The fundamental research question in this dissertation is what the image of man - in the broadest sense of the word - entails within the classical and modern enlightenment points of view. This... Show moreThe fundamental research question in this dissertation is what the image of man - in the broadest sense of the word - entails within the classical and modern enlightenment points of view. This overarching question is considered with regard to the notions of man maintained by the ancients and moderns, with regard to their visions of society, and with regard to the worldview these theories entail. We also evaluate which of the two paradigms is the more convincing upon scrutiny. We have answered such questions by distilling the ideas of the classical philosopher Aristotle -and some ontological ideas from his teacher, Plato- on the one hand, and from the modern intellectual giant, Thomas Hobbes, on the other hand. This is premised on the belief that the essential features of the classical and modern idealtype are to be found within their thought and works.In order to answer our central question, we had to look into the values which underly each vision of man. After all, values are the ideas that motivate our actions as individuals and as a community. We found that the classical vision is guided by the value of Virtue/Duty, Hierarchy and the pursuit of Community in a world permeated with objective values, whilst the modern conception embraces Freedom, Equality and Individuality in a world that is set free of objective values. Show less
How should we deal with inconsistencies in ancient literature? Henk Versnel has shown that modern scholars are eager to ‘solve’ such inconsistencies and to ‘save’ the author from embarassing... Show moreHow should we deal with inconsistencies in ancient literature? Henk Versnel has shown that modern scholars are eager to ‘solve’ such inconsistencies and to ‘save’ the author from embarassing contradictions. Versnel himself has argued that we should adopt a tolerant attitude towards the coexistence of contradictory statements. This chapter examines how ancient scholars dealt with inconsistencies in literature. It argues that several ancient philosophers and critics anticipated Versnel in adopting a tolerant attitude towards contradictions in literature. The most striking parallels are found in the Homeric scholia, which draw on the views of the Alexandrian scholar Aristarchus, and Aristotle’s Poetics. Show less
In this paper I explore the ways in which Alexander of Aphrodisias employs and devel- ops so-called ‘common notions’ as reliable starting points of deductive arguments. He combines contemporary... Show moreIn this paper I explore the ways in which Alexander of Aphrodisias employs and devel- ops so-called ‘common notions’ as reliable starting points of deductive arguments. He combines contemporary developments in the Stoic and Epicurean use of common notions with Aristotelian dialectic, and axioms. This more comprehensive concept of common notions can be extracted from Alexander’s commentary on Metaphysics A 1–2.Alexander puts Aristotle’s claim that ‘all human beings by nature desire to know’ in a larger deductive framework, and adds weight to Aristotle’s use of the common under- standing of the notion of ‘wisdom’. Finally I will indicate how these upgraded common notions are meant to play an important role in the general framework of metaphysics as a science. Show less
Since Antiquity, “active cognition” has been a problematic notion in Aristotelian scholarship. Part of the problem is the definition of what counts as “active”. In the first part of this paper I... Show moreSince Antiquity, “active cognition” has been a problematic notion in Aristotelian scholarship. Part of the problem is the definition of what counts as “active”. In the first part of this paper I shall offer a short survey on various contenders for “active” perceptual cognition defended in recent interpretations of Aristotle, by way of introduction to the more complicated problems of “active” intellectual cognition. In the second part of the paper I will offer—in outline—my interpretation of Aristotle’s theory of intellectual cognition, which takes the most recent findings in the area of perceptual cognition as a starting point. Here I pursue the analogy that Aristotle sets up between perception and intellection throughout the De anima. In the third part of the paper I shall examine a number of influential accounts of active intellectual cognition found in the corpus of Alexander of Aphrodisias, in particular Mantissa 2–5 (also known as De intellectu). These accounts each develop the analogies offered in Aristotle’s De anima III.5 in their own way. Show less
