Aristotle and the problem of identifying the first motionless motor with the active human intellect

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Roberto Cañas-Quirós

Abstract

There is a difficult-to-solve topic in Aristotle’s work. This topic is based on the relationship or separation between the divine and human intellect. This supreme mind is called Unmoved Mover or Prime Mover and it is characterized as pure thought. This is the first and final cause of the World; to which, all beings, physical and psychological, tend. Aristotle deals with this topic from the Physics and Metaphysics’ point of view; but in his psychological treatise “On the Soul” he suggests that the human mind is composed by an active (receptive) and passive part (creative). The active part is separated and appears as an extrinsic entity; which assigns «divine» characteristics to the human intellect, that are assimilated to some extent with the supreme Mind, the entelechy that only considers itself. This article, precisely, focuses on the problem of identifying them or not.

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How to Cite
Cañas-QuirósR. (2019). Aristotle and the problem of identifying the first motionless motor with the active human intellect. Acta Académica, 55(Noviembre), 99-124. Retrieved from http://201.196.25.14/index.php/actas/article/view/123
Section
Acta Filosófica

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