To Be Handled with Care: Alexander on Nature as a Passive Power

Jorge Mittelmann

doi:10.1007/978-3-319-78547-9

To Be Handled with Care: Alexander on Nature as a Passive Power

Jorge Mittelmann

Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceeding › Chapter › peer-review

Abstract

The image of the physician who heals himself –which is supposed to shed light on the way φύσις works upon physical bodies– does double duty in Aristotle’s works. When it enters the scene for the first time, it does so as a model of coincidental causation, that may lure us into thinking that nature acts in very much the same way. But when the image reappears a few chapters later, Aristotle seems eager to highlight the affinities linking the workings of nature to those of the doctor who operates upon himself (Physics 199b31–32). These two instances of the example need not be mutually inconsistent, however. The paper discusses Alexander' troubled reception of this twofold Aristotelian comparison.

Original language	English
Title of host publication	Soul and Mind in Greek Thought. Psychological Issues in Plato and Aristotle
Editors	Marcelo D. Boeri, Yahei Kanayama, Jorge Mittelmann
Place of Publication	Switzerland
Publisher	Springer International Publishing AG
Chapter	11
Pages	217-231
Number of pages	24
Volume	20
ISBN (Electronic)	978-3-319-78547-9
ISBN (Print)	978-3-319-78546-2
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-78547-9 https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-78547-9_11
State	Published - 2018

Publication series

Name	Studies in the History of Philosophy of Mind
Volume	20
ISSN (Print)	1573-5834
ISSN (Electronic)	2542-9922

Bibliographical note

Publisher Copyright:
© 2018, Springer International Publishing AG, part of Springer Nature.

Keywords

soul
unmoved mover
nature
craft analogy

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Cite this

Mittelmann, J. (2018). To Be Handled with Care: Alexander on Nature as a Passive Power. In M. D. Boeri, Y. Kanayama, & J. Mittelmann (Eds.), Soul and Mind in Greek Thought. Psychological Issues in Plato and Aristotle (Vol. 20, pp. 217-231). (Studies in the History of Philosophy of Mind; Vol. 20). Springer International Publishing AG. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-78547-9, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-78547-9_11

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Mittelmann, J 2018, To Be Handled with Care: Alexander on Nature as a Passive Power. in MD Boeri, Y Kanayama & J Mittelmann (eds), Soul and Mind in Greek Thought. Psychological Issues in Plato and Aristotle. vol. 20, Studies in the History of Philosophy of Mind, vol. 20, Springer International Publishing AG, Switzerland, pp. 217-231. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-78547-9, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-78547-9_11

To Be Handled with Care: Alexander on Nature as a Passive Power. / Mittelmann, Jorge.
Soul and Mind in Greek Thought. Psychological Issues in Plato and Aristotle. ed. / Marcelo D. Boeri; Yahei Kanayama; Jorge Mittelmann. Vol. 20 Switzerland: Springer International Publishing AG, 2018. p. 217-231 (Studies in the History of Philosophy of Mind; Vol. 20).

Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceeding › Chapter › peer-review

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Mittelmann J. To Be Handled with Care: Alexander on Nature as a Passive Power. In Boeri MD, Kanayama Y, Mittelmann J, editors, Soul and Mind in Greek Thought. Psychological Issues in Plato and Aristotle. Vol. 20. Switzerland: Springer International Publishing AG. 2018. p. 217-231. (Studies in the History of Philosophy of Mind). doi: 10.1007/978-3-319-78547-9, 10.1007/978-3-319-78547-9_11

To Be Handled with Care: Alexander on Nature as a Passive Power

Abstract

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Keywords

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