Wednesday, May 27, 2009

Silence of the Lambs analysis - part 51: Aristotle on the senses; rel. to Augustine

CATEGORY: MOVIES

In part 39 of the analysis, we quoted Augustine on the bodily senses, and on his claim of the primacy of the sense of sight over the other senses. Also, we have observed that Thomas Aquinas derived much of his thinking from the Greek philosopher, Aristotle, and in part 49, we looked at a portion of Aristotle's Metaphysics. By way of 'connecting' Aristotle with Augustine, we notice that the former has something to say about the senses in Book 1 of the Metaphysics (McMahon Translation):

"All men by nature are actuated with the desire of knowledge, and an indication of this is the love of the senses; for even, irrespective of their utility, are they loved for their own sakes; and preeminently above the rest, the sense of sight. For not only for practical purposes, but also when not intent on doing anything, we choose the power of vision in preference, so to say, to all the rest of the senses..." [a]


a. Aristotle. The Metaphysics. Trans. John H. McMahon. New York: Prometheus Books, 1991. p. 11.


      





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