Aristotele fondatore della scienza biologica

Aristotle’s biological treatises are paradigmatic of his scientific investigation of the natural world and its contents. The sophisticated conceptual, explanatory, and methodological framework that underpins his scientific approach to nature can be found in PA I 1, which serves as a philosophical prologue to the whole biological corpus. This foundational text raises key questions about the method, aims, and epistemological status of the science devoted to perishable living natural substances. The treatise opens by establishing the necessity of a certain culture or paideia as a prerequisite for engaging in biological inquiry. As argued in §2, such paideia equips the audience with the ability to assess the form of exposition of the logos that Aristotle is about to begin. Indeed, several challenges inherent in the scientific investigation of living beings can be addressed by appealing to formal criteria (horoi) like expository economy. §3 then focuses on two models of reasoning – those of astronomical investigation and technical production – to explore the order in which the scientific knowledge of living organisms should be presented. While these analogies provide useful insights, they ultimately fall short of capturing the specific character of biological explanation. As discussed in §4, each biological work investigates the living organism from a specific angle: Historia animalium studies interspecies differences; De partibus animalium focuses on anatomo-physiology; De generatione animalium explores the maintainance and reproduction of life; De motu animalium and De incessu animalium analyze self-motion. Taken together, these texts reveal Aristotle’s effort to construct a comprehensive and coherent science of the living being – one that is theoretically grounded, methodologically rigorous, and deeply attuned to the empeiria of our own nature and the natural world around us.