In this chapter, I have attempted to reconstruct part of the debate on hylomorph- ism in which Alexander of Aphrodisias participated, insofar as it emerges from Alexander’s Quaestiones and Mantissa... Show moreIn this chapter, I have attempted to reconstruct part of the debate on hylomorph- ism in which Alexander of Aphrodisias participated, insofar as it emerges from Alexander’s Quaestiones and Mantissa 5. The debate addresses Physics I-IL1 and the distinctions in the Categories that Aristotle used in that context. Alexander takes away from the debate that he needs to situate his discussion of the relation between soul and body into a general theory of hylomorphism in which form and matter need each other, both for their existence and their definition. It also needs argument that soul is the form and actuality of the body so as to apply the general theory to this paradigm case, and to further apply hylomorphism to the levels and powers of soul. The story culminates in the application of hylomorphism to the development of dispositional intellect, in which Alexander combines Phys. VII.3, De An. II.5, and APo 11.19 with the view of form as completion (teleiotes). The intellect of accomplished knowers comes out as the sum total of knowable things, This is the pinnacle of hylomorphism as a physical, metaphysical, and epistemo- logical theory. As such it is also a perfect example of how Alexander innovatives by connecting Aristotelian dots in unprecedented ways. 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
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
