Aristotle's theory of the soul
For Paula Rodriguez. Updated: 22 September 2020
In this lesson from a TEACHER we explain the Aristotle's theory of the soul, philosopher born in Estagira, Macedonia and creator of the Lyceum. Unlike Plato, Aristotle is not only interested in the human being, but in all living things are the object of your interest. Thus, in his works, mainly biological, he affirms that each and every one of the beings that inhabit the planet are endowed with a soul.
It is considered the father of biology and logic and he was the first to make a classification system for living things. Remember, that although Aristotle was a disciple of Plato, there are great differences between the two thinkers, although it is true that there are also similarities.
To know what is Aristotle's theory of the soul, we have to know that, according to the philosopher, there are three types of souls:
- Nourishing soul: It is responsible for providing food. It is present in plants, animals and humans and makes possible the reproduction, growth and nutrition, that is, the basic vital activities.
- Sensitive soul: It is what makes it possible to interact with the environment. It is the characteristic of non-human animals, but plants lack it. It is present in animals and humans and allows sensitive knowledge (perception), bodily desires and appetites such as sexual desire or the urge to eat, as well as movement local.
- Rational soul: It is the soul of the human being, it is divided into the agent intellect and the patient intellect and is the highest part of the human soul. NEITHER plants nor animals, only human beings possess it and it is the reason that they have cognitive and volitional activity.
Unlike his teacher, Aristotle believes that the soul is mortal and physical, and therefore dies when the body dies. But the agent intellect is immaterial and survives the death of the individual. It is common to all humanity, that is, it is collective.
In order to Plato, the union between soul and body was accidental, While for Aristotle the human being is a scompound and indissoluble ubstance of matter and form, matter being the body and form the soul. The form can never be separated from the substance, unlike what his master maintained.
Like the rest of the greek philosophers, the stagirite understands the soul as a vital principle: all living beings, for the simple fact of being, have souls, both plants and animals. And the soul is precisely the form of the substance, in act, while the form is the power. But the soul dies when the body dies, contrary to Plato's claim. If the human being dies a substantial change occurs, and therefore ceases to have the form of a being a living being and takes the form of an inanimate being.
"Living, therefore, belongs to the living by virtue of this principle, while the animal is primarily by virtue of the sensation: hence those beings that neither move nor change places, but possess sensation, we call them animals and not simply living. On the other hand, the most primitive sensory activity that occurs in all animals is touch.
And in the same way that the nourishing faculty can occur without the touch or the totality of the sensation being given, so also the touch can occur without the other sensations being given. And we call the nourishing faculty that part of the soul in which even plants participate. It is obvious that animals, in turn, all possess the sensation of touch. Later on we will say why each of these events happens this way. For now it is enough to say that the soul is the principle of all these faculties and that it is defined by them: nourishing, sensitive, discursive and movement faculties "
About the Soul is a work written by Aristotle and that, although it mainly addresses the subject of the soul, it can be considered as a treatise from a biological perspective. The treatise is divided into 3 books and these in turn into several chapters.
In this lesson we have seen the most important aspects of Aristotle's theory of the soul, a little below you have exercises and their solutions to practice what you've learned.
