Source edition
Aristotle. Aristotelis Opera, Volume 3. Bekker, Immanuel, editor. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1837.
Source data
A Digital Corpus for Graeco-Arabic Studies · CC BY-SA 4.0
Cloned and adapted by Humanitext, with ongoing edits.
Summary
This work is a scientific and philosophical treatise that investigates the fundamental phenomena of life: youth and old age, life and death, and the mechanism of respiration associated with them. Through the observation and experimental analysis of various animals and plants, the author seeks to identify the bodily location of the principle that governs life. In the first half, the text argues that the "soul," which serves as the source of sensation and nutrition, resides in the central part of the body—specifically the heart in red-blooded animals—supported by embryological observations and division experiments. In the second half, the focus shifts to the vital heat essential for sustaining life, explaining the necessity of cooling this heat through a comparison with how fire extinguishes. Ultimately, the work outlines how plants and animals preserve their lives through cooling mechanisms, approaching the core of vital functions.