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Single Idea 24051

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

Full Idea

Three ways have been handed down in which people define the soul: what is most capable of moving things, since it moves itself; or a body which is the most fine-grained and least corporeal; or that it is composed of the elements.

Gist of Idea

Soul is seen as what moves, or what is least physical, or a combination of elements

Source

Aristotle (De Anima [c.329 BCE], 409b19)

Book Ref

Aristotle: 'De Anima (on the psuche)', ed/tr. Reeve, C.D.C. [Hackett 2017], p.16

A Reaction

A nice example of Aristotle beginning an investigation by idenfying the main explanations which have been 'handed down' from previous generations. These three aren't really in competition, and might all be true.

The 27 ideas with the same theme [Greek concept of the mind/soul/life]:

5882 Democritus says soul consists of smooth round bodies brought together in accidental collision [Democritus, by Cicero]
6034 Atomists say soul has a rational part in the chest, and a diffused non-rational part [Democritus, by Aetius]
20912 The soul is the same as the mind [Democritus, by Aristotle]
13781 Soul causes the body to live, and gives it power to breathe and to be revitalized [Plato]
21260 Soul is what is defined by 'self-generating motion' [Plato]
9296 The soul is self-motion [Plato]
6009 Psychic conflict is clear if appetite is close to the body and reason fairly separate [Plato, by Modrak]
6041 There is a third element to the mind - spirit - lying between reason and appetite [Plato]
5962 Plato says the soul is ordered by number [Plato, by Plutarch]
5880 Xenocrates held that the soul had no form or substance, but was number [Xenocrates, by Cicero]
5507 Aristotle led to the view that there are several souls, all somewhat physical [Aristotle, by Martin/Barresi]
24051 Soul is seen as what moves, or what is least physical, or a combination of elements [Aristotle]
12086 Psuché is the form and actuality of a body which potentially has life [Aristotle]
16754 The soul is the cause or source of movement, the essence of body, and its end [Aristotle]
5146 Everything that receives nourishment has a vegetative soul, with it own distinctive excellence [Aristotle]
5147 In a controlled person the receptive part of the soul is obedient, and it is in harmony in the virtuous [Aristotle]
5148 The irrational psuché is persuadable by reason - shown by our criticism and encouragement of people [Aristotle]
5232 If beings are dominated by appetite, this can increase so much that it drives out reason [Aristotle]
14041 The soul is fine parts distributed through the body, resembling hot breath [Epicurus]
6035 Soul is made of four stuffs, giving warmth, rest, motion and perception [Epicurus, by Aetius]
14526 The rational soul is in the chest, and the non-rational soul is spread through the body [Epicurus]
23267 Stoics say the soul is a mixture of air and fire [Stoic school, by Galen]
23321 Division of the soul divides a person, reducing responsibility for the nonrational part [Stoic school, by Frede,M]
5879 The soul is the heart, or blood in the heart, or part of the brain, of something living in heart or brain, or breath [Cicero]
5960 When the soul is intelligent and harmonious, it is part of god and derives from god [Plutarch]
5959 Some philosophers say the soul is light [Plutarch]
8006 When Aristotle speaks of soul he means something like personality [MacIntyre]