Aristotle's Theory of Material Substance

Aristotle's Theory of Material Substance

Author: Gad Freudenthal

Publisher: Oxford University Press on Demand

Published: 1999-01-01

Total Pages: 235

ISBN-13: 9780198238645

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Gad Freudenthal offers an original new account of one of Aristotle's central doctrines, his theory of material substance. Freudenthal argues that Aristotle's concept of heat is a crucial but hitherto ignored part of this account. Aristotle's 'canonical', four-element theory of matter fails to explain the coming-to-be of material substances (the way matter becomes organized) and their persistence (why substances do not disintegrate into their components). Interpreters have highlighted Aristotle's claim that soul is the active cause of the coming-to-be and persistence of living beings. On the basis of dispersed remarks in Aristotle's writings Freudenthal argues that Aristotle in parallel also draws on a comprehensive 'naturalistic' theory, which accounts for material persistence through the concepts of heat, specifically vital heat, and connate pneuma. This theory, which bears also on the higher soul-functions, is central in Aristotle's understanding of the relationship betweenmatter and form, body and soul. Dr Freudenthal aims not only to recover this theory and to highlight its explanatory roles, but also to make suggestions concerning its origin in Presocratic thought and in Aristotle's own early theology. He further offers a brief review of how later ages came to grips with the difficulties inherent in the received version of Aristotle's matter theory. This book is an important contribution to the proper understanding of a central Aristotelian doctrine, which straddles 'chemistry', biology, the theory of soul, and metaphysics. 'This bold and vigorous study contributes greatly to the growing body of work on the essential connections between Aristotle's biology and central issues in his metaphysics and psychology . . . Comprehensive and lucidly argued, this book is strongly recommended for all university and college libraries.' Choice 'The book offers a new and refreshing description of Aristotle's system and demonstrates that withoutunderstanding the basics of Aristotle's biology, his conception of the structure of the physical world cannot be fully understood. The book is carefully and thoughtfully outlined and very well written. For quite a while I have not read a book that contributed so much to my understanding of Aristotle.' Early Science and Medicine


The Cambridge Companion to Aristotle's Biology

The Cambridge Companion to Aristotle's Biology

Author: S. M. Connell

Publisher: Cambridge University Press

Published: 2021-05-27

Total Pages: 377

ISBN-13: 1107197732

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Comprehensive overview of all the key issues in Aristotle's biological works and their place within his broader philosophy and theology.


Nutrition and Nutritive Soul in Aristotle and Aristotelianism

Nutrition and Nutritive Soul in Aristotle and Aristotelianism

Author: Giouli Korobili

Publisher: Walter de Gruyter GmbH & Co KG

Published: 2020-12-07

Total Pages: 494

ISBN-13: 311069056X

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This volume is a detailed study of the concept of the nutritive capacity of the soul and its actual manifestation in living bodies (plants, animals, humans) in Aristotle and Aristotelianism. Aristotle’s innovative analysis of the nutritive faculty has laid the intellectual foundation for the increasing appreciation of nutrition as a prerequisite for the maintenance of life and health that can be observed in the history of Greek thought. According to Aristotle, apart from nutrition, the nutritive part of the soul is also responsible for or interacts with many other bodily functions or mechanisms, such as digestion, growth, reproduction, sleep, and the innate heat. After Aristotle, these concepts were used and further developed by a great number of Peripatetic philosophers, commentators on Aristotle and Arabic thinkers until early modern times. This volume is the first of its kind to provide an in-depth survey of the development of this rather philosophical concept from Aristotle to early modern thinkers. It is of key interest to scholars working on classical, medieval and early modern psycho-physiological accounts of living things, historians and philosophers of science, biologists with interests in the history of science, and, generally, students of the history of philosophy and science.


