The Science of Life in Aristotle and the Early Peripatos

Series: 

Volume Editor:
David Lefebvre
This volume of fourteen essays explores the biology of Aristotle and the Early Peripatos (Theophrastus and the Physical Problems) in its various dimensions—how the study of the soul contributes to the foundation of the science of perishable life, what is the program of this science and its main explanatory strategies, whether it be the explanation of natural generation or the relationship of the animal to its surroundings. But the authors also explore what might be, to Aristotle, the unity of life, not only that of animals and plants, but also that of celestial bodies and the Prime Mover.
Copyright Year:
2025
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ISBN:
978-90-04-71172-3
Publication:
27 Dec 2024
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ISBN:
978-90-04-71168-6
Publication:
27 Dec 2024
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David Lefebvre, Ph.D. (Sorbonne 2000), is Professor of Ancient Philosophy at Sorbonne University. He has published on Aristotle, the Peripatos and Aristotle’s biology, including a French translation of his treatise On the Generation of Animals (2014).
Presentation
Abbreviations
Notes on Contributors

Part 1: From the Study of the Soul to the Study of Perishable Life in Aristotle and Theophrastus


1 Life and Soul in Aristotle’s De Anima
 Sean Kelsey

2 The Soul Itself in Aristotle’s Science of Living Things
 Klaus Corcilius

3 The Peripatetic Study of Perishable Life: Prospects and Limits
 Andrea Falcon

4 The Minimal Requisites of Life in Aristotle and Theophrastus
 Luciana Repici

Part 2: Explaining Perishable Living Things


5 Perittôma vs. Suntêgma: Was Aristotle Unfair in Equating Pangenesis with the “Seed as Suntêgma” Theory?
 Claire Louguet

6 How Does a Living Animal Come to Be from Semen? The Puzzles of Aristotle’s Generation of Animals II 1–3
 Sophia M. Connell

7 All around the Body: Organism and Surrounding Environment in Aristotle
 Pierre-Marie Morel

8 Living and Well-Living in Aristotle’s Zoology
 Andrea Libero Carbone

9 Simple Solutions to Complex Problems: Spontaneous Generation in [Aristotle], Problemata physica X
 Robert Mayhew

10 Aristotle, Generation of Animals III 11: in Search of a Place for the Fourth Kind of Living Being
 David Lefebvre

Part 3: Life beyond Perishable Lives: Aristotle on the Unity of Life


11 Perishable and Imperishable Lives: Aristotle’s Analogy with the Heavenly Element in GA II 3.736b29–737a5
 Diana Quarantotto

12 “We Think of the Stars as Mere Bodies”: Aristotle’s Epistemological Confrontation with the Academy on Heavenly Bodies
 Mai-Lan Boureau

13 The Life of Aristotle’s Prime Mover: Metaphysics Λ 7.1072b26–30
 Fabienne Baghdassarian

Coda: Aristotle’s Biology and Modern Biology


14 Can Aristotle Be Considered a Biologist?
 Pierre Pellegrin

Index nominum

Index locorum
This volume is of interest to graduate students in Ancient Philosophy, especially Aristotelian studies; researchers, academics, specialists in Classics and Ancient Philosophy, and university libraries.

The subject areas covered are Aristotle's physics, Aristotelian psychology, biology, and zoology, but also Theophrastus' botany, Aristotle's metaphysics, and the philosophy of life in general.
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