Analysis Of Aristotle On The Soul

Aristotle on the Soul In De Anima, Aristotle discusses the nature of all living things. His first definition of the soul, and essentially his thesis, is that the soul is the “the first actuality of a natural body that is potentially alive” (412a 27-28). However that is definition that requires a lot of expansion to really mean something.

Like with most of Aristotle’s passages the terms he uses to define abstract ideas require a definition of their own. To better understand his thesis of the soul, we must first look at what he means by “first actuality” and how that relates to “second actuality.” According to Aristotle, there are three states of a rational being. The first is to have potentiality, which is the cornerstone to being rational. Each rational being has the potential to be things in

For him, the soul and body are one in the same in the way that they need the other to carry out their actions. Since the body is the tool for the soul that provides nourishment and is the instrument for perception (both of which make understanding possible), it is impossible that the soul can carry out the necessary actions without it. He writes, “the soul is not a body but requires a body; for it is not a body, but it belongs to a body”(414a 21). In short, although the soul and the body are not one thing, they rely on eachother. And, to live a being needs both of them together. As mentioned before Aristotle acknowledges that each soul has different “parts.” They are the potentialities the soul has which include nutrition, perception, and understanding. However there are other parts that stem off of these potentialities. One of those is the “desiring part” of the soul. These desires include appetite, emotion and wish. To summarize, the “parts of the soul” are potentials the soul has for actuality. For Aristotle, the soul gives the body sensation and in doing so, give it a purpose. 

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