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Generation of animals

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How Sexist Is Aristotle's Developmental Biology?, Devin Henry Dec 2006

How Sexist Is Aristotle's Developmental Biology?, Devin Henry

Devin Henry

No abstract provided.


Aristotle On The Mechanisms Of Inheritance, Devin Henry Jan 2006

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 …