Giorgio Agamben
- Published in print:
- 2018
- Published Online:
- September 2018
- ISBN:
- 9780262037594
- eISBN:
- 9780262345231
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- The MIT Press
- DOI:
- 10.7551/mitpress/9780262037594.001.0001
- Subject:
- Philosophy, Ancient Philosophy
This book charts a journey that ranges from poems of chivalry to philosophy, from Yvain to Hegel, from Beatrice to Heidegger. An ancient legend identifies Demon, Chance, Love, and Necessity as the ...
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This book charts a journey that ranges from poems of chivalry to philosophy, from Yvain to Hegel, from Beatrice to Heidegger. An ancient legend identifies Demon, Chance, Love, and Necessity as the four gods who preside over the birth of every human being. We must all pay tribute to these deities and should not try to elude or dupe them. To accept them, the book suggests, is to live one's life as an adventure—not in the trivial sense of the term, with lightness and disenchantment, but with the understanding that adventure, as a specific way of being, is the most profound experience in our human existence. The four gods of legend are joined at the end by a goddess, the most elusive and mysterious of all: Elpis, Hope. In Greek mythology, Hope remains in Pandora's box, not because it postpones its fulfillment to an invisible beyond but because somehow it has always been already satisfied. Here, the book presents Hope as the ultimate gift of the human adventure on Earth.Less
This book charts a journey that ranges from poems of chivalry to philosophy, from Yvain to Hegel, from Beatrice to Heidegger. An ancient legend identifies Demon, Chance, Love, and Necessity as the four gods who preside over the birth of every human being. We must all pay tribute to these deities and should not try to elude or dupe them. To accept them, the book suggests, is to live one's life as an adventure—not in the trivial sense of the term, with lightness and disenchantment, but with the understanding that adventure, as a specific way of being, is the most profound experience in our human existence. The four gods of legend are joined at the end by a goddess, the most elusive and mysterious of all: Elpis, Hope. In Greek mythology, Hope remains in Pandora's box, not because it postpones its fulfillment to an invisible beyond but because somehow it has always been already satisfied. Here, the book presents Hope as the ultimate gift of the human adventure on Earth.
A. C. Lloyd
- Published in print:
- 1998
- Published Online:
- November 2003
- ISBN:
- 9780198238065
- eISBN:
- 9780191597916
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/0198238061.001.0001
- Subject:
- Philosophy, Ancient Philosophy
Neoplatonism is traditionally considered a mystical philosophy; on the contrary the aim of this book is to show the importance of a logical and epistemological approach for the understanding of ...
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Neoplatonism is traditionally considered a mystical philosophy; on the contrary the aim of this book is to show the importance of a logical and epistemological approach for the understanding of Neoplatonic basic ontological problems. In doing that, Lloyd considers a very wide range of philosophers from Plotinus up to Byzantine Neoplatonists. After a preliminary discussion of how the Neoplatonic semantics and logical concepts are a result of their understanding of previous philosophers (in particular Aristotle), Lloyd introduces the key point of the book, i.e. his theory of the P‐series. A P‐series is a group of terms ordered according to priority a posteriority in which the first term is universal and common to all the others. This logical theory is applied to explain how the reality is structured (procession and emanation from the One) and how knowledge is constituted. The book ends with an analysis of how mystical apprehension differs from the union with the One.Less
Neoplatonism is traditionally considered a mystical philosophy; on the contrary the aim of this book is to show the importance of a logical and epistemological approach for the understanding of Neoplatonic basic ontological problems. In doing that, Lloyd considers a very wide range of philosophers from Plotinus up to Byzantine Neoplatonists. After a preliminary discussion of how the Neoplatonic semantics and logical concepts are a result of their understanding of previous philosophers (in particular Aristotle), Lloyd introduces the key point of the book, i.e. his theory of the P‐series. A P‐series is a group of terms ordered according to priority a posteriority in which the first term is universal and common to all the others. This logical theory is applied to explain how the reality is structured (procession and emanation from the One) and how knowledge is constituted. The book ends with an analysis of how mystical apprehension differs from the union with the One.
Geoffrey Lloyd
- Published in print:
- 2004
- Published Online:
- April 2005
- ISBN:
- 9780199270163
- eISBN:
- 9780191602276
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/0199270163.001.0001
- Subject:
- Philosophy, Ancient Philosophy
Engages in a wide-ranging exploration of what we can learn from the study of ancient civilizations, which is relevant to fundamental problems, both intellectual and moral, that we continue to face ...
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Engages in a wide-ranging exploration of what we can learn from the study of ancient civilizations, which is relevant to fundamental problems, both intellectual and moral, that we continue to face today. How far is it possible to arrive at an understanding of alien systems of belief? Is it possible to talk meaningfully of 'science' and of its various constituent disciplines, 'astronomy', 'geography', 'anatomy', and so on, in the ancient world? Are logic and its laws universal? Is there one ontology—a single world—to which all attempts at understanding must be considered to be directed? When we encounter apparently very different views of reality, how far can that be put down to a difference in conceptions of what needs explaining, or of what counts as an explanation, or to different preferred modes of reasoning or styles of enquiry? Do the notions of truth and belief represent reliable cross-cultural universals? Are the discourses of human nature and of human rights universally applicable? What political institutions do we need to help secure equity and justice within nation states and between them? Lloyd provides compelling evidence that the science and culture of ancient Greece and China have much to offer contemporary debates in many fields of study.Less
Engages in a wide-ranging exploration of what we can learn from the study of ancient civilizations, which is relevant to fundamental problems, both intellectual and moral, that we continue to face today.
