Aristotle on the matter of mind 225
characterKk L^67 is discussed inRh. 2. 12 – 15 ; and a passage inPol. 7. 6
on the best natural constitutionK -
Lfor citizenship in the city-state
suggests a correspondence between environmentK!
Lon the one hand
and intelligence and courageK
!Lon the other ( 1327 b
20 ff.): while the inhabitants of cold regions and of ‘Europe’ are courageous
but defective in intelligence and skillK
. #L
and the inhabitants of Asia intelligent but lacking in spiritK
#
1
.
1 % :0 ' L, the Greeks represent a mean
both geographically and in virtue of their character as determined by their
physical constitutionK1 . G
3 " 1
-L.^68
There are also the well-known passages on states of the blood that are of
influence on thinking. AtPart. an. 648 a 2 ff. we are told that while thick and
warm blood produce strength, thinness and coldness of the blood are con-
ducive to sharper intellectual and perceptive capacities (
#
.
3 ! :! ), and this also applies to
the substance analogous to blood in bloodless animals: ‘This is why bees and
other similar animals are naturally more intelligent (
) than
many blooded animals, and of the blooded animals, those with cold and thin
blood are more intelligent than their counterparts.’ The best combination
of properties – in actual fact a sort of compromise – is blood that is warm,
thin and pure, which makes the animal both intelligent and courageous.
This indicates that thinness is apparently more important for intelligence
than coldness, which is confirmed byPart. an. 650 b 19 ff., where we are
told that some animals have a more subtle intelligence ( )
%
), ‘not because of the coldness of the blood, but rather be-
cause of its being thin and pure’ (
1 % !# +
1 3
3 ,
); and he adds that more ‘earthy’ blood does not have these
characteristics.^69 Thinness and purity of the bodily moisture (blood or its
analogue) are also said to make sensation moreagile( (
#), and
this accounts for the fact that some bloodless animals (with a thin and pure
moisture) have ‘a more intelligent soul’ ( ) % :) than
some blooded animals – an important remark indicating that not the blood
itself, but itsstateis conducive of intelligence. The chapter proceeds with
some remarks about the influence of blood on character (k ) and con-
cludes that blood is the cause of many things, in the sphere both of character
(^67) I have discussed the ‘ethopoietic’ influence of bodily factors (such as the size of the heart,Part. an.
667 a 11 ff.) in ch. 5 above.
(^68) Cf.Pr. 14. 15 and the HippocraticAirs, Waters, Places 16 ( 2. 62 ff. L.).
(^69) On ‘earthiness’ cf.Part. an. 686 b 28 ff. discussed above (see n. 57 ), and see Althoff ( 1992 ) 73 , 80.