說到「靈魂」, 不知道你想到的是什麼? 是某種精神性的、非物質的存有? 或者你會把它關連到宗教? 亞里斯多德的《論靈魂》談論靈魂, 然而它不預設迪卡爾式的心物二元論, 也和宗教沒有關係, 它讀起來比較像是生物學。

亞里斯多德認為, 生物(a living thing)包含了身體(body)和靈魂(soul)。身體具有發展出生命(life)的潛能, 靈魂是一種使得身體之為其所是的形式(form)。任何東西若具有智能(intellect)、知覺(perception)、移動(moving)、或滋養(nourishment)的能力, 則它是活的、有靈魂的。亞里斯多德把靈魂當做是這些能力的管理原則, 在Book II & Book III對這些能力加以定義和分析。II 4討論滋養的能力。所有生物, 包括植物, 皆有此能力。它是去繁殖、食用食物, 以使生物攝取營養和保存生命。II 5 - III 2討論知覺的能力、五種官能、可感知的對象等。所有動物皆有知覺的能力。亞里斯多德在III 3引進了想像力(imagination), 它既非感覺也非思想, 但卻連結了二者。從III 4開始, 亞里斯多德討論心靈(mind)和思考(thinking), III 9 & 10討論移動的能力, 並涉及了自由和意志薄弱等議題。從III 4開始一直至文末或許是本書最重要的篇章, 亞里斯多德在這裡分析了理論推論和實踐推論, 時至今日, 其想法仍深深影響許多哲學家。

在這門課, 我們讀《論靈魂》這本書。

When it comes to "soul", I don't know what you think of? Is it some kind of spiritual, non-material existence? Or do you associate it with religion? Aristotle's "On the Soul" talks about the soul, but it does not presuppose the Cartesian mind-matter dualism and has nothing to do with religion. It reads more like biology.

Aristotle believed that a living thing consists of body and soul. The body has the potential to develop life, and the soul is the form that makes the body what it is. Anything that has the ability to intellect, perceive, move, or nourish is alive and has a soul. Aristotle regarded the soul as the governing principle of these faculties, defining and analyzing them in Book II & Book III. II 4 discusses the ability to nourish. All living things, including plants, have this ability. It is to reproduce and eat food so that organisms can absorb nutrients and preserve life. II 5 - III 2 discuss the faculty of perception, the five senses, sensible objects, etc. All animals are capable of sentience. Aristotle introduced imagination in III 3, which is neither feeling nor thought, but connects the two. Starting in III 4, Aristotle discusses the mind and thinking, III 9 & 10 discuss the ability to move, and touches on issues such as freedom and weakness of will. Starting with III 4 and ending with perhaps the most important chapter of the book, Aristotle analyzes theoretical and practical inferences, and his ideas still deeply influence many philosophers today.

In this class, we read the book "On the Soul".

Aristotle, and Mark Shiffman. De Anima. Newburyport, MA: Focus/R. Pullins, 2011.

Aristotle, and Mark Shiffman. De Anima. Newburyport, MA: Focus/R. Pullins, 2011.