How far is it possible to arrive at an understanding of alien systems of belief? Is it possible to talk meaningfully of 'science' and of its various constituent disciplines, 'astronomy', 'geography', 'anatomy', and so on, in the ancient world? Are logic and its laws universal? Is there one ontology—a single world—to which all attempts at understanding must be considered to be directed? When we encounter apparently very different views of reality, how far can that be put down to a difference in conceptions of what needs explaining, or of what counts as an explanation, or to different preferred modes of reasoning or styles of enquiry? Do the notions of truth and belief represent reliable cross-cultural universals? Are the discourses of human nature and of human rights universally applicable? What political institutions do we need to help secure equity and justice within nation states and between them?
Lloyd provides compelling evidence that the science and culture of ancient Greece and China have much to offer contemporary debates in many fields of study.
Daniel Schwartz
- Published in print:
- 2007
- Published Online:
- May 2008
- ISBN:
- 9780199205394
- eISBN:
- 9780191709265
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199205394.001.0001
- Subject:
- Philosophy, Ancient Philosophy
This book examines the views on friendship of the great medieval philosopher Thomas Aquinas. For Aquinas, friendship is the ideal type of relationship that rational beings should cultivate. The book ...
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This book examines the views on friendship of the great medieval philosopher Thomas Aquinas. For Aquinas, friendship is the ideal type of relationship that rational beings should cultivate. The book argues that Aquinas fundamentally revised some of the main features of Aristotle's paradigmatic account of friendship so as to accommodate the case of friendship between radically unequal beings: man and God. As a result, Aquinas presented a broader view of friendship than Aristotle's, allowing for a higher extent of disagreement, lack of mutual understanding, and inequality between friends.Less
This book examines the views on friendship of the great medieval philosopher Thomas Aquinas. For Aquinas, friendship is the ideal type of relationship that rational beings should cultivate. The book argues that Aquinas fundamentally revised some of the main features of Aristotle's paradigmatic account of friendship so as to accommodate the case of friendship between radically unequal beings: man and God. As a result, Aquinas presented a broader view of friendship than Aristotle's, allowing for a higher extent of disagreement, lack of mutual understanding, and inequality between friends.
Anthony Kenny
- Published in print:
- 1978
- Published Online:
- October 2011
- ISBN:
- 9780198245544
- eISBN:
- 9780191680878
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780198245544.001.0001
- Subject:
- Philosophy, Ancient Philosophy, Moral Philosophy
This book is an attempt to solve a long-standing problem of Aristotelian scholarship on the basis of historical and philosophical arguments and a statistical study of features of style. It presents a ...
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This book is an attempt to solve a long-standing problem of Aristotelian scholarship on the basis of historical and philosophical arguments and a statistical study of features of style. It presents a detailed study of the relationship between the Eudemian and Nichomachean Ethics of Aristotle. The book provides a synthesis of three disciplines: philosophy, classical studies, and statistics.Less
This book is an attempt to solve a long-standing problem of Aristotelian scholarship on the basis of historical and philosophical arguments and a statistical study of features of style. It presents a detailed study of the relationship between the Eudemian and Nichomachean Ethics of Aristotle. The book provides a synthesis of three disciplines: philosophy, classical studies, and statistics.
Howard J. Curzer
- Published in print:
- 2012
- Published Online:
- May 2012
- ISBN:
- 9780199693726
- eISBN:
- 9780191738890
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199693726.001.0001
- Subject:
- Philosophy, Ancient Philosophy, Moral Philosophy
Aristotle is the father of virtue ethics, and virtue ethics is hot. Yet Aristotle’s accounts of the individual virtues remain opaque, for most contemporary commentators of Aristotle’s Nicomachean ...
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Aristotle is the father of virtue ethics, and virtue ethics is hot. Yet Aristotle’s accounts of the individual virtues remain opaque, for most contemporary commentators of Aristotle’s Nicomachean Ethics have focused upon other matters. By contrast, this book takes Aristotle’s detailed description of the individual virtues to be central to his ethical theory. Working through the Nicomachean Ethics virtue by virtue, explaining and generally defending Aristotle’s claims, the book brings each of Aristotle’s virtues alive. A new Aristotle emerges, an Aristotle fascinated by the details of the individual virtues. Justice and friendship hold special places in Aristotle’s virtue theory. Many contemporary discussions place justice and friendship at opposite, perhaps even conflicting poles of a spectrum. Justice seems to be very much a public, impartial, and dispassionate thing, while friendship is paradigmatically private, partial, and passionate. Yet in Aristotle’s view they are actually symbiotic. Justice is defined in terms of friendship, and good friendship is defined in terms of justice. Virtue ethics is not only about being good; it is also about becoming good. The book reconstructs Aristotle’s account of moral development. Certain character types serve as stages of moral development. Certain catalysts and mechanisms lead from one stage to the next. Explaining why some people cannot make moral progress specifies the preconditions of moral development. Finally, the book describes Aristotle’s quest to determine the ultimate goal of moral development: happiness.Less
Aristotle is the father of virtue ethics, and virtue ethics is hot. Yet Aristotle’s accounts of the individual virtues remain opaque, for most contemporary commentators of Aristotle’s Nicomachean Ethics have focused upon other matters. By contrast, this book takes Aristotle’s detailed description of the individual virtues to be central to his ethical theory. Working through the Nicomachean Ethics virtue by virtue, explaining and generally defending Aristotle’s claims, the book brings each of Aristotle’s virtues alive. A new Aristotle emerges, an Aristotle fascinated by the details of the individual virtues. Justice and friendship hold special places in Aristotle’s virtue theory. Many contemporary discussions place justice and friendship at opposite, perhaps even conflicting poles of a spectrum. Justice seems to be very much a public, impartial, and dispassionate thing, while friendship is paradigmatically private, partial, and passionate. Yet in Aristotle’s view they are actually symbiotic. Justice is defined in terms of friendship, and good friendship is defined in terms of justice. Virtue ethics is not only about being good; it is also about becoming good. The book reconstructs Aristotle’s account of moral development. Certain character types serve as stages of moral development. Certain catalysts and mechanisms lead from one stage to the next. Explaining why some people cannot make moral progress specifies the preconditions of moral development. Finally, the book describes Aristotle’s quest to determine the ultimate goal of moral development: happiness.
