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Article ID: CBB001202231

Informing Matter and Enmattered Forms: Aristotle and Galen on the “Power” of the Seed (2014)

Presti, Roberto Lo (Author)

British Journal for the History of Philosophy
Volume: 22
Pages: 929-950
Publication date: 2014
Language: English

DOI: 10.1080/09608788.2014.944481

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Matter theory States of matter Form (philosophy) Reproduction Metaphysics Ontology Philosophy of medicine Embryology Ancient Greece Aristotle Galen

In this paper, I consider points of intersection between the Aristotelian and the Galenic notions of ‘power of the seed’ and some of the key issues and key concepts developed within the power-structuralism paradigm and try to understand whether, and to what extent, the conceptual lens provided by the power-structuralism hypothesis may help us (1) to shed fresh light on aspects of both the Aristotelian and the Galenic theory of the seed, which are still unclear or highly controversial, like the role played by the female in the generative process; (2) to better understand how much the Aristotelian and the Galenic theories of the seed have in common and, on the other hand, to what extent and in what regard they differ when it comes to considering the metaphysics of powers, which both theories are grounded upon. Specifically, I explore how far Marmodoro's theory of ‘power-structuralism ontology’ can help us to make better sense of this metaphysics. I suggest that this theory helps us to recognize, below the surface of Aristotle's apparently sharp contrast between active and passive powers in embryology, an implicit concept of shared activity. This concept is more explicitly found in Galen's notion of dynamis; it is clear that, for Galen, embryology depends on the combination of two active powers rather than of one which acts and the other which is acted upon.

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Article Marmodoro, Anna (2014) Causing Health and Disease: Medical Powers in Classical and Late Antiquity. British Journal for the History of Philosophy (pp. 861-866). unapi

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