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Single Idea 16754

[filed under theme 15. Nature of Minds / A. Nature of Mind / 2. Psuche ]

Full Idea

The soul is the cause [aitia] of its body alike in three senses which we explicitly recognise. It is (a) the source or origin of movement, it is (b) the end, and it is (c) the essence of the whole living body.

Gist of Idea

The soul is the cause or source of movement, the essence of body, and its end

Source

Aristotle (De Anima [c.329 BCE], 415b09)

Book Ref

Aristotle: 'The Basic Works of Aristotle', ed/tr. McKeon,Richard [Modern Library Classics 2001], p.561

A Reaction

'Aitia' also means explanation, so these are three ways to explain a human being, by what it does, why what it is for, and by what it intrinsically is. Activity, purpose and nature.

The 54 ideas from 'De Anima'

17711 Our minds take on the form of what is being perceived [Aristotle, by Mares]
5507 Aristotle led to the view that there are several souls, all somewhat physical [Aristotle, by Martin/Barresi]
2683 Aristotle has a problem fitting his separate reason into the soul, which is said to be the form of the body [Ackrill on Aristotle]
16646 To understand a triangle summing to two right angles, we need to know the essence of a line [Aristotle]
16647 Demonstration starts from a definition of essence, so we can derive (or conjecture about) the properties [Aristotle]
1710 Emotion involves the body, thinking uses the mind, imagination hovers between them [Aristotle]
24039 All the emotions seem to involve the body, simultaneously with the feeling [Aristotle]
24040 Scientists explain anger by the matter, dialecticians by the form and the account [Aristotle]
1714 Mind involves movement, perception, incorporeality [Aristotle]
24044 Movement can be intrinsic (like a ship) or relative (like its sailors) [Aristotle]
24045 Movement is spatial, alteration, withering or growth [Aristotle]
24046 Understanding is impossible, if it involves the understanding having parts [Aristotle]
24047 An account is either a definition or a demonstration [Aristotle]
24048 Demonstrations move from starting-points to deduced conclusions [Aristotle]
24049 Thinkers place the soul within the body, but never explain how they are attached [Aristotle]
1514 Early thinkers concentrate on the soul but ignore the body, as if it didn't matter what body received the soul [Aristotle]
1717 If the soul is composed of many physical parts, it can't be a true unity [Aristotle]
24050 If soul is separate from body, why does it die when the body dies? [Aristotle]
1718 Does the mind think or pity, or does the whole man do these things? [Aristotle]
24051 Soul is seen as what moves, or what is least physical, or a combination of elements [Aristotle]
24052 From one thing alone we can infer its contrary [Aristotle]
24053 If a soul have parts, what unites them? [Aristotle]
1721 What unifies the soul would have to be a super-soul, which seems absurd [Aristotle]
24055 Matter is potential, form is actual [Aristotle]
12086 Psuché is the form and actuality of a body which potentially has life [Aristotle]
13275 The soul and the body are inseparable, like the imprint in some wax [Aristotle]
16752 Sight is the essence of the eye, fitting its definition; the eye itself is just the matter [Aristotle]
24056 The soul (or parts of it) is not separable from the body [Aristotle]
1724 Perception necessitates pleasure and pain, which necessitates appetite [Aristotle]
24057 What is prior is always potentially present in what is next in order [Aristotle]
16754 The soul is the cause or source of movement, the essence of body, and its end [Aristotle]
24058 The substance is the cause of a thing's being [Aristotle]
1725 Why can't we sense the senses? And why do senses need stimuli? [Aristotle]
1726 We may think when we wish, but not perceive, because universals are within the mind [Aristotle]
1727 Some objects of sensation are unique to one sense, where deception is impossible [Aristotle]
1728 Many objects of sensation are common to all the senses [Aristotle]
1729 We perceive number by the denial of continuity [Aristotle]
1730 Why do we have many senses, and not just one? [Aristotle]
1732 Sense organs aren't the end of sensation, or they would know what does the sensing [Aristotle]
1733 Thinking is not perceiving, but takes the form of imagination and speculation [Aristotle]
23307 Aristotle makes belief a part of reason, but sees desires as separate [Aristotle, by Sorabji]
16723 Perception of sensible objects is virtually never wrong [Aristotle]
5051 The intellect has potential to think, like a tablet on which nothing has yet been written [Aristotle]
4376 Pleasure and pain are perceptions of things as good or bad [Aristotle]
1734 In moral thought images are essential, to be pursued or avoided [Aristotle]
1735 In a way the soul is everything which exists, through its perceptions and thoughts [Aristotle]
24060 Self-controlled follow understanding, when it is opposed to desires [Aristotle]
1738 Practical reason is based on desire, so desire must be the ultimate producer of movement [Aristotle]
24061 If we divide the mind up according to its capacities, there are a lot of them [Aristotle]
1739 If all movement is either pushing or pulling, there must be a still point in between where it all starts [Aristotle]
24062 Self-moving animals must have desires, and that entails having imagination [Aristotle]
24063 What is born has growth, a prime, and a withering away [Aristotle]
1740 Nature does nothing in vain [Aristotle]
24064 If something is pushed, it pushes back [Aristotle]