Abstract

Aristotle views perception as a single faculty of the soul. Thus, he should display the unity of the faculty in different animals that have it. The perceptive faculty is shared by rational and non-rational animals; a common account of perception should show that it is not a mere homonym present in non-rational animals. The general account of perception should require no more than can be ascribed to non-rational animals, and in rational animals, the account should not be falsified by the distinctive features of rational perception.