D M Balme
Biographic Data
| ID | 1081946 |
|---|---|
| NAME | D M Balme |
| GIVEN NAMES | D M |
| FAMILY NAME | Balme |
| SIGNATURE | BALME D M |
| AFFILIATIONS | 1Queen Mary College, London |
| VERIFIED | No |
| TOTAL WORKS | 14 |
| TOTAL CITATIONS | 13 |
| AUTHOR COUNT | 13 |
| EDITOR COUNT | 1 |
| FIRST PUBLICATION YEAR | 1939 |
| LATEST PUBLICATION YEAR | 1987 |
| H-INDEX | 3 |
The place of biology in Aristotle's philosophy
The first difficulty in reading Aristotle's biological treatises, as often in reading Aristotle, may well be to decide exactly what their purpose is. They are so factual and so comprehensive that it is easy to mistake them for descriptive information, an animal encyclopaedia, as the ancients regarded them. Modern readers have tried to assimilate them to present-day categories, classifying the HA as natural history, the PA as comparative anatomy, …
Teleology and necessity
The chief difficulty that final causes present to modern philosophers lies in reconciling them with what Aristotle calls 'necessity', that is the automatic interactions of the physical elements. It is difficult to see, first, how laws of nature can be directed towards goals and still remain 'necessary'; and, secondly, what could be the author and the means of such direction. The modern cybernetic model, and the concept of elaborate genetic coding…
Aristotle's biology was not essentialist
The kind of essentialism that has been attributed to Aristotle's biology either identifies form and species, or recognizes individual forms merely as variations from a basic specific form. The essentialist holds in particular that each animal's growth is directed primarily towards the form of the species; that its essence prescribes its form; and that animal form excludes material accidents such as eye color.
Aristotle's use of division and differentiae
Aristotle's comments on logical division (diairesis) evidently refer to a more regular method than the examples given in Plato's late dialogues, but unfortunately no reliable evidence survives of Academic practice between the dialogues and Aristotle's Topics. We cannot know how much of the rules that Aristotle lays down may represent a codification of existing methods, and how much is correction of them. It is clear, however, that the criticisms …
Aristotle’s Biology was not Essentialist
The kind of essentialism that has been attributed to Aristotle's biology either identifies form and species, or recognizes individual forms merely as variations from a basic specific form. The essentialist holds in particular that each animal's growth is directed primarily towards the form of the species; that its essence prescribes its form; and that animal form excludes material accidents such as eye color. These views, although apparently supp…
Aristotle's De Partibus Animalium I and De Generatione Animalium I (With Passages from II. 1-3)
In De Partibus Animalium I Aristotle sets out his philosophy of biology, discussing cause, necessity, soul, genus and species, definition by logical division, and general methodology. In De Generatione Animalium I he applies his hylomorphic philosophy to the problem of animal reproduction. This accurate translation includes passages from De Generatione Animalium II that complete Aristotle's theory of reproduction and notes that interpret his argu…
Opere biologiche . Aristotele, Diego Lanza, Mario Vegetti
Aristotle's de Partibus Animalium I and De Generatione Animalium I
The Pseudo-Hippocratic Tract Peri Hebdomadon Chapters 1-11 and Greek Philosophy . J. Mansfeld
Clarendon Aristotle Series: De Partibus Animalium I and De Generatione Animalium I: with passages from Book II. 1–3 (Revised Edition)
Development of Biology in Aristotle and Theophrastus
IN THE Metaphysics Aristotle quite often uses biological examples, but they seem to be taken from general knowledge rather than from his own biological works as we now have them. This is shown by the numerous small discrepancies, and especially by the difference in his views of generation and of spontaneity. The difference is such as to suggest that the views expressed in the Metaphysics are earlier than those in de Generatione Animalium, which i…
ΓΕΝΟΣ and ΕΙΔΟΣ in Aristotle's Biology
It is not certain when or by whom and were first technically distinguished as genus and species . The distinction does not appear in Plato's extant writings, whereas Aristotle seems to take it for granted in the Topics , which is usually regarded as among his earliest treatises. In his dialogues Plato seems able to use interchangeably to denote any group or division in a diairesis, including the group that is to be divided
Greek Science and Mechanism II. The Atomists
The principle that a moving body must continue to move unless something stops it was not known to Aristotle nor even unconsciously assumed by him. The effect of this ignorance upon his philosophy was discussed in C.Q. 1939, p. 129 f. It forbade him to conceive of a mechanist theory in the nineteenth-century sense. It enabled him to hold, what must seem self-contradictory to us, that all events have definable causes without there being a universal…
Greek Science and Mechanism I. Aristotle on Nature and Chance
An abstract is not available for this content so a preview has been provided. Please use the Get access link above for information on how to access this content
ΓΕΝΟΣ and ΕΙΔΟΣ in Aristotle's Biology
It is not certain when or by whom and were first technically distinguished as genus and species . The distinction does not appear in Plato's extant writings, whereas Aristotle seems to take it for granted in the Topics , which is usually regarded as among his earliest treatises. In his dialogues Plato seems able to use interchangeably to denote any group or division in a diairesis, including the group that is to be divided
Development of Biology in Aristotle and Theophrastus
IN THE Metaphysics Aristotle quite often uses biological examples, but they seem to be taken from general knowledge rather than from his own biological works as we now have them. This is shown by the numerous small discrepancies, and especially by the difference in his views of generation and of spontaneity. The difference is such as to suggest that the views expressed in the Metaphysics are earlier than those in de Generatione Animalium, which i…