David Bronstein
- Published in print:
- 2016
- Published Online:
- May 2016
- ISBN:
- 9780198724902
- eISBN:
- 9780191792427
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780198724902.001.0001
- Subject:
- Philosophy, Ancient Philosophy, Metaphysics/Epistemology
Aristotle’s Posterior Analytics is one of the most important, and difficult, works in the history of western philosophy. This book sheds new light on this challenging text by arguing that it is ...
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Aristotle’s Posterior Analytics is one of the most important, and difficult, works in the history of western philosophy. This book sheds new light on this challenging text by arguing that it is coherently structured around two themes of enduring philosophical interest: knowledge and learning. The Posterior Analytics, this book argues, is a sustained examination of scientific knowledge: what it is and how it is acquired. Aristotle first discusses two principal forms of scientific knowledge (epistēmē and nous). He then provides a compelling account, in reverse order, of the types of learning one needs to undertake in order to acquire them. The Posterior Analytics thus emerges as an elegantly organized work in which Aristotle describes the mind’s ascent from perception of sensible particulars to scientific knowledge of first principles. This book also highlights Plato’s influence on Aristotle’s text. For each type of learning Aristotle discusses, this book uncovers an instance of Meno’s Paradox (a puzzle from Plato’s Meno according to which inquiry and learning are impossible) and a solution to it. In addition, this book argues, against current orthodoxy, that Aristotle is committed to the Socratic Picture of inquiry, according to which one should seek what a thing’s essence is before seeking its demonstrable attributes and their causes.Less
Aristotle’s Posterior Analytics is one of the most important, and difficult, works in the history of western philosophy. This book sheds new light on this challenging text by arguing that it is coherently structured around two themes of enduring philosophical interest: knowledge and learning. The Posterior Analytics, this book argues, is a sustained examination of scientific knowledge: what it is and how it is acquired. Aristotle first discusses two principal forms of scientific knowledge (epistēmē and nous). He then provides a compelling account, in reverse order, of the types of learning one needs to undertake in order to acquire them. The Posterior Analytics thus emerges as an elegantly organized work in which Aristotle describes the mind’s ascent from perception of sensible particulars to scientific knowledge of first principles. This book also highlights Plato’s influence on Aristotle’s text. For each type of learning Aristotle discusses, this book uncovers an instance of Meno’s Paradox (a puzzle from Plato’s Meno according to which inquiry and learning are impossible) and a solution to it. In addition, this book argues, against current orthodoxy, that Aristotle is committed to the Socratic Picture of inquiry, according to which one should seek what a thing’s essence is before seeking its demonstrable attributes and their causes.
David Charles
- Published in print:
- 2002
- Published Online:
- November 2003
- ISBN:
- 9780199256730
- eISBN:
- 9780191597183
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/019925673X.001.0001
- Subject:
- Philosophy, Ancient Philosophy
Focuses on two themes in Aristotle's philosophy and their interconnection. The first is his account of the meaning (or signification) of terms such as ‘man’, ‘fish’, and ‘eclipse’, which refer to ...
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Focuses on two themes in Aristotle's philosophy and their interconnection. The first is his account of the meaning (or signification) of terms such as ‘man’, ‘fish’, and ‘eclipse’, which refer to kinds of objects or processes. The second is his theory of the essences of these kinds, what we refer to in defining them, and what makes them what they are. For Aristotle, the meaning of such terms is determined by a distinctive type of efficient causal connection between the kind and thoughts with which the terms are associated. However, although these terms signify existing kinds with essences, one who has the relevant thoughts need not know either that the kind exists or that, if it exists, it has an essence of a given type. In consequence, Aristotle's account of the essence of kinds has to be grounded in his metaphysics and not in his theory of the mastery of natural kind terms. Aristotle's essences are specified in our definitions of kinds because they determine the kind's distinctive nature and necessary properties. They simultaneously ground the identity of the kind and explain its necessary, but non‐essential, features. In these respects, Aristotelian essentialism, which plays a central role in his scientific and metaphysical writings, is distinct both from twentieth‐century attempts to revive essentialism (such as are to be found in the writings of Kripke and Putnam) and from the views criticized by anti‐essentialists (such as Locke and Quine). This book aims to set out and critically evaluate Aristotle's distinctive form of essentialism.Less
Focuses on two themes in Aristotle's philosophy and their interconnection. The first is his account of the meaning (or signification) of terms such as ‘man’, ‘fish’, and ‘eclipse’, which refer to kinds of objects or processes. The second is his theory of the essences of these kinds, what we refer to in defining them, and what makes them what they are. For Aristotle, the meaning of such terms is determined by a distinctive type of efficient causal connection between the kind and thoughts with which the terms are associated. However, although these terms signify existing kinds with essences, one who has the relevant thoughts need not know either that the kind exists or that, if it exists, it has an essence of a given type. In consequence, Aristotle's account of the essence of kinds has to be grounded in his metaphysics and not in his theory of the mastery of natural kind terms. Aristotle's essences are specified in our definitions of kinds because they determine the kind's distinctive nature and necessary properties. They simultaneously ground the identity of the kind and explain its necessary, but non‐essential, features. In these respects, Aristotelian essentialism, which plays a central role in his scientific and metaphysical writings, is distinct both from twentieth‐century attempts to revive essentialism (such as are to be found in the writings of Kripke and Putnam) and from the views criticized by anti‐essentialists (such as Locke and Quine). This book aims to set out and critically evaluate Aristotle's distinctive form of essentialism.
