Rational vs. Mystical Readings of Aristotle’s Nous Poietikos Introduction to the Subject and Overview of Central Positions

• Authors: Sonia Kamińska

Abstracts

EN

In my paper, I will give an overview of the readings of nous poietikos, the active intellect from De Anima. Sadly, Aristotle describes it in a cryptic way, which resulted in many different theories. I will order them by introducing a division into “mystical” and “rational”. The mystical ones are rooted in a view that nous poietikos does not belong to particular human beings, but is identical with Deity or a divine sphere. According to the rational readings it is our cognitive tool and through its activity we can learn about the Deity and emulate it. The mystics are: Eudemus, Avicenna, Averroes, from the newer philosophers E. Zeller and from the contemporary ones – V. Caston. The rationalists are: Theophrastus, Thomas Aquinas, the XIXth century Aristotelian revival and from the contemporary thinkers – A. Kosman.

Keywords

EN

nous poietikos; mystical and rational readings; Aristotle; psychology; God/Deity; immortality; intellectual soul; unio mystica

• Publisher: Wydawnictwo Naukowe Uniwersytetu Szczecińskiego
• Journal: Analiza i Egzystencja. Czasopismo Filozoficzne
• Year: 2017
• Volume: 39
• Pages: 19-35

Contributors

author

Sonia Kamińska

• Uniwersytet Jagielloński, Instytut Filozofii

Identifiers

DOI

10.18276/aie.2017.39-02

Biblioteka Nauki

1621948