The Cambridge Companion to Aristotle's Biology

About this book

Aristotle's voluminous writings on animals have often been marginalised in the history of philosophy. Providing the first full-length comprehensive account of Aristotle's biology, its background, content and influence, this Companion situates his study of living nature within his broader philosophy and theology and differentiates it from other medical and philosophical theories. An overview of empiricism in Aristotle's Historia Animalium is followed by an account of the general methodology recommended in the Parts of Animals. An account of the importance of Aristotle's teleological perspective and the fundamental metaphysics of biological entities provides a basis for understanding living capacities, such as nutrition, reproduction, perception and self-motion, in his philosophy. The importance of Aristotle's zoology to both his ethics and political philosophy is highlighted. The Cambridge Companion to Aristotle's Biology explores in detail the changing interpretations and influences of Aristotle's biological works from antiquity to modern philosophy of science. It is essential for both students and scholars.

Contents

Introduction / Sophia M. Connell

1. Biology and Theology in Aristotle's Theoretical and Practical Sciences / Monte Ransome Johnson
2. The Presocratics, Plato and Aristotle's Biology / Karel Thein
3. Aristotle's Biology and Early Medicine / Hynek Bartos
4. Empiricism and Hearsay in Aristotle's Zoological Collection of Facts / Mariska Leunissen
5. Parts of Animals Book 1 on Methods of Inquiry / Devin Henry
6. Teleological Perspectives in Aristotle's Biology / Jessica Gelber
7. Aristotle's Biological Metaphysics / Charlotte Witt
8. Life-cycles and the Actions of Nutritive Soul in Aristotle / R. A. H. King
9. Aristotle on Animal Generation and Hereditary Resemblance / Sophia M. Connell
10. The Science of Perception in Aristotle / Cynthia Freeland
11. Aristotle's Theory of Animal Agency and the Problem of Self-motion / Klaus Corcillus
12. Animal Cognition in Aristotle / Sophia M. Connell
13. Elements of Biology in Aristotle's Political Science / Elena Cagnoli Fiecconi
14. The Early Reception of Aristotle's Biology / Myrto Hatzimichali
15. The Reception of Aristotle's Biology in Late Antiquity and Beyond / Andrea Falcon
16. Aristotelian Teleology and Philosophy of Biology in the Darwinian Era / David Depew
17. Aristotle and Contemporary Biology / Denis Walsh

Afterword / James G. Lennox

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Biography

Sophia M. Connell is Senior Lecturer in Philosophy at Birkbeck College, University of London. She is the author of Aristotle on Female Animals: A Study of the Generation of Animals (Cambridge, 2016), and has published papers on Aristotle's biology, ancient political theory and virtue ethics. She represents Ancient Philosophy on the Committee of the British Society for the History of Philosophy and is Associate Editor of the British Journal for the History of Philosophy.


Contributors:
- Sophia M. Connell
- Monte Ransome Johnson
- Karel Thein
- Hynek Bartos
- Mariska Leunissen
- Devin Henry
- Jessica Gelber
- Charlotte Witt
- R. A. H. King
- Cynthia Freeland
- Klaus Corcillus
- Elena Cagnoli Fiecconi
- Myrto Hatzimichali
- Andrea Falcon
- David Depew
- Denis Walsh
- James G. Lennox