Aristotle's Generation of Animals
A Critical Guide

Historically and philosophically informed introduction to the embryological, zoological, and medical views presented in this sophisticated and challenging text.

Andrea Falcon (Edited by), David Lefebvre (Edited by)

9781107132931, Cambridge University Press

Hardback, published 11 January 2018

304 pages, 3 b/w illus. 1 table
23.5 x 16.3 x 2 cm, 0.56 kg

Generation of Animals is one of Aristotle's most mature, sophisticated, and carefully crafted scientific writings. His overall goal is to provide a comprehensive and systematic account of how animals reproduce, including a study of their reproductive organs, what we would call fertilization, embryogenesis, and organogenesis. In this book, international experts present thirteen original essays providing a philosophically and historically informed introduction to this important work. They shed light on the unity and structure of the Generation of Animals, the main theses that Aristotle defends in the work, and the method of inquiry he adopts. They also open up new avenues of exploration of this difficult and still largely unexplored work. The volume will be essential for scholars and students of ancient philosophy as well as of the history and philosophy of science.

Introduction
Aristotle's philosophy and the Generation of Animals Andrea Falcon and David Lefebvre
Part I. The Unity and Structure of Aristotle's Generation of Animals: 1. 'One long argument?' The unity of Aristotle's Generation of Animals Allan Gotthelf and Andrea Falcon
2. Parts and generation: the prologue to the Generation of Animals and the structure of the treatise David Lefebvre
3. Order and method in Aristotle's Generation of Animals 2 Mariska Leunissen
Part II. The Principles of Animal Generation Reconsidered: 4. What is Aristotle's Generation of Animals about? Pierre Pellegrin
5. Aristotle on epigenesis: two senses of epigenesis Devin Henry
6. A latent difficulty in Aristotle's theory of semen: the homogeneous nature of semen and the role of the frothy bubble Marwan Rashed
7. Function and instrument: toward a new criterion of the scale of being in Aristotle's Generation of Animals Cristina Cerami
Part III. Hybrids, Male and Female, Particular Forms, and Monsters: 8. Hybridity and sterility in Aristotle's Generation of Animals Jocelyn Groisard
9. Females in Aristotle's embryology Jessica Gelber
10. Something(s) in the way(s) he moves: reconsidering the embryological argument for particular forms in Aristotle Gregory Salmieri
11. Aristotle's explanations of monstrous births and deformities in Generation of Animals 4.4 Sophia Connell
Part IV. Methodology in Aristotle's Generation of Animals: 12. The search for principles in Aristotle: Posterior Analytics 2 and Generation of Animals 1 Robert Bolton
13. Aristotle, dissection, and generation: experience, expertise and the practices of knowing James G. Lennox.

Subject Areas: Philosophy of science [PDA], History of ideas [JFCX], Social & political philosophy [HPS], Western philosophy: Ancient, to c 500 [HPCA], Philosophy [HP], Ancient history: to c 500 CE [HBLA]