Research Catalog

Aristotle on the sense-organs

Title: Aristotle on the sense-organs / T.K. Johansen.
Author: Johansen, T. K.
Publication: Cambridge ; New York, N.Y. : Cambridge University Press, 1998.

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Status	Format	Access	Call Number	Item Location
Request for On-site Use Request Scan How do I pick up this item and when will it be ready?	Text	Use in library	B491.P38 J64 1998	Off-site

Details

Description

xvi, 304 pages; 22 cm

Summary

This book offers an important study of Aristotle's theory of the sense-organs. It aims to answer two questions central to Aristotle's psychology and biology: why does Aristotle think we have sense-organs, and why does he describe the sense-organs in the way he does? The author looks at all the Aristotelian evidence for the five senses and shows how pervasively Aristotle's accounts of the sense-organs are motivated by his interest in form and function. The book also engages with the celebrated problem of whether perception for Aristotle requires material changes in the perceiver. It argues that, surprisingly to the modern philosopher, nothing in Aristotle's description of the sense-organs requires us to believe in such changes. The book should appeal to readers specifically interested in Aristotle's philosophy of mind and biology as well as to those generally interested in sense-perception--page 4 of cover.

Series Statement

Cambridge classical studies

Uniform Title

Cambridge classical studies.

Subject

Genre/Form

History

Note

Based on the author's thesis (Ph. D.)--Cambridge University, 1994.

Bibliography (note)

Includes bibliographical references (p. 292-297) and indexes.

Contents

1. Sight. 1. The argument. 2. How to explain the sense-organs. 3. Explanation from the top down. 4. The application of top-down explanation to sight. 5. The composition of the sense-organs in the De Sensu. 6. Aristotle versus Democritus. 7. The significance of Aristotle's criticism of Democritus. 8. Aristotle versus Empedocles and the Timaeus on the kore. 9. The membrane of the eye. 10. The poroi of the eye. 11. Eye colour -- 2. The medium. 1. Introduction. 2. What the medium has to be like if we are going to see the sense-object and not the medium. 3. What the medium has to be like if there is no perception by direct contact. 4. The medium as what sense-objects appear through and the medium as a causal link.

ISBN

0521583381
9780521583381
0521533381 (canceled/invalid)

LCCN

96046730

OCLC

ocm38040643
38040643
SCSB-9465991

Owning Institutions

Princeton University Library