Aristotle’s Desire

Abstract

Aristotle's discussion of desire in De anima III is important for understanding his account of action. This chapter discusses about an interpretation of one aspect of his discussion, defends it against certain objections and comments briefly on its philosophical significance. In De anima III, Aristotle provides a relatively extended treatment of desire. His discussion begins with the case of seeing something as pleasant. The three identity claims are central for a proper understanding of Aristotle's account of sensual desire, pleasure and the perception of pleasure. The chapter examines each of them in more detail. The perceptual mean is numerically one thing which can be affected in different ways by the hot and the sweet. It can tell the difference between the hot and the sweet because it is affected in different ways by them. Keywords: Aristotle; De anima ; perceptual mean; pleasure; sensual desire