Susan Sauvé Meyer
- Published in print:
- 2011
- Published Online:
- January 2012
- ISBN:
- 9780199697427
- eISBN:
- 9780191732072
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199697427.001.0001
- Subject:
- Philosophy, Ancient Philosophy, Philosophy of Mind
This book presents an examination of Aristotle's accounts of voluntariness in the Eudemian and Nicomachean Ethics. It makes the case that these constitute a theory of moral responsibility — albeit ...
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This book presents an examination of Aristotle's accounts of voluntariness in the Eudemian and Nicomachean Ethics. It makes the case that these constitute a theory of moral responsibility — albeit one with important differences from modern theories. Highlights of the discussion include a reconstruction of the dialectical argument in the Eudemian Ethics II 6-9, and a demonstration that the definitions of ‘voluntary’ and ‘involuntary’ in Nicomachean Ethics III 1 are the culmination of that argument. By identifying the paradigms of voluntariness and involuntariness that Aristotle begins with and the opponents (most notably Plato) he addresses, the book explains notoriously puzzling features of the Nicomachean account — such as Aristotle's requirement that involuntary agents experience pain or regret. Other familiar features of Aristotle' account are cast in a new light. That we are responsible for the characters we develop turns out not to be a necessary condition of responsible agency. That voluntary action has its ‘origin’ in the agent and that our actions are ‘up to us to do and not to do’ — often interpreted as implying a libertarian conception of agency — turn out to be perfectly compatible with causal determinism, a point the book makes by locating these locutions in the context of Aristotle's general understanding of causality. While Aristotle does not himself face or address worries that determinism is incompatible with responsibility, his causal repertoire provides the resources for a powerful response to incompatibilist arguments. On this and other fronts Aristotle's is a view to be taken seriously by theorists of moral responsibility.Less
This book presents an examination of Aristotle's accounts of voluntariness in the Eudemian and Nicomachean Ethics. It makes the case that these constitute a theory of moral responsibility — albeit one with important differences from modern theories. Highlights of the discussion include a reconstruction of the dialectical argument in the Eudemian Ethics II 6-9, and a demonstration that the definitions of ‘voluntary’ and ‘involuntary’ in Nicomachean Ethics III 1 are the culmination of that argument. By identifying the paradigms of voluntariness and involuntariness that Aristotle begins with and the opponents (most notably Plato) he addresses, the book explains notoriously puzzling features of the Nicomachean account — such as Aristotle's requirement that involuntary agents experience pain or regret. Other familiar features of Aristotle' account are cast in a new light. That we are responsible for the characters we develop turns out not to be a necessary condition of responsible agency. That voluntary action has its ‘origin’ in the agent and that our actions are ‘up to us to do and not to do’ — often interpreted as implying a libertarian conception of agency — turn out to be perfectly compatible with causal determinism, a point the book makes by locating these locutions in the context of Aristotle's general understanding of causality. While Aristotle does not himself face or address worries that determinism is incompatible with responsibility, his causal repertoire provides the resources for a powerful response to incompatibilist arguments. On this and other fronts Aristotle's is a view to be taken seriously by theorists of moral responsibility.
Anna Marmodoro
- Published in print:
- 2014
- Published Online:
- August 2014
- ISBN:
- 9780199326006
- eISBN:
- 9780199349876
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199326006.001.0001
- Subject:
- Philosophy, Ancient Philosophy, Metaphysics/Epistemology
How can one explain the structure of perceptual experience? What is it that we perceive? How is it that we perceive objects and not disjoint arrays of properties? By which sense or senses do we ...
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How can one explain the structure of perceptual experience? What is it that we perceive? How is it that we perceive objects and not disjoint arrays of properties? By which sense or senses do we perceive objects? Are the five senses sufficient for the perception of objects? Aristotle was the first to investigate these questions to a depth that makes his account fruitful even for contemporary philosophy, but also challenging. He addressed them by means of the metaphysical modeling of the unity of the perceptual faculty and the unity of perceptual content. This book offers a reconstruction of the six metaphysical models offered by Aristotle to address these and related questions, focusing on their metaphysical underpinning in his theory of causal powers. By doing so, the book brings out what is especially valuable and even surprising about the topic: Aristotle’s metaphysics of perception is fundamentally different from his metaphysics of substance. Yet, for precisely this reason, his models of perceptual content are unexplored territory. This book is groundbreaking in charting this new territory: it offers an understanding of Aristotle’s metaphysics of the content of perceptual experience and of the composition of the perceptual faculty, and aims at bringing out the breakthroughs Aristotle achieved.Less
How can one explain the structure of perceptual experience? What is it that we perceive? How is it that we perceive objects and not disjoint arrays of properties? By which sense or senses do we perceive objects? Are the five senses sufficient for the perception of objects? Aristotle was the first to investigate these questions to a depth that makes his account fruitful even for contemporary philosophy, but also challenging. He addressed them by means of the metaphysical modeling of the unity of the perceptual faculty and the unity of perceptual content. This book offers a reconstruction of the six metaphysical models offered by Aristotle to address these and related questions, focusing on their metaphysical underpinning in his theory of causal powers. By doing so, the book brings out what is especially valuable and even surprising about the topic: Aristotle’s metaphysics of perception is fundamentally different from his metaphysics of substance. Yet, for precisely this reason, his models of perceptual content are unexplored territory. This book is groundbreaking in charting this new territory: it offers an understanding of Aristotle’s metaphysics of the content of perceptual experience and of the composition of the perceptual faculty, and aims at bringing out the breakthroughs Aristotle achieved.
