Aristotle on the Common Sense

• First book-length study of a key concept in the history of psychology
• Detailed textual analysis of key passages
• Shows relevance of ancient work on the mind to modern philosophy and psychology

Readership: Advanced students and scholars of ancient philosophy and classics; anyone with an interest in the history of psychology

Pavel Gregoric, Department of Philosophy, Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences, University of Zagreb

Paul Gregoric is Assistant Professor of Philosophy at the Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences, University of Zagreb.

Review(s) from previous edition

"a learned, lucidly written, and compellingly argued treatment of its subject, one that surveys and helpfully synthesizes the immense ancient and modern literature on the topic. It also proposes some novel solutions to a number of long-standing textual and interpretative problems ... Students should begin their work on this issue here and experts should attend to it, as an undeniably original and important contribution to the scholarly conversation on this subject. - Sean D. Kirkland, Ancient Philosophy

"There has been little extended work devoted to the common sense, the faculty by which Aristotle thinks we coordinate and process the input of the five senses. The lacuna has now been filled by Pavel Gregoric's commendable monograph. This nuanced and original study represents a significant advance in our understanding of Aristotle's common sense." - Thomas K. Johansen, Mind

"Gregoric has produced a valuable contribution to our understanding both of Aristotle's philosophical terminology and of his theory of perception. Some of the texts he discusses in the book, such as De Sensu 7, have long been neglected, even though they provide substantive additions to and clarifications of Aristotle's theory. In discussing those and other texts, Gregoric provides us with well informed, detailed, and lucid interpretations, which, it should be added, are for the most part clearly correct and helpful. All serious students of ancient psychology should read this book. It will inform, illuminate, and stimulate." - Hendrik Lorenz, Rhizai

"Gregoric is no doubt right that this power deserves extended study, and his Part III accounts of its various functions are genuinely illuminating." - Jennifer Whiting, Classical Review

Preface
Abbreviations
Introduction
Part I: The Framework
1: Aristotle's project and method
2: The perceptual capacity of the soul
3: The sensory apparatus
4: The common sense and the related capacities
Part II: The Terminology
1: Overlooked occurrences of the phrase 'common sense'
2: De Anima III.1 425a27
3: De Partibus Animalium IV.10 686a31
4: De Memoria et Reminiscentia 1 450a10
5: De Anima III.7 431b5
6: Conclusions on the terminology
Part III: Functions of the common sense
1: Simultaneous perception and cross-modal binding
2: Perceptual discrimination
3: Waking, sleep, and control of the senses
4: Perceiving that we see and hear, and monitoring of the senses
5: Other roles of the common sense
Conclusion
Appendix
Bibliography
General Index
Index of Passages