The Brute Within: Appetitive Desire in Plato and Aristotle

by Hendrik Lorenz

Overview

Hendrik Lorenz presents a comprehensive study of Plato's and Aristotle's conceptions of non-rational desire. They see this as something that humans share with animals, and which aims primarily at the pleasures of food, drink, and sex. Lorenz explores the cognitive resources that both philosophers make available for the explanation of such desires, and what they take rationality to add to the motivational structure of human beings. In doing so, he exposes a remarkable degree of continuity between Plato's and Aristotle's thought in this area. He also sheds fresh light, not only on both philosophers' theories of motivation, but also on how they conceive of the mind, both in itself and in relation to the body.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780199561698
Publisher:	Oxford University Press
Publication date:	03/15/2009
Series:	Oxford Philosophical Monographs
Edition description:	New Edition
Pages:	240
Product dimensions:	6.00(w) x 9.10(h) x 0.60(d)

About the Author

Hendrik Lorenz is Associate Professor of Philosophy at Princeton University

Table of Contents

IntroductionI. Appetite and Reason in Plato's Republic1. Parts of the soul2. The argument for tripartition3. Partition4. The simple pictureII. Belief and Appearance in Plato5. Imitation and the soul6. Belief and reason7. Below belief and reasonIII. Phantasia and Non-Rational Desire in Aristotle8. Preliminaries9. Phantasia, desire, and locomotion10. Desire without phantasia11. The workings of phantasia12. Phantasia and practical thought13. Reason and non-rational desireConclusion

Editorial Reviews

"Provocative and stimulating."—Rod Jenks, Ancient Philosophy

From the Publisher