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At least 19 recordsLinked to original sources
PubMed1983

Aristotle's "triventricular" heart and the relevant early history of the cardiovascular system.

Aristotle said that the human heart has three ventricles--right, left, and middle--a concept that has often been viewed as an astonishing error. But was it? Aristotle did not miscount ventricles. In the third century BC, all cardiac chambers were called "ventricles," meaning "cavities." The "ears" (auricles) were distinguished from the "cavities" (ventricles) by Herophilus of Alexandria (c 300 BC) and by Rufus and Ephesus (a contemporary of Jesus Christ). Aristotle regarded the right atrium as a venous dilatation, not as a part of the heart. Aristotle's "right ventricle" was our right ventricle. His "left ventricle" was our left atrium. His "middle ventricle" was our left ventricle. Because he did not count the right atrium, Aristotle considered the human heart to be three-chambered or "triventricular," consisting of the right ventricle, the left atrium, and the left ventricle. This report summarizes the relevant early history of the cardiovascular system.

Anatomy↗
PubMed1976

Active power and causal flow in Aristotle's theory of vision.

Aristotle's theory of vision has been characterized as naive, incommensurate with his theory of audition, and of historical interest only. This view is based on an analysis which fails to acknowledge the role of the concepts acting upon and active power in the theory. The meaning of these terms and the role Aristotle assigned them in vision and in sensation generally is demonstrated. It is argued that with the inclusion of these concepts (1) the theory of vision is sufficiently sophisticated and modern to be more than comparable with more recent perceptual theorizing, and (2) theoverall integrity of Aristotle's sensory philosophy is preserved. It is further argued that given the cohesiveness and comprehensiveness of Aristotle's psychological works, more attention should be given them by modern psychologists.

Greece, Ancient↗
PubMed1986

Aristotle revisited: the function of pyloric caeca in fish.

The function of the pyloric caeca of fish has been uncertain since their detailed description in 345 B.C. by Aristotle. He suggested three hypotheses about their function: "to store up the food," "putrify it up," and "concoct it" (i.e., storage, fermentation, and digestion). Our results for trout, cod, largemouth bass, and striped bass support the third but not the first or second of Aristotle's theories. In all four species, the caeca prove to be a major site of sugar, amino acid, and dipeptide uptake, contributing more uptake than the entire remaining alimentary tract in trout and cod. Caecal brush-border membranes contain hydrolytic enzymes. X-ray plates taken at various times after trout had ingested radioopaque marker, and observations of trout fed blue dye plus glass beads of graded sizes, show that caeca fill and empty of food with the same time course as proximal intestine. Thus, whereas the caeca of mammals and birds serve as fermentation chambers, fish caeca are an adaptation to increase gut surface area.

Animals↗
PubMed1995

Aristotle on 'distinguished physicians' and on the medical significance of dreams.

This article studies the way in which Aristotle deals with the view-attributed by him to the 'distinguished physicians'-that dreams may be significant as clues for imminent diseases of the body of the dreamer. Aristotle is thinking of philosophically minded physicians (such as the author of De victu) who base their practice on principles derived from the study of nature in general and who take into account the constitution of the whole body. He accepts their view, but justifies it with his own theory of sleep and dreams; however, his attempt to incorporate the medical view into his own account brings him into conflict with his own presupposition that dreams are not actual perceptions, but experiences of the remnants of perceptions received during the waking state.

Dreams↗
PubMed1996

Descriptions of visual phenomena from Aristotle to Wheatstone.

A history of the observational era of vision is presented through selected descriptions of phenomena by natural philosophers from Aristotle to Wheatstone. The descriptions are listed under the headings of optics, colour, subjective visual phenomena, motion perception, eye movements, binocular vision, and space perception.

History, 15th Century↗
PubMed1995

Dialectic and science: Galen, Herophilus and Aristotle on phenomena.

This paper examines the nature of Galen's argument in the De placitis Hippocratis et Platonis, books 2-3, concerned with the location of the psychic functions within the body. To this question Galen applies a coherent set of methodological principles, integrating Aristotelian dialectic and scientific demonstration based on anatomical experiments. Galen disagrees with Aristotle in that he relegates the endoxa from the realm of dialectic to that of rhetoric. His attitude is marked by a distinctive emphasis on perceptible phenomena as the starting point for scientific inquiry. This and other features can be traced back to the Hellenistic scientist Herophilus.

Anatomy↗
PubMed1996

Would Aristotle have played Russian roulette?

This paper continues the debate between myself and Peter Singer et al started in the Journal of Medical Ethics volume 21, no 3 about the ethical respectability of the use of QALYs in health care allocation. It discusses the question of what, in the way of health care provision, would be chosen by rational egoists behind a Rawlsian "veil of ignorance", and takes forward the vexed question of what is to count as "doing good" and hence as "doing the most good" in health care. Most importantly, this paper argues that it would be unfair to discriminate against people because they have been disadvantaged by their genetic condition. It notes that McKie et al in their reply to my first contribution to this debate continue to fail to distinguish between chance and probability and it is argued that this failure causes them to miss the whole point of the argument.

Ethical Theory↗
PubMed1995

Aristotle, nursing and health care ethics.

Even a brief consideration of the nature of nursing will indicate that an ethical dimension underlies much, if not all, of nursing practice. It is therefore important that students and practitioners are facilitated in developing an ethical awareness and sensitivity from early in their professional development. This paper argues that Aristotelian virtue theory provides a practice-based focus for health care ethics for a number of reasons. Also, because of his emphasis on the character of the moral agent, and on the importance of perception and emotion in moral decision-making, Aristotelian virtue theory provides a useful supplement to the traditional duty-based approaches to health care ethics analysis, which are increasingly being identified in the literature as having limits to their application within the health care context.

Ethical Theory↗
PubMed1982

Aristotle.

Explore the source record for details and available documents.

Famous Persons↗
PubMed1996

Aristotle, Galileo, and the DSM taxonomy: the case of schizophrenia.

With the diagnosis schizophrenia used as an example throughout, the fourth edition of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders's (American Psychiatric Association, 1994) approach to psychopathologic taxonomy is subjected to critical analysis as representing a fundamentally Aristotelian conception of the phenomena of mental disorders. This approach is contrasted, in the manner suggested by Kurt Lewin's early writing on the subject, with the Galileian mode of thought, emphasizing the dynamic causal matrix in which behavior occurs. Some of the positive implications of an altered view of the problem of taxonomy within the latter perspective are drawn out, and brief suggestions are made as to directions for the future.

Humans↗