Evaluate Aristotle's soul - SM&B Flashcards
Introduction - define key terms
Aristotle believed that the soul was inseparable from the body, and that the soul is what gives the body its ‘essence’
Section 1: theme
The body and soul are inseparable
Section 1: AO1
INSEPERABLE
Whilst there is a soul, the soul and the body cannot be separated from each other. He uses the example of a wax seal to explain this point The imprint from a seal or ring cannot be separated from the wax in which it is imprinted. This is like the inseparable body and soul: both matter (the material or wax) and form (the shape of the seal) are needed to make it what it is
Section 1: AO2 FOR
INSEPERABLE
If the body and the soul are inseparable there is no need to assume that there is life after death. The soul dies along with the body.
-Perhaps this explains the physical changes observed when someone dies as the soul dies as well as the body
The argument from opposites seems to be an assumption. For example, not everything has an opposite, e.g. what would be the opposite of the colour blue? There is no need to assume that the soul exists or is the opposite of the body
Section 1: AO2 AGAINST
INSEPERABLE
Argument from opposites: Every quality comes into being from its own opposite e.g. for something to be big something must be small. This would mean that life comes from death and death comes from life in an endless chain of death and rebirth. The soul must therefore live on so it can be reborn
materialists would argue that there is no need to assume something extra (a soul). A dead person looks different as they are no longer having blood pumped around their body and receiving O2 and nutrients
Section 2: theme
Soul as an essence
Section 2: AO1
ESSENCE
The soul is a ‘substance’ which is the ‘essence’ of a thing. Whilst the physical body changes (the material cause) the ‘substance’ of a person stays the same, in terms of continuing identity (the formal cause) which are the shape and characteristics that make it what it is
Section 2: AO2 FOR
ESSENCE
The soul is essential as it is the formal cause of the body – its characteristics. For example, the blade and handle of an axe are like the body; the form or soul is its ability to chop. The axe would not be an axe with only the matter, it needs the form (or soul) to be what it is.
Anscombe: Although the action of pointing at an object is physical, it does explain the reason why we have pointed, or the intention behind the action. Intention could be linked to the soul because it shows there is more to me than just physical actions.
Section 2: AO2 AGAINST
ESSENCE
Materialists would argue that we are made of physical matter only and there is no need to assume that there is something extra, or immaterial, inside that is a soul
Section 3: theme
Aristotle identified three faculties of the soul
Section 3: AO1
TYPES OF SOUL
Aristotle identified three faculties of the soul. He thought that every living thing had a soul, which contained one or more of the faculties.
-Vegetative: growing
-Appetitive: Ability to act and fulfil desires such as find food
-Rational: Ability to reason
Therefore, a plant would have a vegetative soul, a lion could have both vegetative and appetitive souls, whereas humans have all three faculties of the soul.
Section 3: AO2 FOR
TYPES OF SOUL
However idea of a soul as a metaphor without a hierarchy in all living things perhaps helps explain consciousness and how we are different from each other/ there is something important about our existence
Section 3: AO2 AGAINST
TYPES OF SOUL
No empirical evidence to prove that each living thing has a different soul it is just an assumption based on observation that could be wrong and explainable by other things
Aristotle argument that humans are the only animal with the faculty of reason is faulty as other animals can reason too. An ape was photographed using a stick to gauge the depth of water before it crossed a river
