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AristotleOn the Soul
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Book 1Chapter Summaries & Analyses
Book 1, Chapter 1 Summary
Aristotle asserts that inquiry into the nature of the soul is “among the first kinds of knowledge” because it is “the first principle of living things” (126) and thus helps us understand nature and truth as a whole. However, it is difficult to find the proper method for investigating the soul. This is because one must first distinguish a number of things about the soul, such as whether it is a substance unto itself or a quality that inheres in something else, whether it has parts, whether it is actual (something that acts) or potential (something that is acted upon), whether all souls are the same, whether animal and human souls are different, and many other such things.
As a starting point, Aristotle declares that the affections of the soul (e.g., anger, fear) are inseparable from the body in the sense that they depend on the body for their operation. Moreover, one can analyze things like the affections by considering either their material operation or the rationale behind them. For example, anger can be defined as boiling of the blood or as the desire for revenge (129). Aristotle questions which of these two lines of inquiry belongs specifically to the philosopher.
Book 1, Chapter 2 Summary
Aristotle surveys previous philosophers’ beliefs about the soul. All these philosophers agree that the most distinctive characteristics of the soul are its ability to produce movement and perception and its being incorporeal (nonphysical). But they disagree about what the soul is composed of and about its relationship to mind. Some assert that soul and mind are the same, others that they are different. Some philosophers claim the soul is identical with one or more of the elements that compose the universe—earth, fire, water, or air.
Book 1, Chapter 3 Summary
Aristotle critiques previous philosophers’ beliefs about the soul. First, he considers the soul as that which produces movement. A thing can be said to move in two ways. Either it moves in itself or moves in connection with something else. An example is a boat with passengers in it: The boat moves in itself, but the passengers move insofar as they are inside the boat that is moving. The soul moves the body but does not itself move. It informs the body, giving it its form, shape, and nature.
Book 1, Chapter 4 Summary
Continuing his critique, Aristotle considers the theory that the soul is “a kind of harmony,” meaning a mixture or composition of opposites (144). Aristotle rejects this view because it would mean that there are as many souls as there are parts of the body, since each bodily part has a different composition and ratio of elements.
Further, we must avoid speaking of the soul as if it itself moves rather than produces motion in the body. Thus, it is not that the soul is happy, angry, etc. (Aristotle considers these emotions a type of movement or change) but that the human being has these emotions in virtue of the soul (146).
Further, bodily decay (another type of movement or change) does not involve the soul or mind but happens despite the soul, which itself is “divine,” “unaffected,” and “imperishable” (146).
Finally, Aristotle deals with the theory that the soul is a body, albeit “the most fine-grained and non-bodily body” (149). This cannot be the case because there cannot be two bodies in the same place.
Book 1, Chapter 5 Summary
Aristotle addresses the theory that the soul is composed of all the earthly elements. Some philosophers have proposed this theory to account for the fact that we can perceive the elements, on the assumption that like perceives like. There are several weaknesses in this theory. First, there are many more things in the physical universe besides the elements—namely, the things made up by the elements. Thus, all these other things would also have to be in the soul for it to perceive them. Aristotle considers such a notion absurd: “Who would seriously ponder whether there is in the soul stone or man?” (150). Thus, we cannot say that the soul consists of all things that exist in the external world. Moreover, the soul is the most primary thing that exists and so cannot consist of prior-existing things like the elements. Finally, the theory does not account for life-forms that do not have perception, such as plants.
Book 1 Analysis
Aristotle’s approach to introducing his subject shows his methodical and logical approach to philosophy in general. He begins by establishing the importance of the inquiry, which he regards as essential to understanding all natural life. Aristotle’s opening sentence reflects the “love of wisdom” for its own sake that was the basis of classical Greek philosophy:
Supposing that knowledge is one of the things that is fine and valuable, and one kind rather so than another either for its accuracy or by its being of better or more wonderful things, on both these grounds we would be right to place the inquiry into the soul among the first kinds of knowledge (126).
Aristotle also shows respect for philosophical precedent by devoting a good portion of Book 1 to reviewing the views of previous philosophers. He does this to provide a background to his own views, which differ in a number of respects from those of his predecessors. Some pre-Socratic philosophers, as well as Plato, viewed the soul as composed of the physical matter of the universe, particularly the four elements of earth, air, fire, and water. Aristotle, by contrast, insists that the soul is not made of physical matter. At the same time, Aristotle does not believe that soul is identical with mind and argues later that the faculties of perception and of thinking and reasoning are distinct. Aristotle also faults other philosophers for treating soul and body as overly distinct and for not giving an account of why they are joined, as if the union were purely by chance. Aristotle believes that the soul causes the body to act—suggesting a close union between the two—and that each soul is fitted to a body of a particular form and shape (143).
The main purpose of Book 1 is to impress on us the importance and scope of the subject of the soul and to review the opinions of Aristotle’s predecessors, which grounds his own views. In fact, Aristotle hints at his own views in critiquing his predecessors. He asserts that the soul is a unified entity, not a combination of the physical elements. Furthermore, the soul does not directly move the body but rather does this through various faculties. These faculties operate in a hierarchy, which Aristotle will explain throughout the rest of the work. Finally, Aristotle introduces the idea that when we perceive things, we take in their form without their matter; we do not actually absorb material elements into our soul but instead perceive what they are.
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