I don't have a book reference -- I actually lost my collection of books, which I intend to replace once I get the time and motivation.* By Aristotelian philosophy I mean both the philosophy of Aristotle and of those who generally are considered to subscribe to Aristotle's system. — banana peel
I believe there's essence in every entity -- what it is that necessarily belongs to an entity for its identity. The appleness of apple, for example.which part of Aristotelian philosophy convinces you the most or which one you find it the hardest to argue against. — banana peel
In the Aristotelian scheme, nous is the basic understanding or awareness that allows human beings to think rationally. For Aristotle, this was distinct from the processing of sensory perception, including the use of imagination and memory, which other animals can do. This therefore connects discussion of nous to discussion of how the human mind sets definitions in a consistent and communicable way, and whether people must be born with some innate potential to understand the same universal categories in the same logical ways. Deriving from this it was also sometimes argued, especially in classical and medieval philosophy, that the individual nous must require help of a spiritual and divine type (a.k.a ‘illumination’). By this type of account, it came to be argued that the human understanding (nous) somehow stems from this cosmic nous, which is however not just a recipient of order, but a creator of it.
Get involved in philosophical discussions about knowledge, truth, language, consciousness, science, politics, religion, logic and mathematics, art, history, and lots more. No ads, no clutter, and very little agreement — just fascinating conversations.