The initiation of self-movement and action is a common topic for both Aristotle’s moral philosophy and Aristotle’s scientific inquiry into living beings. In his moral philosophy, references to the (causal) origin of an action are meant to pinpoint unambiguous cases of accountability or responsibility. In his scientific research Aristotle attempts to track the chain of causes that leads from an animal’s perception and conative dispositions down to the actual locomotion of an animal as a whole. In this talk, I will explore to what extent the moral-philosophical account of agency (as presented in his Nicomachean and Eudemian Ethics) is based on and indebted to the underlying scientific project (as presented in his De Anima and De Motu Animalium).
About Christof Rapp
Christof Rapp studied philosophy, ancient Greek, logic and philosophy of science in Tübingen and Munich. He obtained his doctorate at LMU, Munich in 1993 and completed his Habilitation in Tübingen in 2000. After that, he took up the Chair for Ancient and Contemporary Philosophy at HU-Berlin, where he was also co-director of the TOPOI excellence cluster. Since 2009, he has held the Chair for Ancient Philosophy and Rhetoric at LMU, where he is also academic director of the Center for Advanced Studies. Christof Rapp has written books on the identity and persistence of substance, the presocratics, Aristotle and Epicurus. He has published a translation and commentary of Aristotle’s Rhetoric and (with Tim Wagner) a translation with introduction of Aristotle’s Topics. In addition, he has published articles throughout ancient philosophy, as well as edited several anthologies and handbooks.
