Body and Soul: Essays on Aristotle's Hylomorphism

Body and Soul: Essays on Aristotle's Hylomorphism is a collection of previously published essays by Jennifer Whiting, exploring Aristotle's accounts of the body-soul relationship and practical reason. It presents Aristotle's conception of the soul as the form and essence of an organic body and discusses how this solution addresses Presocratic puzzles about the distinction between individual substances and their alteration. The remaining essays account for deficiencies in rational animal lives by appealing to Aristotle's teleology, which emphasizes formal and final causes when things go as they should and material-efficient causes when things go wrong. Whiting argues that phronêsis is the proper form of the desiring part of the soul, which is one with the practically reasoning part when things go well.

Format: Unspecified
Length: 312 pages
Publication date: 10 October 2023
Publisher: Oxford University Press Inc

"Body and Soul: Essays on Aristotle's Hylomorphism" is a collection of previously published essays by Jennifer Whiting, consisting of two sets of essays. The first set explores Aristotle's account of the relationship between an animal's body and soul, where the body is seen as the material counterpart to the soul, forming a unity (hulê) and shape (morphê). In the second set, Whiting examines Aristotle's conception of practical reason as the appropriate form of human desire.

In the first set, Whiting presents Aristotle's view of the soul as the form and essence of a living body, addressing the Presocratic puzzles about the distinction between the coming-to-be and passing-away of individual substances. This solution involves recognizing that each animal within a species possesses its own numerically distinct individual form, which exists when and only when it does. This approach departs from traditional species forms that are conceived as fixed and universal.

The remaining essays in the collection explore various deficiencies in the lives of rational animals by appealing to the explanatory asymmetries provided by Aristotle's teleology. According to Aristotle, formal and final causes dominate when things proceed as they should, while material-efficient causes prevail when things go wrong. Whiting demonstrates how Aristotle traces the origins of akratic and other defective forms of action to the failure of desires to be fully mastered by the activities of reason.

Whiting argues that phronêsis, which refers to practical reason, is the proper form of the desiring part of the soul. When things go well, the phronêsis aligns with the practically reasoning part of the soul, resulting in harmonious action. By understanding the relationship between body and soul in this way, Whiting offers insights into Aristotle's philosophy of ethics and practical reason, contributing to the ongoing discussion and interpretation of his works.

Weight: 612g
Dimension: 165 x 243 x 26 (mm)
ISBN-13: 9780197666005