Aristotle accorded the study of the mind a significant amount of time
Aristotle accorded the study of the mind a significant amount of time because it was his lifelong interest. Aristotle believed that psychology forms a crucial part of human philosophy of the mind. As to the definition of the soul, Aristotle differs from Plato’s views that it ought to be separated from the body. Subsequently, Aristotle believes that that the very essence of the soul depends on its relationship with an organic structure. The intrinsic principles of plant and animal life; therefore, state that just like humans, both plants and animals have souls too. Ultimately Aristotle defines the soul as “the actuality of a body that has life.” from the definition, life can be configured to represent the capacity a human, plant, or animal possesses that leads to reproduction, self-sustenance and growth. The definition of Aristotle of soul also takes one back to his definition of nature, where he identifies two aspects of matter and form. Subsequently, when looking at a living substance from the viewpoint of matter and form, then the body parts that are part of the organic structure are the matter. The soul thus takes the part of the form. Aristotle believes that the soul, which is the form, gives living things the different powers they need for reproduction and growth. In essence, the soul and the body unite to form all the living things. The contention of Aristotle, therefore, provides a monist approach to the mind-body problem as it shows that there is no distinction between the two. In his argument, without the soul, the plants, animals, and humans cannot effectively function. Consequently, according to Aristotle, all living things must have a soul that directs their reproduction, growth, and self-sustenance.
Aristotle provides diverse powers of the soul on all the three types of living things. Aristotle’s contention is that the soul orders living things in a hierarchy. Thus, in his view, plants possess a nutritive and vegetative soul which orders their development. The powers that exist in plants include that of growth, which enables them to sprout off the ground and continue growing. The power of growth acts on the seeds below the ground or anywhere that supports germination. The seeds thus initiate growth through the seeds. Secondly, plants have the power of nutrition, which occurs during the time of growth. The power of nutrition enables plants to prepare their food, which aids in growth. Nutrition involves taking in carbon dioxide from the atmosphere and transforming it into the plant’s food through photosynthesis. As a result of the power of nutrition, the plants can support their growth. Finally, the soul in plants has the power of reproduction. The power of reproduction is essential in the existence of the plants because it defines posterity. The power of reproduction ensures that the plant at certain has to produce seeds that secure the next generation of trees. The reproduction in plants might come in various ways as directed by the soul. Some plants produce seeds while others regenerate through their stems or roots—either way, the soul ensures that the plants secure the future by producing its own kind through seeds. According to Aristotle, therefore, the whole existence of plants is dependent on the soul, and that ensures that plants devise ways of growing, manufacturing food and reproducing.
As to animals, Aristotle contends that the soul even plays a much bigger role because the soul animals possess much more sensitive than that of plants. According to Aristotle, the souls animals possess have the powers of locomotion and perception. The power of perception is the most crucial in animals because it affects the rest of the reactions from animals. The main argument of Aristotle is that animals souls are sensitive, and therefore they are more reactive to external stimuli. However, the universal sense that is found in animals is that of touch. Almost all animals in the world react to touch through the perceived power of the soul. Using the argument that if anything can feel through any sense in the body, then it can feel pleasure, it is prudent to conclude that animals feel pleasure. Moreover, a living thing that can feel pleasure, therefore, has desires of its own. In a sense, one concludes that the desires that Aristotle means are those of necessity. Subsequently, an animal is able to desire better food and clean water, which would quench its thirst. Further, the desire can also be viewed in terms of sensations. When an animal feels pain, it might desire to move away from it through the power of perception of the soul. Similarly, when an animal feels a sweet sensation, it is its desire to get more, thus explaining why animals are fond of rubbing. The power of locomotion is what makes animals move around in the movement of food and water. The power of locomotion is controlled by that of sensation as it directs the animals to go eat or drink water to quench thirst.
As for humans, Aristotle based the powers of the soul on two significant aspects, which are reason and thought. The two powers of thought and reason make up what Aristotle referred to as a rational soul. The definition of reason from Aristotle’s point of view is the ability to draw or develop logical inferences from observations. Thoughts can be referred to as abstract symbolic inferences drawn from either internal or external stimuli. Aristotle thus began the debate of mind-body problems. To him, he tried to define soul relationship and the organic structures through operations and objects. For example, the sense of hearing and that of sight differ from each other because the ears and eyes are separate. Aristotle tried to define sense possessed by humans in two different aspects. First, there are the proper senses which perceive basic environmental stimuli. These are small, sound, taste, and color. However, there are those stimuli or actions that are perceived by more than one sense. Examples of those include size, shape, and motion, which Aristotle refers to as common sensible. The perceptions of common sensible are left to the faculty of central sense, according to Aristotle. The central soul thus jumps into control when an individual interacts with any source of danger or happiness. It is the perfect relationship between the body and the soul that results in the effective functioning and performance of an individual.
Aristotle believes that his stand perfectly explains the body-mind relationship more than the dualistic Platonic accounts. First, Aristotle feels that the existence of a soul in humans is what leads to reaction to stimuli. As opposed to the Platonic accounts where body and soul are different, it is not easy to explain the reaction of the body to stimuli. Further, the Platonic accounts do not explain the presence of thoughts and reasons in human beings. Subsequently, there is no explanation of the interactionism between immaterial and material things. However, Aristotle is able to explain this power of causation by a justification of the existence of the soul. According to Aristotle, the soul plays a central in the activities and reactions to stimuli by all the living things. Aristotle is able to explain the origin of human reactions to pain and other forms of sensation. It is for this sole reason that Aristotle believes in the superiority of his explanation as compared to the Platonic accounts.
In conclusion, I think that Aristotle presents a strong argument for the existence of the soul and its existence in all living things. The only plausible explanation for the reaction of living things to both internal and external stimuli can be the existence of a power that is directing them. Aristotle, therefore, creates a relationship between the organic structures of the body, which are material and the soul, which is form. The relationship between material and form thus allows us to explain the reasons behind people reactions to different stimuli such as pain and happiness. It is this phenomenon that the Platonic accounts fail to give a concrete explanation of, thus placing superiority on the explanation offered by Aristotle. There is an origin of causation and reaction, for example, a scenario where an injured person immediately feels pain. It is prudent to say that every living thing possesses a soul which has the power to direct the actions and reactions.