Stephen Everson
- Published in print:
- 1999
- Published Online:
- November 2003
- ISBN:
- 9780198238638
- eISBN:
- 9780191597374
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/0198238630.001.0001
- Subject:
- Philosophy, Ancient Philosophy
In this book, Stephen Everson offers a comprehensive investigation of Aristotle's account of perception. Everson explains how Aristotle accounts for our ability to perceive such things as colours and ...
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In this book, Stephen Everson offers a comprehensive investigation of Aristotle's account of perception. Everson explains how Aristotle accounts for our ability to perceive such things as colours and sounds, as well as material objects. Everson has two main aims: the first is to place Aristotle's theory of mind within the context of his natural science, in particular, to show that Aristotle's account of perception is an application of the explanatory method of the Physics. To this end, Everson is keen to emphasize, against recent interpretations, that Aristotle explains perception in terms of material changes in the organs that possess perceptual capacities. The second aim is to argue that Aristotle's resulting method of explaining mental activity has substantive advantages over contemporary accounts in the philosophy of mind, such as functionalism and supervenience. Much of Everson's argument is directed against Myles Burnyeat's interpretation of Aristotle’ philosophy of mind. According to Burnyeat, Aristotle argues that the sense organs undergo alteration without undergoing any material change: Everson calls this reading, the ‘spiritualist’ reading. Everson opposes this with the ‘literalist’ reading, according to which a sense organ is physically altered whenever it perceives something; it therefore takes on a property of the sensible object that affects it. In order to defend this reading, Everson presents a detailed account of the role of matter and material change in the perceptual activities of the each of the individual senses, and also of the perceptual system as a unified whole, including the activities of phantasia or imagination.Less
In this book, Stephen Everson offers a comprehensive investigation of Aristotle's account of perception. Everson explains how Aristotle accounts for our ability to perceive such things as colours and sounds, as well as material objects. Everson has two main aims: the first is to place Aristotle's theory of mind within the context of his natural science, in particular, to show that Aristotle's account of perception is an application of the explanatory method of the Physics. To this end, Everson is keen to emphasize, against recent interpretations, that Aristotle explains perception in terms of material changes in the organs that possess perceptual capacities. The second aim is to argue that Aristotle's resulting method of explaining mental activity has substantive advantages over contemporary accounts in the philosophy of mind, such as functionalism and supervenience. Much of Everson's argument is directed against Myles Burnyeat's interpretation of Aristotle’ philosophy of mind. According to Burnyeat, Aristotle argues that the sense organs undergo alteration without undergoing any material change: Everson calls this reading, the ‘spiritualist’ reading. Everson opposes this with the ‘literalist’ reading, according to which a sense organ is physically altered whenever it perceives something; it therefore takes on a property of the sensible object that affects it. In order to defend this reading, Everson presents a detailed account of the role of matter and material change in the perceptual activities of the each of the individual senses, and also of the perceptual system as a unified whole, including the activities of phantasia or imagination.
Christiana Olfert
- Published in print:
- 2017
- Published Online:
- September 2017
- ISBN:
- 9780190281007
- eISBN:
- 9780190281021
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/oso/9780190281007.001.0001
- Subject:
- Philosophy, Ancient Philosophy, General
Aristotle’s theories of truth, practical reasoning, and action are some of the most influential theories in the history of philosophy. It is surprising, then, that so little attention has been given ...
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Aristotle’s theories of truth, practical reasoning, and action are some of the most influential theories in the history of philosophy. It is surprising, then, that so little attention has been given to his notion of practical truth. In Aristotle on Practical Truth, C. M. M. Olfert gives the first book-length treatment of this notion and the role of truth in our practical lives overall. She offers a novel account of practical truth: it is the truth, in the technical Aristotelian sense of “truth,” about what is good simpliciter (haplôs) for a particular person in her particular situation. Olfert argues that, understood in this way, Aristotle’s notion of practical truth is an attractive idea that illuminates the core of his practical philosophy. But it is also an idea that challenges a common view that in practical reasoning, we aim at action or acting well as our primary goals, not at truth and knowledge. Contrary to this common view, Olfert shows that in dialogues such as Charmides, Protagoras, and Republic, Plato describes practical reasoning as being concerned equally with grasping the truth and with acting well. She argues that Aristotle develops this Platonic picture with the notion of practical truth and with a technical notion of rational action as fitting ourselves to the world. Using key texts from the Nicomachean and Eudemian Ethics, as well as De Anima, Metaphysics, De Interpretatione, and Categories, Olfert demonstrates that practical truth deserves to be treated as a central and plausible Aristotelian idea.Less
Aristotle’s theories of truth, practical reasoning, and action are some of the most influential theories in the history of philosophy. It is surprising, then, that so little attention has been given to his notion of practical truth. In Aristotle on Practical Truth, C. M. M. Olfert gives the first book-length treatment of this notion and the role of truth in our practical lives overall. She offers a novel account of practical truth: it is the truth, in the technical Aristotelian sense of “truth,” about what is good simpliciter (haplôs) for a particular person in her particular situation. Olfert argues that, understood in this way, Aristotle’s notion of practical truth is an attractive idea that illuminates the core of his practical philosophy. But it is also an idea that challenges a common view that in practical reasoning, we aim at action or acting well as our primary goals, not at truth and knowledge. Contrary to this common view, Olfert shows that in dialogues such as Charmides, Protagoras, and Republic, Plato describes practical reasoning as being concerned equally with grasping the truth and with acting well. She argues that Aristotle develops this Platonic picture with the notion of practical truth and with a technical notion of rational action as fitting ourselves to the world. Using key texts from the Nicomachean and Eudemian Ethics, as well as De Anima, Metaphysics, De Interpretatione, and Categories, Olfert demonstrates that practical truth deserves to be treated as a central and plausible Aristotelian idea.