Greek Science and Mechanism I. Aristotle on Nature and Chance
An abstract is not available for this content so a preview has been provided. Please use the Get access link above for information on how to access this content
Greek Science and Mechanism II. The Atomists
The principle that a moving body must continue to move unless something stops it was not known to Aristotle nor even unconsciously assumed by him. The effect of this ignorance upon his philosophy was discussed in C.Q. 1939, p. 129 f. It forbade him to conceive of a mechanist theory in the nineteenth-century sense. It enabled him to hold, what must seem self-contradictory to us, that all events have definable causes without there being a universal…
Greek Science and Mechanism I. Aristotle on Nature and Chance
An abstract is not available for this content so a preview has been provided. Please use the Get access link above for information on how to access this content
Greek Science and Mechanism II. The Atomists
The principle that a moving body must continue to move unless something stops it was not known to Aristotle nor even unconsciously assumed by him. The effect of this ignorance upon his philosophy was discussed in C.Q. 1939, p. 129 f. It forbade him to conceive of a mechanist theory in the nineteenth-century sense. It enabled him to hold, what must seem self-contradictory to us, that all events have definable causes without there being a universal…
Development of Biology in Aristotle and Theophrastus
IN THE Metaphysics Aristotle quite often uses biological examples, but they seem to be taken from general knowledge rather than from his own biological works as we now have them. This is shown by the numerous small discrepancies, and especially by the difference in his views of generation and of spontaneity. The difference is such as to suggest that the views expressed in the Metaphysics are earlier than those in de Generatione Animalium, which i…
ΓΕΝΟΣ and ΕΙΔΟΣ in Aristotle's Biology
It is not certain when or by whom and were first technically distinguished as genus and species . The distinction does not appear in Plato's extant writings, whereas Aristotle seems to take it for granted in the Topics , which is usually regarded as among his earliest treatises. In his dialogues Plato seems able to use interchangeably to denote any group or division in a diairesis, including the group that is to be divided
Clarendon Aristotle Series: De Partibus Animalium I and De Generatione Animalium I: with passages from Book II. 1–3 (Revised Edition)
The Pseudo-Hippocratic Tract Peri Hebdomadon Chapters 1-11 and Greek Philosophy . J. Mansfeld
Opere biologiche . Aristotele, Diego Lanza, Mario Vegetti
Aristotle's de Partibus Animalium I and De Generatione Animalium I
Aristotle's De Partibus Animalium I and De Generatione Animalium I (With Passages from II. 1-3)
In De Partibus Animalium I Aristotle sets out his philosophy of biology, discussing cause, necessity, soul, genus and species, definition by logical division, and general methodology. In De Generatione Animalium I he applies his hylomorphic philosophy to the problem of animal reproduction. This accurate translation includes passages from De Generatione Animalium II that complete Aristotle's theory of reproduction and notes that interpret his argu…
Aristotle’s Biology was not Essentialist
The kind of essentialism that has been attributed to Aristotle's biology either identifies form and species, or recognizes individual forms merely as variations from a basic specific form. The essentialist holds in particular that each animal's growth is directed primarily towards the form of the species; that its essence prescribes its form; and that animal form excludes material accidents such as eye color. These views, although apparently supp…
The place of biology in Aristotle's philosophy
The first difficulty in reading Aristotle's biological treatises, as often in reading Aristotle, may well be to decide exactly what their purpose is. They are so factual and so comprehensive that it is easy to mistake them for descriptive information, an animal encyclopaedia, as the ancients regarded them. Modern readers have tried to assimilate them to present-day categories, classifying the HA as natural history, the PA as comparative anatomy, …
Teleology and necessity
The chief difficulty that final causes present to modern philosophers lies in reconciling them with what Aristotle calls 'necessity', that is the automatic interactions of the physical elements. It is difficult to see, first, how laws of nature can be directed towards goals and still remain 'necessary'; and, secondly, what could be the author and the means of such direction. The modern cybernetic model, and the concept of elaborate genetic coding…
Aristotle's biology was not essentialist
The kind of essentialism that has been attributed to Aristotle's biology either identifies form and species, or recognizes individual forms merely as variations from a basic specific form. The essentialist holds in particular that each animal's growth is directed primarily towards the form of the species; that its essence prescribes its form; and that animal form excludes material accidents such as eye color.
Aristotle's use of division and differentiae
Aristotle's comments on logical division (diairesis) evidently refer to a more regular method than the examples given in Plato's late dialogues, but unfortunately no reliable evidence survives of Academic practice between the dialogues and Aristotle's Topics. We cannot know how much of the rules that Aristotle lays down may represent a codification of existing methods, and how much is correction of them. It is clear, however, that the criticisms …
Classical Philosophy and Thought (13 works) · Philosophy (12 works) · Epistemology (9 works) · Biology (5 works) · Computer Science (5 works) · Philosophy (5 works) · Art (4 works) · Classics (3 works) · Evolutionary biology (3 works) · Historical, Religious, and Philosophical Studies (3 works)