Page - 1429 - in The Complete Aristotle
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parts of the soul exist in some animals, not in others.] In plants, then, the
female is not separated from the male, but in those animals in which it is
separated the male needs the female besides.
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5
And yet the question may be raised why it is that, if indeed the female
possesses the same soul and if it is the secretion of the female which is the
material of the embryo, she needs the male besides instead of generating
entirely from herself. The reason is that the animal differs from the plant by
having sense-perception; if the sensitive soul is not present, either actually or
potentially, and either with or without qualification, it is impossible for face,
hand, flesh, or any other part to exist; it will be no better than a corpse or part
of a corpse. If then, when the sexes are separated, it is the male that has the
power of making the sensitive soul, it is impossible for the female to generate
an animal from itself alone, for the process in question was seen to involve
the male quality. Certainly that there is a good deal in the difficulty stated is
plain in the case of the birds that lay wind-eggs, showing that the female can
generate up to a certain point unaided. But this still involves a difficulty; in
what way are we to say that their eggs live? It neither possible that they
should live in the same way as fertile eggs (for then they would produce a
chick actually alive), nor yet can they be called eggs only in the sense in
which an egg of wood or stone is so called, for the fact that these eggs go bad
shows that they previously participate in some way in life. It is plain, then,
that they have some soul potentially. What sort of soul will this be? It must be
the lowest surely, and this is the nutritive, for this exists in all animals and
plants alike. Why then does it not perfect the parts and the animal? Because
they must have a sensitive soul, for the parts of animals are not like those of a
plant. And so the female animal needs the help of the male, for in these
animals we are speaking of the male is separate. This is exactly what we find,
for the wind-eggs become fertile if the male tread the female in a certain
space of time. About the cause of these things, however, we shall enter into
detail later.
If there is any kind of animal which is female and has no male separate
from it, it is possible that this may generate a young one from itself without
copulation. No instance of this worthy of credit has been observed up to the
present at any rate, but one case in the class of fishes makes us hesitate. No
male of the so-called erythrinus has ever yet been seen, but females, and
1429
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book The Complete Aristotle"
The Complete Aristotle
- Title
- The Complete Aristotle
- Author
- Aristotle
- Date
- ~322 B.C.
- Language
- English
- License
- PD
- Size
- 21.0 x 29.7 cm
- Pages
- 2328
- Keywords
- Philosophy, Antique, Philosophie, Antike, Dialogues, Metaphysik, Metaphysics, Ideologie, Ideology, Englisch
- Categories
- Geisteswissenschaften
- International
Table of contents
- Part 1; Logic (Organon) 3
- Categories 4
- On Interpretation 34
- Prior Analytics, Book I 56
- Prior Analytics, Book II 113
- Posterior Analytics, Book I 149
- Posterior Analytics, Book II 193
- Topics, Book I 218
- Topics, Book II 221
- Topics, Book III 237
- Topics, Book IV 248
- Topics, Book V 266
- Topics, Book VI 291
- Topics, Book VII 317
- Topics, Book VIII 326
- On Sophistical Refutations 348
- Part 2; Universal Physics 396
- Physics, Book I 397
- Physics, Book II 415
- Physics, Book III 432
- Physics, Book IV 449
- Physics, Book V 481
- Physics, Book VI 496
- Physics, Book VII 519
- Physics, Book VIII 533
- On the Heavens, Book I 570
- On the Heavens, Book II 599
- On the Heavens, Book III 624
- On the Heavens, Book IV 640
- On Generation and Corruption, Book I 651
- On Generation and Corruption, Book II 685
- Meteorology, Book I 707
- Meteorology, Book II 733
- Meteorology, Book III 760
- Meteorology, Book IV 773
- Part 3; Human Physics 795
- On the Soul, Book I 796
- On the Soul, Book II 815
- On the Soul, Book III 840
- On Sense and the Sensible 861
- On Memory and Reminiscence 889
- On Sleep and Sleeplessness 899
- On Dreams 909
- On Prophesying by Dreams 918
- On Longevity and the Shortness of Life 923
- On Youth, Old Age, Life and Death, and Respiration 929
- Part 4; Animal Physics 952
- The History of Animals, Book I 953
- The History of Animals, Book II translated 977
- The History of Animals, Book III 1000
- The History of Animals, Book IV 1029
- The History of Animals, Book V 1056
- The History of Animals, Book VI 1094
- The History of Animals, Book VII 1135
- The History of Animals, Book VIII 1150
- The History of Animals, Book IX 1186
- On the Parts of Animals, Book I 1234
- On the Parts of Animals, Book II 1249
- On the Parts of Animals, Book III 1281
- On the Parts of Animals, Book IV 1311
- On the Motion of Animals 1351
- On the Gait of Animals 1363
- On the Generation of Animals, Book I 1381
- On the Generation of Animals, Book II 1412
- On the Generation of Animals, Book III 1444
- On the Generation of Animals, Book IV 1469
- On the Generation of Animals, Book V 1496
- Part 5; Metaphysics 1516
- Part 6; Ethics and Politics 1748
- Nicomachean Ethics, Book I 1749
- Nicomachean Ethics, Book II 1766
- Nicomachean Ethics, Book III 1779
- Nicomachean Ethics, Book IV 1799
- Nicomachean Ethics, Book V 1817
- Nicomachean Ethics, Book VI 1836
- Nicomachean Ethics, Book VII 1851
- Nicomachean Ethics, Book VIII 1872
- Nicomachean Ethics, Book IX 1890
- Nicomachean Ethics, Book X 1907
- Politics, Book I 1925
- Politics, Book II 1943
- Politics, Book III 1970
- Politics, Book IV 1997
- Politics, Book V 2023
- Politics, Book VI 2053
- Politics, Book VII 2065
- Politics, Book VIII 2091
- The Athenian Constitution 2102
- Part 7; Aesthetic Writings 2156