-
934Aristotle on the Unity of the Nutritive and Reproductive FunctionsPhronesis 65 (4): 414-466. 2020.In De Anima 2.4, Aristotle claims that nutritive soul encompasses two distinct biological functions: nutrition and reproduction. We challenge a pervasive interpretation which posits ‘nutrients’ as the correlative object of the nutritive capacity. Instead, the shared object of nutrition and reproduction is that which is nourished and reproduced: the ensouled body, qua ensouled. Both functions aim at preserving this object, and thus at preserving the form, life, and being of the individual organis…Read more
-
896Cosmic Democracy or Cosmic Monarchy? Empedocles in Plato’s StatesmanPolis 35 (2): 418-446. 2018.Plato’s references to Empedocles in the myth of the Statesman perform a crucial role in the overarching political argument of the dialogue. Empedocles conceives of the cosmos as structured like a democracy, where the constituent powers ‘rule in turn’, sharing the offices of rulership equally via a cyclical exchange of power. In a complex act of philosophical appropriation, Plato takes up Empedocles’ cosmic cycles of rule in order to ‘correct’ them: instead of a democracy in which rule is shared …Read more
-
450Aristotle’s Causal Definitions of the SoulAncient Philosophy 44 (2): 449-467. 2024.Does Aristotle offer a definition of the soul? In fact, he rejects the possibility of defining the soul univocally. Because “life” is a homonymous concept, so too is “soul”. Given the specific causal role that Aristotle envisages for form and essence, the soul requires multiple different definitions to capture how it functions as a cause in each form of life. Aristotle suggests demonstrations can be given which express these causal definitions; I reconstruct these demonstrations.
APA Central Division
Sewanee, Tennessee, United States of America
Areas of Specialization
Ancient Greek and Roman Philosophy |
Aristotle |
Plato |
Pre-Socratic Philosophy |