Aristotle. On Youth and Old Age, Life and Death, and Respiration 1-6

Aristotle. On Youth and Old Age, Life and Death, and Respiration 1-6

Author: Giouli Korobili

Publisher: Springer Nature

Published: 2022-06-21

Total Pages: 268

ISBN-13: 3030999661

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This book is devoted to the last part of Aristotle’s collection of short treatises known today as the Parva Naturalia, i.e. the treatise On Youth and Old Age, on Life and Death, on Respiration. In the three main sections of the book, the author offers a translation, a commentary and a thorough analysis of this work. The author argues in favour of the unity of the work and contextualises its ideas within Aristotle’s corpus and the medical tradition of his time. After an Introduction to the nature of the work and its significance for the history of natural philosophy and science, a new English translation follows, along with a detailed commentary of Chapters 1-6, which combines philosophical discussion with philological observations. The book includes four interpretive essays, which tackle problems related to the whole treatise on a more philosophical basis, including questions about the structure and unity of the work, the organisation of the material, Aristotle’s methodological principles, his aims and target audience as well as the relevance of his selected themes to the thematic agenda of some Hippocratic writings. This book is of interest to students and researchers in Aristotle’s psychophysiology, and his views about the embodied mind, as well as to anyone concerned with the history of natural philosophy and science more generally.


Aristotle reads Hippocrates

Aristotle reads Hippocrates

Author:

Publisher: BRILL

Published: 2024-08-05

Total Pages: 446

ISBN-13: 9004703543

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Despite Aristotle's family background and his undeniable impact on ancient Greek medicine, the influence of medicine on Aristotle's philosophy is controversial and far from universally acknowledged. The aim of this volume is to re-examine the influence of medical knowledge and literature on Aristotle's work, in particular to explore the connections with the Hippocratic writings. The volume encourages further exploration of this interdisciplinary area and offers new insights by presenting a series of case studies that examine in detail specific debates within the Aristotelian corpus in relation to the medical literature.


Immortality in Ancient Philosophy

Immortality in Ancient Philosophy

Author: Alex Long

Publisher: Cambridge University Press

Published: 2021-06-03

Total Pages: 237

ISBN-13: 1108832288

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Re-examines the concept of immortality in ancient philosophy from the Presocratics to Augustine.


Plato’s Timaeus and the Biblical Creation Accounts

Plato’s Timaeus and the Biblical Creation Accounts

Author: Russell E. Gmirkin

Publisher: Routledge

Published: 2022-05-03

Total Pages: 520

ISBN-13: 1000578429

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Plato’s Timaeus and the Biblical Creation Accounts argues that the creation of the world in Genesis 1 and the story of the first humans in Genesis 2-3 both draw directly on Plato’s famous account of the origins of the universe, mortal life and evil containing equal parts science, theology and myth. This book is the first to systematically compare biblical, Ancient Near Eastern and Greek creation accounts and to show that Genesis 1-3 is heavily indebted to Plato’s Timaeus and other cosmogonies by Greek natural philosophers. It argues that the idea of a monotheistic cosmic god was first introduced in Genesis 1 under the influence of Plato’s philosophy, and that this cosmic Creator was originally distinct from the lesser terrestrial gods, including Yahweh, who appear elsewhere in Genesis. It shows the use of Plato’s Critias, the sequel to Timaeus, in the stories about the Garden of Eden, the intermarriage of "the sons of God" and the daughters of men, and the biblical flood. This book confirms the late date and Hellenistic background of Genesis 1-11, drawing on Plato’s writings and other Greek sources found at the Great Library of Alexandria. This study provides a fascinating approach to Genesis that will interest students and scholars in both biblical and classical studies, philosophy and creation narratives. .


The Cosmological Doctors of Classical Greece

The Cosmological Doctors of Classical Greece

Author: David H. Camden

Publisher: Cambridge University Press

Published: 2023-05-11

Total Pages: 311

ISBN-13: 1009203096

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Why did some doctors in Classical Greece feel compelled to study the universe as a whole? How could cosmological principles be employed in clinical practice? This book explores the works of the cosmological doctors, such as On Breaths, On Flesh, and On Regimen, and argues that they form part of a much broader reorganization of medical knowledge in the fifth and fourth centuries BCE. These healers used cosmological principles as a supplement to, rather than a replacement of, more traditional approaches to health and disease, creating theories about the cosmos whose obscurities can best be understood as the products of medical thinking. Through fresh readings of many ancient sources, the book revises customary views of the intersections between medicine and cosmology in Classical Greece and advances our understanding of one of the most remarkable periods in the history of ancient thought.