Connell, Sophia M. (2018) Aristotle’s explanations of monstrous births and deformities in generation of animals 4.4. In: Falcon, A. and Lefebvre, D. (eds.) Aristotle's Generation of Animals: A Critical Guide. Cambridge Critical Guides. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press, pp. 207-223. ISBN 9781107132931.
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Abstract
Given that they are chance events, there can be no scientific demonstration or knowledge of monsters. There are still, however, many recognizable elements of scientific explanation in Aristotle's Generation of Animals Book IV chapter 4. What happens in cases of monsters and deformities occurs in the process of generation, and there is much that we can know scientifically about this process—working from the animal’s essential attributes outward to factors that influence these processes. In particular, we find Aristotle looking for and investigating whether “for the most part” (FMP) correlations are causally relevant and linked to essence. Even though the birth of monsters is scientifically inexplicable, the features of animals that tend to produce them can be known about. I will explain how it is that producing more than one offspring per birth is a knowable feature of a kind. This feature, along with others, can then give us a much better grasp on what happens in particular instances of monstrous birth.
Metadata
| Item Type: | Book Section |
|---|---|
| Additional Information: | This version is free to view and download for personal use only. Not for re-distribution, re-sale or use in derivative works. © Cambridge University Press. |
| School: | Birkbeck Faculties and Schools > Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences > School of Historical Studies |
| Depositing User: | Sophia Connell |
| Date Deposited: | 09 Apr 2018 10:14 |
| Last Modified: | 02 Aug 2023 17:41 |
| URI: | https://eprints.bbk.ac.uk/id/eprint/21954 |
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