Aristotele: la psicofisiologia delle emozioni e l’ilemorfismo

In Aristotle’s philosophy there is no term that matches our ‘emotions’. Some of what we call ‘emotion’ (such as, anger, fear, joy) are called by Aristotle pathe. But he applied the term pathos to many things that in our view are not ‘emotions’ : for example, to perception, as well as to certain types of property. Of course, the fact that there is no speci(c term does not entail that the concept is lacking. Aristotle devotes several inquiries to the ‘emotions’ : ethical, rhetorical, and psychological investigations, as well as those in natural history. This article is devoted to his psychological research, in particular to the psychophysiology of emotions.