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On De Anima or On the Soul (350 BCE), books 1 and 2. We lead off with listener mail; Aristotle starts 18 minutes in.
What can this ancient text tell us about biological life? Much of the interest and difficulty here is the very different conceptual schemes at play: What counts as a scientific explanation? Aristotle gives a highly general account about what, for all living things, makes them alive. He describes life as "the first actuality of a natural body which has organs," meaning that bodies (our bodies, plant bodies, animal bodies) truly express their nature only when they're growing and reproducing and all that stuff that bodies do. The body itself is potential, and life is its actuality. So what the heck kind of explanation is that, and how does it tie into all that metaphysical stuff you may have heard about Aristotle concerning forms and different types of causation and substances?
Seth returns to complete the formal foursome as we slowly penetrate this difficult text. With this one more than others, you'd be well advised to follow along in the text. This online translation by D.W. Hamlyn should do the trick. The line-by-line commentary that Seth refers to is by Eugene T. Gendlin.
Episode 131 will continue our exploration of this book, focusing on book 3, where Aristotle presents what's often been described as the first work in the philosophy of mind: He'll focus there on the intellect, on how the mind can know things, on whether the intellect is separable from the body.
End song: "Intermission Song" from the 1993 Mark Lint album Spanish Armada: Songs of Love and Related Neuroses.
Aristotle picture by Genevieve Arnold.
Evan says
January 5, 2016 at 10:06 pmI like how you guys do philosophy. There are lots of places people can go for critiques and stuff on current affairs.
Paying attention to a text is something rare and valuable.
Mark Linsenmayer says
January 8, 2016 at 11:12 amThanks, Evan. And next we’re having Massimo P. to talk about Stoicism (Seneca). He (Massimo) recommends daily meditation on Stoic teachings not unlike (in approach, if not in actual content) what I’m seeing on your website. So I’d be interested to see you weigh in here when we post that.
Ferix says
January 8, 2016 at 1:19 amThe more you guys do on Aristotle, the more he impresses me. I used to have the exact same perception of him as Wes (or maybe it was Seth) – that he was stodgier and more scientist than philosopher. I’ve completely flipped on him now. Can’t wait for Book 3.
Ally says
January 8, 2016 at 7:40 amSince Valentines Day is coming up, can you do a podcast on philosophies about love? 🙂
Mark Linsenmayer says
January 8, 2016 at 11:10 amAn excellent idea. We have one with a celebrity guest in the works, but it wasn’t yet actually on the calendar. I’ve pinged him to see if we can work it in for ep. 133 (if I’m counting right). Thanks!
Jenny Nguyen says
November 24, 2018 at 3:17 pmI think you guys are doing great. I am a woman and I find it sickening when feminists make those dumb comments about identity politics, as if women have any different insight into reality than men. We are all humans! Philosophy seeks to understand the soul of the subject and doesn’t just look at the surface; neither is it historicist and concerned with race/class/gender. Philosophy delves into the perennial questions. If people want to talk about irrelevant things, they can just read CNN.