ethics construe the habituation phase in his theory of moral education as markedly robust regarding the moral condition that must be achieved before the learner can attend lectures on the noble and political questions in general. These “intellectualists” argue that habituation engages the rational part of the soul so that the learner develops the capacity to identify that an action is noble, which involves taking pleasure in the nobility of the act. Practical reason will provide an understanding of why the action is noble. I argue against intellectualist readings of habituation and defend a neo-mechanical account …
Species Pluralism: Conceptual, Ontological, And Practical Dimensions, Justin Bzovy
Species Pluralism: Conceptual, Ontological, And Practical Dimensions, Justin Bzovy
Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository
Species are central to biology, but there is currently no agreement on what the adequate species concept should be, and many have adopted a pluralist stance: different species concepts will be required for different purposes. This thesis is a multidimensional analysis of species pluralism. First I explicate how pluralism differs monism and relativism. I then consider the history of species pluralism. I argue that we must re-frame the species problem, and that re-evaluating Aristotle's role in the histories of systematics can shed light on pluralism. Next I consider different forms of pluralism: evolutionary and extra-evolutionary species pluralism, which differ in …
Aristotle's Clivus Naturae, John Thorp
Aristotle's Clivus Naturae, John Thorp
Philosophy Presentations
It is usually thought that Aristotle's understanding of the soul sees it has having four distinct parts, cumulatively arranged, resulting in a kind of scala or ladder: all living things have the nutritive and reproductive soul; animals have, in addition, the sensitive soul, and most of them also the locomotive soul; only humans have all these plus the intellective soul. This ladder-like picture emerges from his theoretical work de Anima. In his more empirical studies, though, the discreteness of these levels is softened, and the image is more that of a clivus or slope, rather than a scala or ladder …
Holding For The Most Part: The Demonstrability Of Moral Facts, Devin Henry
Holding For The Most Part: The Demonstrability Of Moral Facts, Devin Henry
Devin Henry
No abstract provided.
Notes On The Moral History Of Usury, John Thorp
Notes On The Moral History Of Usury, John Thorp
Philosophy Presentations
No abstract provided.
Substantial Generation In Physics I 5-7, Devin Henry
Substantial Generation In Physics I 5-7, Devin Henry
Devin Henry
No abstract provided.
The Failure Of Evolution In Antiquity, Devin Henry
The Failure Of Evolution In Antiquity, Devin Henry
Devin Henry
This paper traces the emergence and rejection of evolutionary thinking in antiquity. It examines Empedocles' original theory of evolution and why his ideas failed to gain traction among his predecessors.
The Birds And The Bees: Aristotle On The Biological Concept Of Analogy, Devin Henry
The Birds And The Bees: Aristotle On The Biological Concept Of Analogy, Devin Henry
Devin Henry
No abstract provided.
Optimality And Teleology In Aristotle's Natural Science, Devin Henry
Optimality And Teleology In Aristotle's Natural Science, Devin Henry
Devin Henry
In this paper I examine the role of optimality reasoning in Aristotle’s natural science. By “optimality reasoning” I mean reasoning that appeals to some conception of “what is best” in order to explain why things are the way they are. We are first introduced to this pattern of reasoning in the famous passage at Phaedo 97b8-98a2, where (Plato’s) Socrates invokes “what is best” as a cause (aitia) of things in nature. This passage can be seen as the intellectual ancestor of Aristotle’s own principle, expressed by the famous dictum “nature does nothing in vain but always what is best for …
Aristotle On The Good Of Friendship: Why The Beneficiary Is Not What Matters, Kristina L. Biniek
Aristotle On The Good Of Friendship: Why The Beneficiary Is Not What Matters, Kristina L. Biniek
Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository
Scholars seeking to understand Aristotle’s view of friendship often characterize the relationship in terms of the beneficiary of the virtuous agent’s activity. I argue that this is a distortive lens through which to interpret Aristotle. Aristotle’s primary and fundamental concern, in his ethics, is to understand what the good is and how to bring it about, not to determine how to distribute goods produced by virtuous activity. Remembering this helps clarify the role of the friendship books and dissolves apparent tensions between Aristotle’s eudaimonism and his account of friendship. My first chapter establishes how consistently Aristotle holds to his task, …
Method And Metaphor In Aristotle's Science Of Nature, Sean Michael Pead Coughlin
Method And Metaphor In Aristotle's Science Of Nature, Sean Michael Pead Coughlin
Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository
This dissertation is a collection of essays exploring the role of metaphor in Aristotle’s scientific method. Aristotle often appeals to metaphors in his scientific practice; but in the Posterior Analytics, he suggests that their use is inimical to science. Why, then, does he use them in natural science? And what does his use of metaphor in science reveal about the nature of his scientific investigations? I approach these questions by investigating the epistemic status of metaphor in Aristotelian science. In the first essay, I defend an interpretation of metaphor as a type of heuristic reasoning: I claim that Aristotle …
Aristotle On Code, John Thorp
Aristotle's Concept Of Nature: Three Tensions, W.W. Nicholas Fawcett
Aristotle's Concept Of Nature: Three Tensions, W.W. Nicholas Fawcett
Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository
The concept of nature (phusis) is ubiquitous in Aristotleʼs work, informing his thinking in physics, metaphysics, biology, ethics, politics, and rhetoric. Much of scholarly attention has focussed on his philosophical analysis of the concept wherein he defines phusis as “a principle or cause of being changed and of remaining the same in that to which it belongs primarily, in virtue of itself and not accidentally” (Phys. 192b21-23) and the implications this has in various parts of his philosophy. It has largely gone unnoticed, or unremarked, that this is not the only understanding of phusis present in his thinking. This thesis …
Aristotle’S Naïve Somatism, Alain E. Ducharme
Aristotle’S Naïve Somatism, Alain E. Ducharme
Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository
Aristotle’s Naïve Somatism is a re-interpretation of Aristotle’s cognitive psychology in light of certain presuppositions he holds about the living animal body. The living animal body is presumed to be sensitive, and Aristotle grounds his account of cognition in a rudimentary proprioceptive awareness one has of her body. With that presupposed metaphysics under our belts, we are in a position to see that Aristotle in de Anima (cognition chapters at least) has a di erent explanatory aim in view than that which the literature generally imputes to him. He is not explicating what we would call the “mental”—the private, inner …
Aristotle, Females & Wind Eggs, John Thorp
Aristotle, Females & Wind Eggs, John Thorp
Philosophy Presentations
No abstract provided.
Review Of Monte Ransome Johnson's Aristotle On Teleology, Devin Henry
Review Of Monte Ransome Johnson's Aristotle On Teleology, Devin Henry
Devin Henry
No abstract provided.
Aristotle’S Worst Idea, John Thorp
Aristotle On The Mechanisms Of Inheritance, Devin Henry
Aristotle On The Mechanisms Of Inheritance, Devin Henry
Devin Henry
In this paper I address an important question in Aristotle’s biology, What are the causal mechanisms behind the transmission of biological form? Aristotle’s answer to this question, I argue, is found in Generation of Animals Book 4 in connection with his investigation into the phenomenon of inheritance. There we are told that an organism’s reproductive material contains a set of ‘‘movements’’ which are derived from the various ‘‘potentials’’ of its nature (the internal principle of change that initiates and controls development). These ‘‘movements,’’ I suggest, function as specialized vehicles for com- municating the parts of the parent’s heritable form during …
Embryological Models In Ancient Philosophy, Devin Henry
Embryological Models In Ancient Philosophy, Devin Henry
Devin Henry
No abstract provided.