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Aristotle and the Cartesian Theatre
| Content Provider | Scilit |
|---|---|
| Author | Caston, Victor |
| Copyright Year | 2021 |
| Description | Nothing might seem more alien, from an Aristotelian standpoint, than the model of the mind as an internal theatre, where mental objects appear on stage under lights to be viewed by a ghostly spectator sitting in the dark. The interiority and even privacy suggested by such a model, associated with Descartes, and the notion of the subject as a kind of homunculus, seems to be more distinctive of modernity; indeed, many have thought the study of Aristotle offers an escape from it. At the same time many discussions of Aristotle's account of cognition are framed in such a way as to carry these implications, at least implicitly, though few scholars today would care to admit it if challenged directly about it. A fair question, then, is whether Aristotle's remarks commit him to such views, or whether these are rather something we unwittingly bring to the table in trying to interpret him. The passages where Aristotle seems to speak as though we view internal objects before the mind's eye can be naturally read without any such implications. Aristotle does allow that we can on occasion reflect on some of our mental states, just as anyone should. His theory also maintains that phantasmata are representations, and indeed likenesses in some sense, of what they represent. But phantasmata are not themselves viewed and do not look like the objects they are about. They are states of our body, bearing representational content, in virtue of which we can imagine or visualize things, remember, desire, dream, and even think. Aristotle is not committed, even implicitly or inadvertently, to a Cartesian theatre. Book Name: Encounters with Aristotelian Philosophy of Mind |
| Related Links | https://content.taylorfrancis.com/books/download?dac=C2019-0-07908-5&isbn=9781003008484&doi=10.4324/9781003008484-11&format=pdf |
| Ending Page | 220 |
| Page Count | 52 |
| Starting Page | 169 |
| DOI | 10.4324/9781003008484-11 |
| Language | English |
| Publisher | Informa UK Limited |
| Publisher Date | 2021-03-22 |
| Access Restriction | Open |
| Subject Keyword | Book Name: Encounters with Aristotelian Philosophy of Mind Cultural Studies Theater Aristotle Theatre Mental Cartesian Viewed Representational Implicitly Phantasmata |
| Content Type | Text |
| Resource Type | Chapter |
