Abstract:
The present paper attempts to offer a critical review of the diverging interpretations of the 20th century regarding the place of the theory of soul in Aristotle’s philosophy. If the authenticity of the views attributed to the dialog Eudemos is not questioned, then (1) the platonic theory of the soul presented by the dialog, along with the ethics, may be regarded as the central place, and the De anima , since it is based mainly on a biological line of inquiry, as the secondary place, or (2) the opposition of the two views may be solved by attributing an evolution to the Aristotelian philosophy. (3) If we turn our attention toward Aristotle’s biological writings, the close connection to the metaphysics of substance may be emphasized. And finally, (4) the treatise De anima may be seen as the theory unifying the Aristotelian physics and metaphysics, extending to theology.
