Work in progress on the Aristotle and the Mind-Body Problem

null, Ross Carter

This is a work in progress seminar by a graduate student of the department, Ross Carter.

Descartes claimed that “we can clearly and distinctly perceive the mind without the body and the body without the mind.” This means, he claimed, that “the concept of the body includes nothing at all which belongs to the mind, and the concept of mind includes nothing at all which belongs to the body.” These Cartesian assertions gave birth to dualist and anti-dualist theories of mind that have bedevilled English-speaking philosophy with unrelenting conflict for at least a century. Recently some philosophers have suggested that Aristotle’s hylomorphic psychology may yield resources to provide a persuasive counter to Descartes’ separation of mind and body. This presentation will discuss whether Aristotle’s account of the soul as the form the body in the De Anima can be taken to support this contention. 

Due to the COVID-19 upsurge of cases in Melbourne, this event has been moved from in-person to online via Zoom. To request the zoom link, please contact [email protected] (you will be put on a list and receive a BCC email including the zoom link in the hours before the seminar begins).