Soul as Form according to Alexander of Aphrodisias Cover Image

Duše jako forma podle Alexandra z Afrodisiady
Soul as Form according to Alexander of Aphrodisias

Author(s): Matyáš Havrda
Subject(s): Philosophy
Published by: Univerzita Karlova v Praze, Nakladatelství Karolinum

Summary/Abstract: In this paper, Alexander’s view of the soul as an emergent form of a body is presented against the backdrop of the Galenic interpretation of the soul as a mixture of corporeal qualities . The paper argues that the two notions are not incompatible; rather, Alexander’s position is a more precisely thought-out version of the Galenic one . The thrust of the argument is the following: Alexander rejects the view that the soul is a mixture of bodies. Nevertheless, he admits that the soul arises from a mixture of ca- pacities-forms in the material substrate of the body, namely as a complex capacity-form in which they reach their perfection. This is not in conflict with the Galenic view – at least insofar as Galen’s mixture of corporeal qualities is not a mixture of bodies, and thus itself a body, but a mixture of corporeal forms, and thus itself a form. The weakness of Galen’s po- sition lies in his failure to render this point clear.

  • Issue Year: 2018
  • Issue No: 54
  • Page Range: 3-18
  • Page Count: 16
  • Language: Czech
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