On Intellect and Consciousness

In the spring semester, I took Aristotle (PHIL 1120) by Professor Gill (Very cool class, highly recommended for philosophy concentrators)!

For my midterm paper, I compared Aristotle’s active intellect in De Anima iii 5 to consciousness. I wanted to share this, because I enjoy ancient philosophy and I am thinking a lot about consciousness!

In De Anima iii 5, Aristotle introduces the notion of the active mind or the active intellect (nous poiêtikos). The interpretations of this short chapter have been at the center of debate due to the chapter’s…