Abstract

This essay is an attempt to bring together two contrasting approaches to Aristotle’s theory of the soul—the explication of what Aristotle says about the psychē and its functions and activities, on the one hand, and on the other, the analysis of Aristotle’s contributions to the history of ideas about mental illness, its causes and remedies. The first approach has been primarily philosophical, while most of those who have written about Aristotle’s contributions to the history of madness have been medical or psychiatric professionals.