The Assimilation Of Sense To Sense-Object In Aristotle

Abstract

Abstract Aristotle holds that acts of sense-perception crucially involve some kind of assimilation of the perceiver to the relevant sense object say, a red flag, or a fragrant lavender bush. It has for some time been highly controversial how he conceives of this kind of assimilation. According to some scholars, what he has in mind is an alteration or change in quality whereby the perceiver’s sense-organ in a straightforward way takes on the perceptible quality of the object that is being perceived. According to others, such assimilation just is becoming aware of the perceptible quality in question. On this view, the likeness between perceiver and sense-object in the act of perception depends on the fact that the perceptible form of the sense-object has in a certain way come to be present in the perceiver’s sense-organ.

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