Most scholars of Aristotle's biology have accepted the view of D. M. Balme and Pierre Pellegrin that the History of Animals is devoid of any systematic classification of animals. I challenge this reading. I show that Aristotle can produce a taxonomy of animals kinds that are found in the essences of atomic species, or, to borrow from Plato, divide nature by the joints. I start from Aristotle's positive views of division stated in APo. II.13-14 and how they imply a taxonomic order of a genus. I then develop my interpretation of how Aristotle can divide nature by the joints in respect to his criticisms of division in APr. I.31 paired with the methodology developed in APr. I.27-30. I conclude by illustrating that Aristotle employs this methodology to divide the genus animal by its joints in the History of Animals and how he seeks out the taxonomic order of the genus animal in that work.The method of division was employed by scientists from at least the Renaissance to Linnaeus to generate their taxonomies of biological kinds. They, of course, were inspired by Aristotle but through the lens of Neo-Platonism and the tree of Porphyry. According to this tradition, Aristotle was seen as the first taxonomist of animal kinds. But this view slowly eroded in the 20 th century. A close examination of Aristotle's History of Animals and the other biological treatises exposed various classifications of animals, no apparent systematic use of principles of classification, and no clear taxonomic arrangement of kinds. 1 By the second half of the 20 th century, D. M. Balme argued that Aristotle's primary use of division was not classification but definition and is helpful in seeking causal explanations. 2 Pierre Pellegrin then dealt the apparent death-blow, showing conclusively that the terms γένος and εἶδος do not denote fixed kinds Chad Wiener: Old Dominion University -Philosophy and Religious Studies, 9029 Batten Arts and Letters,
I argue that Socrates employs both elenchus and the method of hypothesis in the examination of the slave. I show that the elenchus is a necessary step of the inquiry. Being reduced to ignorance, Socrates tacitly uses the method of hypothesis to move the slave from ignorance to correct opinion. I tease this out from the questions Socrates asks. Although the method of hypothesis begins from a question distinct from elenchus, the solution to the problem leads the slave to answer the original question. The examination shows that the two methods can be employed in a sustained inquiry.
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