Aristotle's Concept of the Self

aries totals concept of the self aristotle was undoubtedly the most brilliant student of plato yet ari's total diverged from most of plato's fundamental philosophies especially on the concept of the self as we may already know plato is sure that the true self is the soul not the body and to be specific the true self for plato is the rational soul which is separable from the body aristotle's concept of the self is quite the opposite aristotle's concept of the self is more complicated as he talked about so many things in this topic however there is one main theme in aristotle's narrative of the soul that guides us in understanding his concept of the self that is the human person is a rational animal in other words for aristotle the human person is simply an animal that thinks how did aristotle come up with the idea that the human person is just an animal that thinks well his idea of the soul provides the key aristotle defines the soul as the principle of life and as the principle of life it causes the body to live this explains why for aristotle all living beings have souls because for aristotle all living beings have souls then it follows that plants and animals in addition to humans have souls thus aristotle distinguishes three levels of soul namely vegetative soul sensitive soul and rational soul according to aristotle the vegetative soul is found in plants while the sensitive and rational souls are found in animals and humans respectively according to aristotle plants have souls because they possess the three basic requirements for something to be called a living being that is the capacity to grow reproduce and feed itself sensitive souls also grow reproduce and feed themselves but unlike vegetative souls sensitive souls are capable of sensation finally rational souls grow reproduce feed themselves and feel but unlike the sensitive souls rational souls are capable of thinking according to aristotle this highest level of soul is present only in humans since humans possess all the characteristics of animals that is the capacity to grow reproduce feed itself and feel in addition to being rational aristotle concludes that the human person is just an animal that thinks as aaron's total famous dictum of the human person goes man is a rational animal again this explains why for aristotle the human person is just an animal that thinks now for aristotle the human person is not a soul distinct from the body as plato would have us believe aristotle argues that the self or the human person is a composite of body and soul and that the two are inseparable aristotle's concept of the self therefore was constructed in terms of hilomorphism aristotle views the soul as the form of the human body and as form of the body the soul is the very structure of the human body which allows humans to perform activities of life such as thinking willing imagining desiring and perceiving while aristotle believes that the human person is essentially body and soul he was led to interpret the true self of humans as the soul that animates the body however aristotle believes that the body is as important as the soul as it serves as matter to the soul although aristotle contends that the soul is the form of the body he did not argue for the primacy of the former over the latter again aristotle's concept of the self is hyaluromorphic that is the self or the human person is composed of body and soul the two are inseparable thus we cannot talk about the self with a soul only or a self with a body only for aristotle the self is essentially body and soul indeed for aristotle the self is a unified creature

Channel: PHILO-notes

Views: 41,576

Keywords: Aristotle's Concept of the Self, Aristotle's Philosophy of the Self, Aristotle's Philosophy About the Self, Aristotle Concept of the Self, Aristotle Philosophy of the Self, Aristotle's Idea of the Self, Aristotle Idea of the Self, The Self According to Aristotle, Understanding the Self, Philosophical Perspective of the Self

Id: JQ04vU8b5YE

Length: 5min 53sec (353 seconds)

Published: Sat Oct 24 2020