Monte Ransome Johnson
- Published in print:
- 2005
- Published Online:
- February 2006
- ISBN:
- 9780199285303
- eISBN:
- 9780191603143
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/0199285306.001.0001
- Subject:
- Philosophy, Ancient Philosophy
Aristotle is commonly considered the inventor of teleology, although the precise term originated in the eighteenth century. But if teleology means the use of ends or goals in natural science, then ...
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Aristotle is commonly considered the inventor of teleology, although the precise term originated in the eighteenth century. But if teleology means the use of ends or goals in natural science, then Aristotle was rather a critical innovator of teleological explanation. Teleological notions were widespread among Aristotle’s predecessors, but he rejected their conception of extrinsic causes such as intelligence or god as the primary cause for natural things. Instead, he considers nature itself as an internal principle of change and as an end, and his teleological explanations focus on what is intrinsically good for natural substances themselves. Aristotle’s philosophy was later conflated with the teleological proof for the existence of god, the anthropic cosmological principle, creationism, intelligent design, vitalism, animism, anthropocentrism, and opposition to materialism, evolution, and mechanism. But and examination of both his explicit methodology and the explanations actually offered in his scientific works (on physics, cosmology, theology, psychology, biology, and anthropology) shows that Aristotle’s aporetic approach to teleology drives a middle course through traditional oppositions between: causation and explanation, mechanism and materialism, naturalism and anthropocentrism, realism and instrumentalism.Less
Aristotle is commonly considered the inventor of teleology, although the precise term originated in the eighteenth century. But if teleology means the use of ends or goals in natural science, then Aristotle was rather a critical innovator of teleological explanation. Teleological notions were widespread among Aristotle’s predecessors, but he rejected their conception of extrinsic causes such as intelligence or god as the primary cause for natural things. Instead, he considers nature itself as an internal principle of change and as an end, and his teleological explanations focus on what is intrinsically good for natural substances themselves. Aristotle’s philosophy was later conflated with the teleological proof for the existence of god, the anthropic cosmological principle, creationism, intelligent design, vitalism, animism, anthropocentrism, and opposition to materialism, evolution, and mechanism. But and examination of both his explicit methodology and the explanations actually offered in his scientific works (on physics, cosmology, theology, psychology, biology, and anthropology) shows that Aristotle’s aporetic approach to teleology drives a middle course through traditional oppositions between: causation and explanation, mechanism and materialism, naturalism and anthropocentrism, realism and instrumentalism.
Jessica Moss
- Published in print:
- 2012
- Published Online:
- September 2012
- ISBN:
- 9780199656349
- eISBN:
- 9780191742156
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199656349.001.0001
- Subject:
- Philosophy, Ancient Philosophy, Moral Philosophy
Aristotle holds that we desire things because they appear good to us – a view still dominant in philosophy now. But what is it for something to appear good? This book argues that Aristotle ...
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Aristotle holds that we desire things because they appear good to us – a view still dominant in philosophy now. But what is it for something to appear good? This book argues that Aristotle understands appearances of goodness as literal quasi-perceptual appearances, operations of a psychological capacity responsible for phenomena like dreams and visualization: phantasia (‘imagination’). It then uses Aristotle’s detailed accounts of phantasia and its relation to perception and thought to gain new insight into some of the most debated areas of his philosophy: his accounts of emotions, akrasia, ethical habituation, character, deliberation, and desire. The result is a new – and controversial – interpretation of Aristotle’s moral psychology: one which greatly restricts the role of reason in ethical matters, and gives an absolutely central role to pleasure.Less
Aristotle holds that we desire things because they appear good to us – a view still dominant in philosophy now. But what is it for something to appear good? This book argues that Aristotle understands appearances of goodness as literal quasi-perceptual appearances, operations of a psychological capacity responsible for phenomena like dreams and visualization: phantasia (‘imagination’). It then uses Aristotle’s detailed accounts of phantasia and its relation to perception and thought to gain new insight into some of the most debated areas of his philosophy: his accounts of emotions, akrasia, ethical habituation, character, deliberation, and desire. The result is a new – and controversial – interpretation of Aristotle’s moral psychology: one which greatly restricts the role of reason in ethical matters, and gives an absolutely central role to pleasure.
Pavel Gregoric
- Published in print:
- 2007
- Published Online:
- September 2007
- ISBN:
- 9780199277377
- eISBN:
- 9780191707537
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199277377.001.0001
- Subject:
- Philosophy, Ancient Philosophy
Apart from using our eyes to see and our ears to hear, we regularly and effortlessly perform a number of complex perceptual operations that cannot be explained in terms of the five senses taken ...
