The Place of Intellect in Aristotle

Proceedings of the American Catholic Philosophical Association 80:57-75 (2006)
  Copy   BIBTEX

Abstract

This paper explores Aristotle’s account of the human intellect, with special emphasis on how this account relates to Aristotle’s treatment of nature. In his complex account of the intellect, Aristotle distinguishes very broadly between two types of intellection. One type (nous) involves the reception of what things are and is non-discursive in character, while the other type (dianoia) is the result of intellectual activity and is discursive in character. While Aristotle affirms that both types of thinking are distinctive and essential functions of the intellect, it is also clear that dianoia presupposes nous, insofar as dianoia assumes as given what nous has received. This paper also investigates Aristotle’s account of truth, arguing that the very principles of the intellect’s functioning are naturally given to the intellect. Given Aristotle’s account of the intellect as well as his account of truth and the principle of non-contradiction, one can see that, for Aristotle, nature has a primacy relative to the intellect

Links

PhilArchive



    Upload a copy of this work     Papers currently archived: 90,221

External links

Setup an account with your affiliations in order to access resources via your University's proxy server

Through your library

Similar books and articles

Aristotle’s Immortal Intellect.Mark Amorose - 2001 - Proceedings of the American Catholic Philosophical Association 75:97-106.
Aquinas and Themistius on Intellect.Lorelle Lamascus - 2006 - Proceedings of the American Catholic Philosophical Association 80:255-273.
Abstraction in al-Fârâbî.Richard C. Taylor - 2006 - Proceedings of the American Catholic Philosophical Association 80:151-168.

Analytics

Added to PP
2009-01-28

Downloads
70 (#211,298)

6 months
4 (#315,908)

Historical graph of downloads
How can I increase my downloads?

Citations of this work

No citations found.

Add more citations

References found in this work

No references found.

Add more references