The Powers of Aristotle's Soul

313 Pages·2012·1.58 MB·English

by  Thomas Kjeller Johansen

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The Powers of Aristotle s Soul
OXFORD ARISTOTLE STUDIES
GeneralEditors
JuliaAnnasandLindsayJudson
PUBLISHEDINTHESERIES
DoingandBeing
AnInterpretationofAristotle’sMetaphysicsTheta
JonathanBeere
Space,Time,Matter,andForm
EssaysonAristotle’sPhysics
DavidBostock
AristotleonMeaningandEssence
DavidCharles
TimeforAristotle
UrsulaCoope
AristotleonTeleology
MonteRansomeJohnson
OnLocation
Aristotle’sConceptsofPlace
BenjaminMorison
OrderinMultiplicity
HomonymyinthePhilosophyofAristotle
ChristopherShields
Aristotle’sTheoryofSubstance
TheCategoriesandMetaphysicsZeta
MichaelV.Wedin
Aristotle’sDeInterpretatione
ContradictionandDialectic
C.W.A.Whitaker
The Powers of
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Aristotle s Soul
By Thomas Kjeller Johansen
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Contents
Acknowledgements viii
AbbreviationsofAristotle’sWorks ix
Introduction 1
1. CircumscribingtheSoul:DeAnima1.1and2.1 9
2. TowardsaScientificDefinitionoftheSoul:DAII.2 34
3. PartsandUnityintheDefinitionoftheSoul 47
4. TheDefinitionofDunamis 73
5. ThePriorityoftheObjectsovertheCapacitiesoftheSoul 93
6. TheImportanceofNutrition 116
7. TheSoulasanEfficientCause 128
8. TheMatteroftheSoul’sActivities 146
9. ThePerceptualCapacityExtended 170
10. Phantasia 199
11. TheIntellectandtheLimitsofNaturalism 221
12. TheLocomotiveCapacity 246
13. TheDescentfromDefinition:TheCapacitiesoftheSoulApplied 258
14. TheCapacitiesinthePartsandLivesofAnimals 276
Bibliography 287
GeneralIndex 293
IndexLocorum 296
Acknowledgements
Thisbookhasbeenlonginthemaking,butnotforwantofsupportfromothers.My
deliberations began in earnest while a member at the Institute for Advanced Study
(2002–3). The bulk of the work was done during my tenure of a British Academy
Research Readership (2005–7), while Oxford’s John Fell Fund supported a term’s
leave in 2011 to complete it. I am grateful to all of these institutions, and to my
universities,firstEdinburghandthenOxford,fortheirsupport.
Many individuals have contributed to making this book better. The readers for
Oxford University Press,JuliaAnnasandLindsayJudson,madeincisiveobservations,
and Klaus Corcilius provided an exceptionally insightful commentary on the entire
script. Draft chapters were commented on by David Charles, Ursula Coope, Jim
Lennox, Jessica Moss, Klaus Corcilius, and Pavel Gregoric. I have learnt much from
audiencesinParis,Lille,Toronto,Pasadena,Oxford,Cambridge,Hull,Bristol,Edin-
burgh, Glasgow, St. Andrews, Stirling, Trinity College Dublin, Berlin, Munich,
SouthernDenmark,andPatras.
The contents of this book have not been published elsewhere, with the following
exceptions: elements of Chapter7 have been revised from ‘The Soul as an Inner
Principle of Change: The Basis of Aristotle’s Psychological Naturalism’, in D. Scott
(ed.),Maieusis,OxfordUP,2007:276–300.SomeofChapter9hasbeenadaptedfrom
In Defense of Inner Sense: Aristotle on Perceiving that One Perceives’, Proceedings of
the Boston Area Colloquium in Ancient Philosophy 21 (2005): 235–276. There is some
overlapbetweenChapter13andmy‘What’sNewintheDeSensu?ThePlaceofthe
De Sensu in Aristotle’s Psychology’, in R. King (ed.), Common to Body and Soul.
Philosophical Approaches to Explaining Living Behaviour in Antiquity, De Gruyter, Berlin
2006:140–164.PartsofChapter2willalsoappearas‘PartsintheDefinitionofSoul:
De Anima Books I and II’, in K. Corcilius (ed), Partitioning of the Soul from Ancient to
Early Modern Philosophy, De Gruyter (forthcoming); some of Chapter4 as ‘Capacity
andPotentiality:ThePerspectiveofAristotle’sDeAnima’,inA.Marmodoro(ed.),The
PowersoftheMind.ContemporaryProblems—AncientAnswers,Topoi(SpecialIssue).Iam
gratefultothepublishersforpermissiontoreprint.
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Abbreviations of Aristotle s Works
(Latin titles in brackets)
APo PosteriorAnalytics(AnalyticaPosteriora)
Cat. Categories(Categoriae)
DA OntheSoul(DeAnima)
EE EudemianEthics(EthicaEudemia)
GA OnGenerationofAnimals(DeGenerationeAnimalium)
GC OnGenerationandCorruption(DeGenerationeetCorruptione)
HA OnHistoryofAnimals(DeHistoriaAnimalium)
Insom. OnDreams(DeInsomniis)
Iuv. OnYouthandOldAge(DeIuventuteetSenectute)
MA OntheMotionofAnimals(DeMotuAnimalium)
Mem OnMemory(DeMemoria)
Metaph. Metaphysics(Metaphysica)
Meteo. Meteorology(Meteorologica)
Nic.Eth. NicomacheanEthics(EthicaNicomachea)
PA OnPartsofAnimals(DePartibusAnimalium)
Phys. Physics(Physica)
PN ShortWorksonNature(ParvaNaturalia)
Pol. Politics(Politica)
Rhet. Rhetoric(Rhetorica)
Sens. OnSenseandSense-Objects(DeSensuetSensibilibus)
Somn. OnSleep(DeSomno)
SE OnSophisticRefutations(DeSophisticisElenchis)
Top. Topics(Topica)