Aristotle Theory Regarding Body and Soul - Essay Example

Sur 16 November Aristotle’s Theory Regarding Body and Soul Most of the works of Aristotle are based on the association of the body with the mind and relates to his philosophies and attributes of science (Hsieh, 1). In the current study I have tried to reflect and analyze how Aristotle presented his theory of unity of the soul with the body and clarified the theory against the opposing views by other theorists. Several researches and theories had reflected the fact that the soul could be separated from the body.

It was Aristotle who focused on the body and the soul being united and this led to the criticisms of several other theories (Wians, 250-251). From these studies I can well analyze that there are assumptions that these theorists have undertaken while determining the concept of the body and the soul. For example, the theorists who had earlier declared that the body and the soul are not dependent on each other might not have realized the inner connections between them while concluding their reflections.

According to Aristotle, the soul is the basis for the structure of the human body. Thus any gap between the soul and the body was not accepted as part of his theory. Other views in regard to affecting the growth and development of the body without the soul were irreconcilable in their own respects. (Bos, 6-9). I second to Aristotle’s understandings as his studies clearly present an association of the body and the soul. Here it would be appropriate to mention that a body without its inner responses and features would not reflect any behavior or nature for its representation to the world.

Thus its connection and dependency on the soul makes precise sense to the active presentation of its emotions and feelings which in turn is utilized by the soul as well. There are other views to the concerned topic as well. Theories as presented by Plato were based on dualism that ignored the existence of the soul and determined that the human body had no dependence on the soul. Thus according to Plato, the soul was immortal; a view that was completely against the view of Aristotle (Pelosi, 3-4).

I can analyze at this point that theorists like Plato might have made assumptions based on the external features of a human body and did not consider the inner associations without which a body does not present life. This, to me, reflects the need for further research and analyze that has been successfully assessed and presented by Aristotle. Aristotle focused on fundamental facts of biology, and integrated his thoughts of philosophy, as well as analyzed his predecessors and concluded on his theory of the unity of the soul and the body that criticized the concept of Plato and won over the theories that rejected the unity of the body and the soul (Hsieh, 1).

Aristotle’s theory proved to the world that the soul and the body are united and that they cannot exist independent of each other as against the opposed rules by theorists like Plato. With all the logical and rational, as well as biological thinking I can make an understanding and support on the fact that the body and the soul are interdependent on each other and they use each other to bring out a life of the human body. A soul needs the body to reflect its activities and emotions and the body is made to express these feelings by the inner soul.

References 1) Bos, A.P. The soul and its instrumental body: a reinterpretation of Aristotle’s philosophy of living nature, Netherlands: BRILL, 2003 2) Hsieh, Diana Mertz, The Soul of Aristotle, Dianahsieh, 2002, November 16, 2011 from: http://www.dianahsieh.com/docs/tsoa.pdf 3) Pelosi, Francesco. Plato on Music, Soul and Body, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2010 4) Wians, William Robert. Aristotle’s philosophical development: problems and prospects, Maryland: Rowman & Littlefield, 1996