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1 - In the World As It Is There Can Be but the Five Senses

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  18 December 2009

Ronald Polansky
Affiliation:
Duquesne University, Pittsburgh
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Summary

Though the divisions of Aristotle's treatises into chapters cannot be attributed to Aristotle himself, and even division into books may derive from editors, the present division of books 2 and 3 of the De anima, in spite of the fact that the subject is still sense perception, seems appropriate. Book 2 carries out completely the project of a general account of sense perception applying to the five particular senses (see 416b32–33 and 424a17–19). Chapters 5 and 6 suggest that this general account must concentrate upon sense in terms of the proper sensibles (see 418a24–25), and subsequent chapters elaborate upon perception of the proper sensibles through media and sense organs. Thus book 2 demarcates the formal and material components of sense perception of each of the five senses. Book 3 introduces a new line of reflection upon sense perception, turning to the interconnection of the five senses and their relation with other faculties of soul. The opening two chapters deepen the general understanding of sense perception as well as prepare for the coming discussion of intellect and progressive motion. Book 2 could seem quite narrow in its limitation of perception to distinct ranges of sensible objects such as white or sweet; the reflection upon the interrelation of the senses in book 3 enters somewhat more into the lived experience of percipient beings that includes perception of common sensibles, accidental sensibles, and the whole field of perceptible things.

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Chapter
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Aristotle's De Anima
A Critical Commentary
, pp. 361 - 379
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2007

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