Save the date for a talk by our visiting grant recipient Hannah Laurens! Dr. Laurens will give a presentation titled "Aristotle on Life and Self-Love."
This talk is sponsored by Notre Dame's Workshop on Ancient Philosophy.
Abstract: Why is ‘living better than not living’ for Aristotle (GA II.1 731b30)? In this talk, I explore Aristotle’s notion of what it is to be a living being, and how the various kinds of living beings (plants, animals, human animals, gods) are connected. In particular, I will touch upon the central role of the Prime Mover-God in Aristotle’s conception of life: how the Prime Mover as the paradigm of what it is to be a living being brings some degree of unity to the cosmos. But delving into the Prime Mover’s nature as ultimate self-knower also allows us to see why we, according to Aristotle, love life: to live, for human beings, is to know, and to know oneself as alive is to fulfil one’s love for oneself as a living being. This fulfilled love takes us to a state, just as it does for the Prime Mover, that provides us with the greatest pleasure possible.