Aristotle on Pneuma and Animal Self-Motion

Bibliographic Data

ID23169705
AuthorsSylvia Berryman (corresponding author)
Year2002
Pages85-97
Publication date2002-10-31
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessNo
TypeCHAPTER
VenueOxford Studies in Ancient Philosophy: Volume XXIII (SOURCE_BOOK)
PublisherOxford University PressOxford (PUBLISHER)
DOI10.1093/oso/9780199259083.003.0003
OpenAlexW3152013453
ISBN9780199259083
LanguageEN
Citations received17

One puzzle surrounding Aristotle’s work De motu animalium is the function ascribed to pneuma. Why, in accounting for animal motion, does Aristotle make use of a material that is elsewhere compared to aither, the stuff of the stars? A second puzzle-one that has received more attention in recent literature-is why, in Physics 8, Aristotle calls animals ‘self-movers’ if their motion is caused by something external. A number of scholars exploring Aristotle’s reasons for assigning a particular status to animal motion have proposed philosophically sophisticated accounts of the sense in which animals have a particular responsibility for their own motion. Without denying the value of these accounts for understanding action, I suggest that Aristotle’s reason for calling animals self-movers is much simpler than that proposed in the recent literature. I also propose that his reason for calling animals self-movers is critical to understanding the role of pneuma in the account of animal motion.

Action (physics) · Biology · Classical mechanics · Epistemology · Evolutionary biology · Function (biology) · Motion (physics) · Physics · Classical Philosophy and Thought · Historical, Religious, and Philosophical Studies · Medieval and Classical Philosophy · Philosophy

Tools

Open DOILibgen