Sensorial, Trans-Sensorial Perception, and Intelligent Behaviors in (Human and non-Human) Aristotelian Animals
Abstract
The verb αἰσθάνομαι (and its cognates) means «sensorial perception» but also «noticing» or «being aware of», an ordinary meaning in colloquial Greek which is given a distinctly philosophical interpretation by Aristotle. This paper argues that Aristotle emphasizes a sort of complementarity between sensorial and trans-sensorial perception, which applies to both rational and irrational animals. Also, it is suggested that (i) perception, in both senses, can function as a principle of animal conservation, and (ii) that, within the Aristotelian conceptual framework, nature operates according to a principle of compensation, resulting in certain species having highly developed perceptual abilities while others possess much weaker ones (a fact that in the case of humans is compensated with a powerful intelligence) and (iii) that the physical characteristics of each animal species determines the potential for developing intelligence in both humans and non-human animals.
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SORABJI, Richard. «Body and Soul in Aristotle». Philosophy 49 (1974): 63-89.
VIGO, Alejandro G. Action, reason and truth. Studies in Aristotle’s conception of practical rationality. Leu-ven/París/Bristol: Peeters, 2016.
VOLPI, Franco. «Das Problem der Aisthesis bei Aristoteles». En Gregor Damschen, Rainer Enskat y Alejandro G. Vigo (eds.), Platon und Aristoteles - sub ratione veritatis (Festschrift für Wolfgang Wieland zum 70. Geburtstag), 294-300. Gotinga: Vandenhoeck & Ruprech, 2003.
WELSCH, Wolfgang. Aisthesis. Grundzüge und Perspektiven der Aristotelischen Sinneslehre. Stuttgart: Klett-Cotta, 1987.
ZINGANO, Marco. 2002. «La simultaneità delle percezioni in Aristotele». Elenchos XXIII, Fasc. 1 (2002): 33-49.
BOERI, Marcelo D. Aristóteles, Acerca del alma. Trad., notas, prólogo e introducción de Marcelo D. Boeri. Buenos Aires: Colihue, 2010.
BOERI, Marcelo D. «Aristóteles, la percepción del tiempo en sede práctica y las objeciones de Pseudo-Filópono». En Patricio Fernández, Luis Placencia y Gabiela Rossi (eds.), Praxis e interpretación. Un home-naje a Alejandro G. Vigo, 85-201. Baden-Baden: Georg Olms Verlag, 2023.
BURNYEAT, Myles. «Is an Aristotelian Philosophy of Mind still Credible?». En Martha Nussbaum y Amelie Rorty (eds.), Essays on Aristotle’s De Anima, 15-26. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1992.
BURNYEAT, Myles. «Aquinas on ‘Spiritual Change’ in Perception». En Dominic Perler (ed.), Ancient and Me-dieval Theories of Intentionality, 129-153. Leiden/Boston/Köln: Brill 2001.
BURNYEAT, Myles. «De anima II 5». Phronesis XLVII/I (2002): 28-90.
CASTON, Victor. «The Spirit and The Letter: Aristotle on Perception». En Ricardo Salles (ed.), Metaphysics, Soul, and Ethics in Ancient Thought. Themes from the Work of Richard Sorabji, 245-320. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2005.
CHARLES, David. The Undivided Self Aristotle and the ‘Mind–Body Problem. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2021.
COHEN, S. Marc. «Hylemorphism and Functionalism». En Martha Nussbaum y Amelie Rorty (eds.), Essays on Aristotle’s De Anima, 57-73. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1992.
EVERSON, Stephen. Aristotle on Perception. Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1997.
GARCÍA VALVERDE, José Manuel. Aristóteles, Sobre el alma. Madrid: Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas, 2019.
GREGORIC, Pavel. Aristotle on the Common Sense. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2007.
IRWIN, Terence, Aristotle’s First Principles. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1988.
LENNOX, James G. Aristotle, On the Parts of Animals. Trad. y comentario de James G. Lennox. Oxford: Cla-rendon Press, 2001.
POLANSKY, Ronald. Aristotle’s De anima. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2007.
POUYDEBAT, Emmanuelle. L’Intelligence animale. Cervelle d’oiseaux et mémoire d’éléphants. Prefacio de Yves Coppens. París: Odile Jacob, 2017.
RODIER, Georges. Aristote. Traité de l’âme. París: Ernest Leroux, Éditeur, 1900.
SORABJI, Richard. «Body and Soul in Aristotle». Philosophy 49 (1974): 63-89.
VIGO, Alejandro G. Action, reason and truth. Studies in Aristotle’s conception of practical rationality. Leu-ven/París/Bristol: Peeters, 2016.
VOLPI, Franco. «Das Problem der Aisthesis bei Aristoteles». En Gregor Damschen, Rainer Enskat y Alejandro G. Vigo (eds.), Platon und Aristoteles - sub ratione veritatis (Festschrift für Wolfgang Wieland zum 70. Geburtstag), 294-300. Gotinga: Vandenhoeck & Ruprech, 2003.
WELSCH, Wolfgang. Aisthesis. Grundzüge und Perspektiven der Aristotelischen Sinneslehre. Stuttgart: Klett-Cotta, 1987.
ZINGANO, Marco. 2002. «La simultaneità delle percezioni in Aristotele». Elenchos XXIII, Fasc. 1 (2002): 33-49.
Sensorial, Trans-Sensorial Perception, and Intelligent Behaviors in (Human and non-Human) Aristotelian Animals. (2026). Azafea: Revista de Filosofía, 28, 103-122. https://doi.org/10.14201/azafea202628103122
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