Review of Essays on Aristotle's De Anima, edited by Martha C ...

<strong>Review</strong>: [untitled]Author(s): Kurt PritzlSource: The <strong>Review</strong> <strong>of</strong> Metaphysics, Vol. 47, No. 4 (Jun., 1994), pp. 836-837Published by: Philosophy Education Society Inc.Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/20129605 .Accessed: 01/03/2011 21:32Your use <strong>of</strong> the JSTOR archive indicates your acceptance <strong>of</strong> JSTOR's Terms and Conditions <strong>of</strong> Use, available at .http://www.jstor.org/page/info/about/policies/terms.jsp. JSTOR's Terms and Conditions <strong>of</strong> Use provides, in part, that unlessyou have obtained prior permission, you may not download an entire issue <strong>of</strong> a journal or multiple copies <strong>of</strong> articles, and youmay use content in the JSTOR archive only for your personal, non-commercial use.Please contact the publisher regarding any further use <strong>of</strong> this work. Publisher contact information may be obtained at .http://www.jstor.org/action/showPublisher?publisherCode=pes. .Each copy <strong>of</strong> any part <strong>of</strong> a JSTOR transmission must contain the same copyright notice that appears on the screen or printedpage <strong>of</strong> such transmission.JSTOR is a not-for-pr<strong>of</strong>it service that helps scholars, researchers, and students discover, use, and build upon a wide range <strong>of</strong>content in a trusted digital archive. We use information technology and tools to increase productivity and facilitate new forms<strong>of</strong> scholarship. For more information about JSTOR, please contact support@jstor.org.Philosophy Education Society Inc. is collaborating with JSTOR to digitize, preserve and extend access to The<strong>Review</strong> <strong>of</strong> Metaphysics.http://www.jstor.org

SUMMARIES AND COMMENTS 837refine and clarify his previous work; Kahn brings his usual measured andthoughtful perspective to Aristotle's non-Cartesianism.Burnyeat's article with its new way <strong>of</strong> thinking typifies what is so goodabout this volume. There is an abundance <strong>of</strong> fresh ideas, new approaches to old problems, and reassessment going on with respect tothe De Anima, not only regarding his so-called philosophy <strong>of</strong> mind, butin all sorts <strong>of</strong> directions. A number <strong>of</strong> articles concern Aristotle's conception <strong>of</strong> life and life forms, and a good article on the sense <strong>of</strong> touch,which Freeland provides, is overdue. There is a vitality <strong>of</strong> interpretationin the volume, as befits one on De Anima, whatever its shortcomingsand limitations.There are, indeed, shortcomings and limitations, which go beyond disagreements with the positions taken. One worth noting here is a generalnarrowness <strong>of</strong> vision. As their citations show, many <strong>of</strong> the contributorsare involved in discussion with a rather small and like-minded circle <strong>of</strong>scholarly peers, almost all <strong>of</strong> whom are writing in English. It is instructive to study the Bibliography which (with some mistakes) distinguishesentries cited by the contributors in their articles from those added bythe editors and their assistant. Such a study shows how much literature<strong>of</strong> genuine worth is left unconsidered or underappreciated in the discussions <strong>of</strong> the volume. One example from the start <strong>of</strong> the book makesthe point. In the Introduction Nussbaum says that an adequate study<strong>of</strong> the extant manuscripts <strong>of</strong> the De Anima remains to be done and notesthat Ross's "De Anima work" (presumably both his 1956 O.C.T. editionand his 1961 commentary edition) is "the most complete account <strong>of</strong> themanuscripts we have" (p. 2). This is not true. Her own Bibliographycites and tags as unconsidered in the volume the definitive study <strong>of</strong> PaulSiwek, Le "De Anima" d'Aristote dans les manuscrits grecs (VaticanCity, 1965). Even worse, it fails to list his superior edition, TractatusDe Anima (Rome, 1965), which is based on 65 manuscripts in 9 families(compared to the 10 De Anima manuscripts [or 11, if e is distinguishedfrom E] used by Ross). This narrowness is a problem, no doubt, butthe lively and engaging consideration <strong>of</strong> new ideas and new directionsfound throughout this large and important collection shows (as do thefairly recent monographs <strong>of</strong> Modrak and Wedin) that scholarship on theDe Anima is more alive than it has been in some time, and encouragesthe hope <strong>of</strong> a broader and more inclusive consideration and comprehension <strong>of</strong> Aristotle's positions in the De Anima to come.?Kurt Pritzl, TheCatholic University <strong>of</strong> America.O'Meara, Dominic J. Plotinus: An Introduction to the Enneads. Oxford:Oxford University Press, 1993. ix + 142 pp. $39.95?It is difficult toimagine a major philosopher more in need <strong>of</strong> introduction than Plotinus,nor one whose thought is so deeply resistant to summary treatment.O'Meara succeeds by awakening the beginner's interest in his subjectand reminding the specialist why it is so fascinating. First we are familiarized with the details <strong>of</strong> Plotinus's life, the diverse influences upon