Overview

Aristotle's Parts of Animals is a foundational text in both the history of philosophy and the history and philosophy of biology. Critically important for understanding his mature philosophical programme, the Parts of Animals has two chief aims. PA Book I is an introduction to the study of animals and plants and provides preliminary considerations for how to investigate all aspects of their nature. PA Books II-IV is the most comprehensive example of the application of Aristotle's philosophical methodology to real world examples of substances, that is, to animals. In this book, a team of international experts cover topics such as Aristotle's exhortation to study biology, his methodology in the study of natural entities and kinds, the study of mind as part of nature, his analysis and use of concepts such as essence, substance, definition, matter, form, species, analogy and teleology, and the influence and legacy of the text.

Full Product Details

Author:   Sophia M. Connell (Birkbeck, University of London)
Publisher:   Cambridge University Press
Imprint:   Cambridge University Press
Weight:   0.686kg
ISBN:  

9781316516119

ISBN 10:   1316516113
Pages:   356
Publication Date:   19 February 2026
Audience:   General/trade ,  General
Format:   Hardback
Publisher's Status:   Active
Availability:   Manufactured on demand  
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Table of Contents

Introduction Sophia M. Connell; 1. Situating the parts of animals in Aristotle's biological corpus Myrto Hatzimichali; 2. Rank ordering of skills and sciences in Aristotle's protreptic to biology Monte Ransome Johnson; 3. On the parts of animals: from Aristotle to Michael of Ephesus Giouli Korobili; 4. Teleology and understanding Jessica Gelber; 5. Hylomorphism in de partibus animalium Michail Peramatzis; 6. Animal species in parts of animals book I Devin Henry; 7. Parts and wholes in the Parts of Animals Thomas K. Johansen; 8. Analogical unity and biology kinds in Aristotle's Parts of Animals Christopher Frey; 9. Uniform parts in Aristotle's biology Stasinos Stavrianeas; 10. Blood and animal character in Aristotle's Parts of Animals Sophia M. Connell; 11. Failure in a beautiful world: Aristotle on deformed, useless, and weird parts of animals Mariska Leunissen; 12. Mind's place in Aristotle's science of nature: evidence of Parts of Animals I.1 Mary-Louise Gill; 13. The human body and the role of erect posture. Aristotle's Parts of Animals IV.10 Christof Rapp; 14. The human model: polymorphicity and scientific method in Aristotle's Parts of Animals Emily Kress; Bibliography; General Index; Index of Passages.

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Author Information

SOPHIA M. CONNELL is Reader in Philosophy at Birkbeck College, University of London. She is the author of Aristotle on Female Animals: A Study of the Generation of Animals (Cambridge, 2016) and Aristotle on Women: Physiology, Psychology and Politics (Cambridge, 2021) and is the editor of The Cambridge Companion to Aristotle's Biology (Cambridge, 2021). She has published papers on Aristotle's embryology, psychology and ethics and on women philosophers both ancient and modern.

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