TopAceEssays

Explore how Aristotle develops an understanding of phantasia
(“imagination”) in De Anima, Book III, Part 3: 427b28 – 429a9 and noein
(“thinking”) in De Anima, Book III, Part 4: 429a10 – 430a9.
A reading guide on this text can be found here:
Polansky, Ronald, M. Aristotle’s De Anima: A Critical Commentary.
Cambridge University Press (2007).
The text of Aristotle’s De Anima to read can be found here:
Aristotle, De Anima, Book III, Part 3 – 4
Answer the following questions on a separate document (Microsoft
Word .docx), exploring how Aristotle develops an understanding of
phantasia (“imagination”) in part 3 and noein (“thinking”) in part 4
of De Anima.

1. Why does Aristotle say that phantasia is distinct from perception?
   (428a6ff.)
2. Aristotle claims that “sensations are always true, imaginations are for the most
   part false” (a11-12) What does he mean and why is it important to state?
3. How does Aristotle argue that imagination is distinct from belief? (428a19-b5).
   Can you identify the premises and conclusion?
4. What positive relation does imagination have to perception? How is imagination
   related to motion? (428b10-17)
5. How is “thinking” (noein) like perceiving? (429a13-17)
6. In what sense is intellect purely potential? (a20)
7. How does intellect differ from perception in its being unaffected? (429a30-b5)
8. Why does Aristotle say intellect is separable? (b5)
9. What kind of knowledge is Aristotle talking about at 429b6-9?
   10.How does the analogy of the writing tablet help explain the nature of intellect and
   its relation to its objects? (430a1-2

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