Aristotle and Plotinus on Memory

Richard A. H. King

ISBN 10: 3110214628 / ISBN 13: 9783110214628

Edité par De Gruyter, 2009

A propos de cet article

Druck auf Anfrage Neuware - Printed after ordering - Two treatises on memory which have come down to us from antiquity are Aristotle's 'On memory and recollection' and Plotinus' 'On perception and memory' (IV 6); the latter also wrote at length about memory in his 'Problems connected with the soul' (IV 3-4, esp. 3.25-4.6). In both authors memory is treated as a 'modest' faculty: both authors assume the existence of a persistent subject to whom memory belongs; and basic cognitive capacities are assumed on which memory depends. In particular, both theories use phantasia (representation) to explain memory.Aristotle takes representations to be changes in concrete living things which arise from actual perception. To be connected to the original perception the representation has to be taken as a (kind of) copy of the original experience this is the way Aristotle defines memory at the end of his investigation.Plotinus does not define memory: he is concerned with the question of what remembers. This is of course the soul, which goes through different stages of incarnation and disincarnation. Since the disembodied soul can remember, so he does not have Aristotle's resources for explaining the continued presence of representations as changes in the concrete thing. Instead, he thinks that when acquiring a memory we acquire a capacity in respect of the object of the memory, namely to make it present at a later time.; In der 1970 gegründeten Reihe erscheinen Arbeiten, die philosophiehistorische Studien mit einem systematischen Ansatz oder systematische Studien mit philosophiehistorischen Rekonstruktionen verbinden. Neben deutschsprachigen werden auch englischsprachige Monographien veröffentlicht. Bedingung für eine Aufnahme in die Reihe ist ein positives Peer-Review-Verfahren. Die Reihe ist offen für Open Access Veröffentlichungen. Aktuelle Herausgeber sind: Michael Quante (Westfälische Wilhelms-Universität Münster) und Dominik Perler (Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin). Gründungsherausgeber sind: Erhard Scheibe (Herausgeber bis 1991), Günther Patzig (bis 1999) und Wolfgang Wieland (bis 2003). Von 1990 bis 2007 wurde die Reihe von Jürgen Mittelstraß und von 2005 bis 2020 von Jens Halfwassen mitherausgegeben.

N° de réf. du vendeur 9783110214628

Détails bibliographiques

• Titre: Aristotle and Plotinus on Memory
• Éditeur: De Gruyter
• Date de parution: 2009
• Langue: anglais
• ISBN à 10 chiffres: 3110214628
• ISBN à 13 chiffres: 9783110214628
• Reliure: Buch
• État de l'article: Neu
• Dimensions: 236 L x 160 H x 21 P (en millimètres) 236 millimètres de largeur par 160 millimètres de hauteur par 21 millimètres de profondeur
• Poids: 576 grammes

A propos de ce titre

Synopsis

Two treatises on memory which have come down to us from antiquity are Aristotle's "On memory and recollection" and Plotinus' "On perception and memory" (IV 6); the latter also wrote at length about memory in his "Problems connected with the soul" (IV 3-4, esp. 3.25-4.6). In both authors memory is treated as a 'modest' faculty: both authors assume the existence of a persistent subject to whom memory belongs; and basic cognitive capacities are assumed on which memory depends. In particular, both theories use phantasia (representation) to explain memory.
Aristotle takes representations to be changes in concrete living things which arise from actual perception. To be connected to the original perception the representation has to be taken as a (kind of) copy of the original experience - this is the way Aristotle defines memory at the end of his investigation.
Plotinus does not define memory: he is concerned with the question of what remembers. This is of course the soul, which goes through different stages of incarnation and disincarnation. Since the disembodied soul can remember, so he does not have Aristotle's resources for explaining the continued presence of representations as changes in the concrete thing. Instead, he thinks that when acquiring a memory we acquire a capacity in respect of the object of the memory, namely to make it present at a later time.

À propos de l'auteur

Richard A. H. King, University of Glasgow, UK.