Aristotle's Empiricism

Contrary to traditional interpretations of the Greek philosopher, Gasser-Wingate argues that Aristotle does in fact provide a coherent and philosophically attractive view of perceptual knowledge. He traces a line through some of Aristotle's most important texts which have much to say about perception's role in animal life, the cognitive resources on which it does and does not depend, and the relation it bears to practical and theoretical modes of understanding.

Aristotle's Empiricism offers a sustained examination of these discussions and their epistemological, psychological, and ethical implications. It defends an interpretation of Aristotle as a moderate sort of empiricist who thinks we can develop sophisticated forms of knowledge by perceptual means. Gasser-Wingate argues that for Aristotle, this fundamental characteristic of human knowledge means that we share an important part of our cognitive lives with nonrational animals, but that our intellectual powers allow us to surpass them in certain ways and develop distinctively human forms of understanding. This book presents a novel reading of Aristotle and will be of interest to scholars and students interested in philosophy of mind, ancient philosophy, and moral philosophy.