Original scientific paper
Gučetić on Soul and Mind
Erna Banić-Pajnić
; Institut za filozofiju, Zagreb, Hrvatska
Abstract
According to most of the hitherto descriptions, Gučetić as a philosopher was important in the first place as a representative of Renaissance Neoplatonism. The part of his thought related to Renaissance Aristotelianism and especially to the diversified tendencies in the interpretation of Aristotle’s philosophy within Aristotelianism was somewhat wrongfully disregarded in the analyses of his philosophical opus (in view of the significance it might have in the specific interpretations of some of the basic issues of Aristotle’s philosophy). Yet it is a fact that many of his works discuss the issues and problems that used to be the key themes in the increasingly important – in the context of Aristotelianism – philosophical polemics of his time.
This paper in the first place intends to delineate Gučetić’s view regarding one of the most important issues in the contemporary polemics among the interpreters of Aristotle – the issue of soul and mind and his explication of the role and significance of the potential and the active, or the active and the passive mind in Aristotle’s philosophy (the main issue in the controversy among the followers of the two of the most important commentators of Aristotle, Alexander of Aphrodisias and Averroës). Pointing at the significance of this theme, it should be stressed that Gučetić was one of the few, if not the only Croatian philosopher, who was so explicitly engaged in these polemics.
Keywords
Hrčak ID:
68553
URI
Publication date:
1.12.2003.
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