back to ideas for this text


Single Idea 1717

[from 'De Anima' by Aristotle, in 15. Nature of Minds / A. Nature of Mind / 5. Unity of Mind ]

Full Idea

If the soul is composed of parts of the body, or the harmony of the elements composing the body, there will be many souls, and everywhere in the body.

Clarification

'Soul' is the Greek word 'psuché', which covers mind and consciousness and life

Gist of Idea

If the soul is composed of many physical parts, it can't be a true unity

Source

Aristotle (De Anima [c.329 BCE], 408a15)

Book Reference

Aristotle: 'De Anima (On the Soul)', ed/tr. Lawson-Tancred,H.C. [Penguin 1986], p.145


A Reaction

We will ignore "everywhere in the body", but the rest seems to me exactly right. The idea of the unity of the soul is an understandable and convenient assumption, but it leads to all sorts of confusion. A crowd remains unified if half its members leave.