On the consciousness of the universal and the individual : a contribution to the phenomenology of the thought processes / by Francis Aveling.
- Francis Aveling
- Date:
- 1912
Licence: Public Domain Mark
Credit: On the consciousness of the universal and the individual : a contribution to the phenomenology of the thought processes / by Francis Aveling. Source: Wellcome Collection.
33/280 page 17
![flowed into that of the school in the twelfth cen¬ tury is interesting in this connection, mainly in that it bore with it a metaphysical theory which was sharply criticised and rejected by the school¬ men. The obscure and disputed text of Aristotle 1 with regard to the ‘ two intellects * was interpreted by Averroes in the sense of the Arabian doctrine of Emanation. The real meaning of Aristotle is a source of controversy. Is there only one active intellect for all mankind ? Averroes teaches that there is only one. He goes further, and asserts the same doctrine with regard to the possible intellect. There is only one, immaterial, eternal separate human intelligence. By its action upon the sensory images of the individual it enters into accidental union with him, and thus understanding is possible. But the relation of sensitive know¬ ledge to intellectual is not explained. We shall see that the schoolmen of the thirteenth century refused to allow the question to be pre¬ judiced in this way, either by the metaphysical and mystical exigencies of the Arabian philosophy, or by the ethical and epistemological postulates of Aristotle. For them the problem we are consider¬ ing already had its due psychological importance. They recognised that it was only by paying attention 1 Aristotle, De Anima, iii. cap. 5. 3 : 6 vovs xwpt<rr6s, /ecu airaOris, teal aficyr/s rfj overly &v ipepyeiy. ... 6 wa07]TLKbs vovs epOaprbs, teal tivev tovtov ovdh voei. C](https://iiif.wellcomecollection.org/image/b31345360_0033.jp2/full/800%2C/0/default.jpg)