This dissertation addresses the different use of the same philosophical model: immanent teleology. In this work Aristotle, the founder of the study of final causes, is put in relation with the... Show moreThis dissertation addresses the different use of the same philosophical model: immanent teleology. In this work Aristotle, the founder of the study of final causes, is put in relation with the modern French evolutionary thinker Henri Bergson, the philosopher of time. The dissertation tackles the two ways of understanding final causality in regard with the structure of their arguments (analogy, perfection and regularity) and it also shows the way in which these arguments are applied to different fields of knowledge (from embryology to anthropology, from anthropology to cosmology). Show less
The chapter provides an novel analysis of the four types of intellect that Themistius finds in Aristotle's De anima III.4-5. It is shown that the relations between these intellects and their... Show moreThe chapter provides an novel analysis of the four types of intellect that Themistius finds in Aristotle's De anima III.4-5. It is shown that the relations between these intellects and their respective substrates are governed by four general principles derived from Aristotle's Physics and Metaphysics. Together they allow Themistius to establish a coherent account of human beings as rational individuals who share in divine knowledge, while being unified compounds of soul and body. Show less
The distinction between potentiality and actuality in Aristotle has its origin in Platonic ethics. In his psychological and ethical works Aristotle’s notion of potentiality is embedded in a causal... Show moreThe distinction between potentiality and actuality in Aristotle has its origin in Platonic ethics. In his psychological and ethical works Aristotle’s notion of potentiality is embedded in a causal framework that is characteristic of life in general. A key theme is the distinction of various meanings of ‘to know’. In his early work the possession of knowledge is distinguished from its use. In De anima Aristotle adds the potentiality for acquiring knowledge as characteristic of the genus human being. He argues that the stages of actualization of knowledge are instances of a more comprehensive biological and ethical development. Life is the fulfillment of soul as formal, efficient and final cause, with the potentiality of body as material cause. The unity of body and soul is derived from the causal nexus of potentiality and actuality, like a power and the instrument in which it resides. In such cases potentiality is complex and depends on numerous conditions. Failure of full realization may occur when any of the necessary conditions of the development and realization of the fulfillment of human life are lacking, whether in the environment (e.g. climate), the body (illness, drunkenness), or the soul (natural virtue, firm character, attention). Show less
The leading argument of this doctoral thesis is that Aristotle’s text [De Interpretatione] is of methodical relevance for present-day philosophical thinking. In the era of science and technology,... Show moreThe leading argument of this doctoral thesis is that Aristotle’s text [De Interpretatione] is of methodical relevance for present-day philosophical thinking. In the era of science and technology, the status of philosophy has become problematic. The philosophical questions of old have been either debunked as grammatical misconceptions or reformulated and incorporated into modern scientific enquiry.Given this situation, the aim of this doctoral thesis is twofold. It purports to show that the problematic status of philosophy can be traced back to Aristotle’s [De Interpretatione]. In addition, it shows that this text also contains clues to truth of a more fundamental nature that is not restricted to propositional correctness, thereby opening up the possibility of a transformed way of philosophical thinking. Show less
This is a critical edition with introduction and indices of the Questiones libri Porphirii, a commentary on Porphyry__s Isagoge attributed to the fourteenth-century logician Thomas Manlevelt. Not... Show moreThis is a critical edition with introduction and indices of the Questiones libri Porphirii, a commentary on Porphyry__s Isagoge attributed to the fourteenth-century logician Thomas Manlevelt. Not much is known about Thomas Manlevelt, but his work is remarkable enough. Following in the footsteps of William of Ockham, Manlevelt stresses the individual nature of all things existing in the outside world. He radically challenges traditional medieval conceptions of the outside world. He applies Ockham__s Principle of Parsimony in an unscrupulous manner to do away with all entities not deemed necessary to preserve. In the end, Manlevelt even maintains that substance does not exist. The introduction to this edition sketches the historical and philosophical background of this logical-semantical text, in which individuality and the accidental play the key role. This edition contributes to our knowledge of the development of Ockhamism on the continent. Moreover, it confronts us with a hitherto hardly known thinker whose ideas may prove to be of more than just historical value. Show less
