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Part I - Human Beings as Rational Animals

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  27 May 2019

Edited by
Geert Keil  and
Nora Kreft
Geert Keil
Affiliation:
Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin
Nora Kreft
Affiliation:
Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin
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Summary

According to a philosophical commonplace, Aristotle defined human beings as rational animals. When one takes a closer look at the surviving texts, however, it is surprisingly hard to find such a definition. Of course, Aristotle repeatedly stresses that he regards rationality as the crucial differentiating characteristic of human beings, but he nowhere defines the essence of what it is to be human in these terms. What is more, Aristotle’s abundant remarks about human nature are scattered throughout his texts, and he offers no systematic treatise on human beings.

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Aristotle's Anthropology , pp. 23 - 96
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2019

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