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Apart from using our eyes to see and our ears to hear, we regularly and effortlessly perform a number of complex perceptual operations that cannot be explained in terms of the five senses taken individually. Such operations include, for example, perceiving that the same object is white and sweet, noticing the difference between white and sweet, or knowing that one's own senses are active. Observing that other animals must be able to perform such operations, and being unprepared to ascribe any share in rationality to them, Aristotle explained such operations with reference to a higher-order perceptual capacity which unites and monitors the five senses. This capacity is known as the ‘common sense’ (koine aisthesis, sensus communis). Unfortunately, Aristotle provides only scattered and opaque references to this capacity. It is hardly surprising, therefore, that the exact nature and functions of this capacity have been a matter of perennial controversy. This book offers an extensive and compelling treatment of the Aristotelian conception of the common sense, which has become part and parcel of Western psychological theories from antiquity through to the Middle Ages, and well into the early modern period. This book begins with an introduction to Aristotle's theory of perception and sets up a conceptual framework for the interpretation of textual evidence. In addition to analysing those passages which make explicit mention of the common sense, and drawing out the implications for Aristotle's terminology, this book provides an examination of each function of this Aristotelian faculty.Less
Apart from using our eyes to see and our ears to hear, we regularly and effortlessly perform a number of complex perceptual operations that cannot be explained in terms of the five senses taken individually. Such operations include, for example, perceiving that the same object is white and sweet, noticing the difference between white and sweet, or knowing that one's own senses are active. Observing that other animals must be able to perform such operations, and being unprepared to ascribe any share in rationality to them, Aristotle explained such operations with reference to a higher-order perceptual capacity which unites and monitors the five senses. This capacity is known as the ‘common sense’ (koine aisthesis, sensus communis). Unfortunately, Aristotle provides only scattered and opaque references to this capacity. It is hardly surprising, therefore, that the exact nature and functions of this capacity have been a matter of perennial controversy. This book offers an extensive and compelling treatment of the Aristotelian conception of the common sense, which has become part and parcel of Western psychological theories from antiquity through to the Middle Ages, and well into the early modern period. This book begins with an introduction to Aristotle's theory of perception and sets up a conceptual framework for the interpretation of textual evidence. In addition to analysing those passages which make explicit mention of the common sense, and drawing out the implications for Aristotle's terminology, this book provides an examination of each function of this Aristotelian faculty.
Anthony Kenny
- Published in print:
- 1992
- Published Online:
- October 2011
- ISBN:
- 9780198240174
- eISBN:
- 9780191680106
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780198240174.001.0001
- Subject:
- Philosophy, Ancient Philosophy, Moral Philosophy
Aristotle's teaching on the subject of happiness has been a topic of intense philosophical debate. Did he hold that happiness consists in the exercise of all the virtues, moral and intellectual, or ...
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Aristotle's teaching on the subject of happiness has been a topic of intense philosophical debate. Did he hold that happiness consists in the exercise of all the virtues, moral and intellectual, or that supreme happiness is to be found only in the practice of philosophical contemplation? The question is vital to the relevance of his ethics today. The author of this title helped to set the terms of this debate a quarter of a century ago. Later, in The Aristotelian Ethics (Clarendon Press, 1978), he argued that Aristotle's Eudemian Ethics had no less a claim than the better-known Nicomachean Ethics to be taken as a late and definitive statement of Aristotle's position. This new book refines a view of the relationship between the two treatises and shows how to reach a consensus on the interpretation of the texts. Aristotle's admirers struggle to read a comprehensive account of the supreme happiness into the Nicomachean Ethics: this book argues that those who are prepared to take the neglected Eudemian Ethics with equal seriousness are able to preserve their admiration intact without doing violence to any of the relevant texts.Less
Aristotle's teaching on the subject of happiness has been a topic of intense philosophical debate. Did he hold that happiness consists in the exercise of all the virtues, moral and intellectual, or that supreme happiness is to be found only in the practice of philosophical contemplation? The question is vital to the relevance of his ethics today. The author of this title helped to set the terms of this debate a quarter of a century ago. Later, in The Aristotelian Ethics (Clarendon Press, 1978), he argued that Aristotle's Eudemian Ethics had no less a claim than the better-known Nicomachean Ethics to be taken as a late and definitive statement of Aristotle's position. This new book refines a view of the relationship between the two treatises and shows how to reach a consensus on the interpretation of the texts. Aristotle's admirers struggle to read a comprehensive account of the supreme happiness into the Nicomachean Ethics: this book argues that those who are prepared to take the neglected Eudemian Ethics with equal seriousness are able to preserve their admiration intact without doing violence to any of the relevant texts.
C. W. A. Whitaker
- Published in print:
- 2002
- Published Online:
- November 2003
- ISBN:
- 9780199254194
- eISBN:
- 9780191598654
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/0199254192.001.0001
- Subject:
- Philosophy, Ancient Philosophy
The De Interpretatione is one of Aristotle's core works, containing highly influential analyses of the basic elements of language and the nature of truth and falsehood, as well as the famous ...
