The Philosophical vs Practical Mind The part of the soul which is possessed of reason has two divisions, of which one is the deliberative faculty, the other the faculty by which we know. That they are different from one another will be evident from their subject-matter. For as colour and flavour and sound and smell are different from one another, so also nature has rendered the senses whereby we perceive […]
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“Economics” by Aristotle
The Source of Wealth Of occupations attendant on our goods and chattels, those come first which are natural. Among these precedence is given to the one which cultivates the land; those like mining, which extract wealth from it, take the second place. Agriculture is the most honest of all such occupations; seeing that the wealth it brings is not derived from other men. Herein it is distinguished from trade and […]
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“Eudemian Ethics” by Aristotle
Socrates the Snake Charmer In Book I of Eudemian Ethics, Aristotle makes a constructive criticism of Socrates for once, rightly pointing out that knowing (objectively) what is good and just is not the same as being good and just. [Socrates] thought that all the virtues are forms of knowledge, so that knowing justice and being just must go together, for as soon as we have learnt geometry and architecture, we […]
Read more“Ennead II” by Plotinus
Plotinus’ Universe Simply put, Plotinus’ conception of the universe is an ensouled body. It is soul, because it is self-containing and remaining still; it is body, because the natural movement of body is in a straight line, but when it is contained by the power of the soul, it moves in a circle (geodesic), always remaining in possession of the soul. The circular or spherical motion combines both the stillness […]
Read more“Ennead I” by Plotinus
What is Consciousness One of the things that came to mind when I read Ennead I was Alzheimer disease. I’ve heard some say that advanced Alzheimer disease makes life not worth living, and that people afflicted with this disease have become less than human. Although I strongly rejected this opinion, I did it intuitively and on emotional grounds, but failed to make any strong counter-arguments. Plotinus wrote some of his […]
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The Divine Comedy: VII. Usury
“nature follows-as she takes her course- the Divine Intellect and Divine Art;… when it can, your art would follow nature, just as a pupil imitates his master; so that your art is almost God’s grandchild. From these two, art and nature, it is fitting,… for men to make their way, to gain their living; and since the usurer prefers another pathway, he scorns both nature in herself and art, her […]
Read more“Parva Naturalia” by Aristotle
In this collection of treatises, Aristotle employs the scientific method (namely, observation, inference, hypothesis and empirical proof) to determine the nature and cause of the joint activities of body and soul, namely, sense perception, memory, sleep, dreams, breathing, aging and death.
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