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Commentary on JSVMR 1

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Aristotle. On Youth and Old Age, Life and Death, and Respiration 1-6

Part of the book series: Studies in the History of Philosophy of Mind ((SHPM,volume 30))

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Abstract

JSVMR 1 takes the form of an introductory summary of the kind of background knowledge assumed for the present inquiry into the concept of life, and of those ideas that should be agreed upon in order for the new discussion to be based on accepted premises. Through the distinction between ‘living’ and ‘being an animal’, Aristotle delimits his exposition to that part of the soul which qualifies as the minimum requirement for life. The middle part of the body is put forward as a possible starting point for inquiry and is defined by reference to the spatial dimensions of front-back and up-down, which are closely related to the processes of sensation and nutrition. In this way, physiological characteristics are at the outset examined in parallel with the specific psychic parts.

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  1. Department of Philosophy and Religious Studies, Utrecht University, Utrecht, The Netherlands

    Giouli Korobili

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Korobili, G. (2022). Commentary on JSVMR 1. In: Aristotle. On Youth and Old Age, Life and Death, and Respiration 1-6. Studies in the History of Philosophy of Mind, vol 30. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-99966-7_3

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