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Single Idea 8006

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

Full Idea

When Aristotle speaks of the soul we could very often retain his meaning by speaking of personality.

Gist of Idea

When Aristotle speaks of soul he means something like personality

Source

Alasdair MacIntyre (A Short History of Ethics [1967], Ch. 7)

Book Ref

MacIntyre,Alasdair: 'A Short History of Ethics' [Routledge 1967], p.64


A Reaction

MacIntyre contrasts this strongly with Plato's dualist view. Famously Aristotle thinks the soul is the 'form' of the body, but this implies that he also includes the higher-level functions of the body. Soul is character?


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

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