Although Aristotle was not the first to understand objects in terms of their matter and their form, the account he developed has exercised a major influence on Western philosophy to this day. The History of Hylomorphism: From Aristotle to Descartes collects sixteen essays by experts that consider aspects of the first two thousand years of the history of hylomorphism, starting with Aristotle's immediate successors and ending with Descartes. It includes discussions of Hellenistic, Roman, Arabic, medieval, and early modern philosophers, examining the ways in which Aristotle's central ideas and concepts were progressively modified by these thinkers. Hylomorphism, as we understand it today, owes much to the way in which it was interpreted, and re-interpreted, during this period. Through a study of their work we can see how questions in contemporary metaphysics and philosophy of mind, such as Descartes's mind-body problem, came to be formulated.

About the Author
David Charles was initially a Lecturer and Research Lecturer in Christ Church, Oxford (1972-8) and was from 1978 a Fellow and Tutor at Oriel College, Oxford, until 2008 when he became a Research Professor. Since 2014, he has been a Professor of Philosophy at Yale University. In addition, he has held visiting professorships at Brown, Rutgers and UCLA, Tokyo Metropolitan, Taiwan National and Venice Universities. He was a co-founder with Vasilis Karasmanis of the European Society for Greek Philosophy and is an Honorary Fellow of the Technical University of Athens.


Book Information
ISBN 9780192897664
Author David Charles
Format Hardback
Page Count 432
Imprint Oxford University Press
Publisher Oxford University Press
Weight(grams) 1g
Dimensions(mm) 242mm * 166mm * 30mm