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The De Interpretatione is one of Aristotle's core works, containing highly influential analyses of the basic elements of language and the nature of truth and falsehood, as well as the famous Sea‐battle paradox. As a whole, however, the treatise has been neglected; attention has concentrated on a few oases of interest, and scholars have been satisfied with the medieval view that the treatise is a discussion of the proposition, and forms the second part of the Organon, building on the categories and anticipating the formal logic of the Analytics. This book argues that the subject of the De Interpretatione is not the proposition, as has conventionally been supposed, but the contradictory pair of assertions, and that it is oriented not towards the formal logic of the Analytics, but to the Topics and Sophistic Refutations, the works in which Aristotle describes dialectic, the method of argument consisting in the asking and answering of dialectical questions. In posing a dialectical question, the questioner presents a contradictory pair of assertions and invites the answerer to select one or the other as true, hoping in the end to lead to a refutation, i.e. a proof that the contradictory of the answerer's thesis is true, and therefore the thesis itself is false. The ability to assign assertions to their pairs correctly, and to know in which cases the truth of one member of a pair does not imply the falsehood of the other, are vital tasks for the dialectician. The De Interpretatione's discussion of contradiction thus provides the theoretical background essential for dialectic.Less
The De Interpretatione is one of Aristotle's core works, containing highly influential analyses of the basic elements of language and the nature of truth and falsehood, as well as the famous Sea‐battle paradox. As a whole, however, the treatise has been neglected; attention has concentrated on a few oases of interest, and scholars have been satisfied with the medieval view that the treatise is a discussion of the proposition, and forms the second part of the Organon, building on the categories and anticipating the formal logic of the Analytics. This book argues that the subject of the De Interpretatione is not the proposition, as has conventionally been supposed, but the contradictory pair of assertions, and that it is oriented not towards the formal logic of the Analytics, but to the Topics and Sophistic Refutations, the works in which Aristotle describes dialectic, the method of argument consisting in the asking and answering of dialectical questions. In posing a dialectical question, the questioner presents a contradictory pair of assertions and invites the answerer to select one or the other as true, hoping in the end to lead to a refutation, i.e. a proof that the contradictory of the answerer's thesis is true, and therefore the thesis itself is false. The ability to assign assertions to their pairs correctly, and to know in which cases the truth of one member of a pair does not imply the falsehood of the other, are vital tasks for the dialectician. The De Interpretatione's discussion of contradiction thus provides the theoretical background essential for dialectic.
Ronna Burger
- Published in print:
- 2008
- Published Online:
- March 2013
- ISBN:
- 9780226080505
- eISBN:
- 9780226080543
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- University of Chicago Press
- DOI:
- 10.7208/chicago/9780226080543.001.0001
- Subject:
- Philosophy, Ancient Philosophy
What is the good life for a human being? Aristotle's exploration of this question in the Nicomachean Ethics has established it as a founding work of Western philosophy, though its teachings have long ...
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What is the good life for a human being? Aristotle's exploration of this question in the Nicomachean Ethics has established it as a founding work of Western philosophy, though its teachings have long puzzled readers and provoked spirited discussion. Adopting a new point of view, this book deciphers some of the most perplexing conundrums of this influential treatise by approaching it as Aristotle's dialogue with the Platonic Socrates. Tracing the argument of the Ethics as it emerges through that approach, the book's reading shows how Aristotle represents ethical virtue from the perspective of those devoted to it, while standing back to examine its assumptions and implications.Less
What is the good life for a human being? Aristotle's exploration of this question in the Nicomachean Ethics has established it as a founding work of Western philosophy, though its teachings have long puzzled readers and provoked spirited discussion. Adopting a new point of view, this book deciphers some of the most perplexing conundrums of this influential treatise by approaching it as Aristotle's dialogue with the Platonic Socrates. Tracing the argument of the Ethics as it emerges through that approach, the book's reading shows how Aristotle represents ethical virtue from the perspective of those devoted to it, while standing back to examine its assumptions and implications.
W.F.R. Hardie
- Published in print:
- 1980
- Published Online:
- October 2011
- ISBN:
- 9780198246329
- eISBN:
- 9780191680953
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780198246329.001.0001
- Subject:
- Philosophy, Ancient Philosophy, Moral Philosophy
This is a study of Aristotle's moral philosophy as it is contained in the Nicomachean Ethics. The book examines the difficulties of the text; presents a map of inescapable philosophical questions; ...
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This is a study of Aristotle's moral philosophy as it is contained in the Nicomachean Ethics. The book examines the difficulties of the text; presents a map of inescapable philosophical questions; and brings out the ambiguities and critical disagreements on some central topics, including happiness, the soul, the ethical mean, and the initiation of action.Less
This is a study of Aristotle's moral philosophy as it is contained in the Nicomachean Ethics. The book examines the difficulties of the text; presents a map of inescapable philosophical questions; and brings out the ambiguities and critical disagreements on some central topics, including happiness, the soul, the ethical mean, and the initiation of action.
Terence Irwin
- Published in print:
- 1990
- Published Online:
- November 2003
- ISBN:
- 9780198242901
- eISBN:
- 9780191597770
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/0198242905.001.0001
- Subject:
- Philosophy, Ancient Philosophy
This book explores Aristotle’s view of philosophical methods and the merits of his conclusions. The author emphasises the systemic character of Aristotle’s philosophy by examining questions on ...
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This book explores Aristotle’s view of philosophical methods and the merits of his conclusions. The author emphasises the systemic character of Aristotle’s philosophy by examining questions on metaphysics, epistemology, philosophy and mind and ethics. Aristotle’s reliance on dialectic as the method of philosophy appears to conflict with the metaphysical realist view of his conclusions. It is unclear how a coherent account of common beliefs can justify a metaphysical realist’s claims. The author presents Aristotle’s defence of dialectic against this basic objection, and explores the implication of his solution.Less
This book explores Aristotle’s view of philosophical methods and the merits of his conclusions. The author emphasises the systemic character of Aristotle’s philosophy by examining questions on metaphysics, epistemology, philosophy and mind and ethics. Aristotle’s reliance on dialectic as the method of philosophy appears to conflict with the metaphysical realist view of his conclusions. It is unclear how a coherent account of common beliefs can justify a metaphysical realist’s claims. The author presents Aristotle’s defence of dialectic against this basic objection, and explores the implication of his solution.
Virtue Is Knowledge
Aristotle's Politics
Confronting Aristotle's Ethics
The Female in Aristotle's Biology
Stoicism & Emotion
The Morality of Happiness
