Aristotle’s idea of human exceptionalism suggested why he considered humans “above” animals. Although he believed that animals had souls (as did plants), they lacked the souls that only humans had. Plants only had a generative soul, which allowed them to grow and reproduce. Animals and humans had this and a sensitive soul, which allowed them to perceive and feel. Humans, however, are the only beings in possession of a rational soul, which allows them to think, reason, and act on more than instinct. Read full article here
Oddities
The Curious Case of the Ancient Brain
In 2008, archaeologists examining the University of York discovered something strange: the decapitated head of an Iron Age man and his very shrivelled but very much intact brain. How a centuries-old brain was preserved is still unknown, but research suggests that it could have been because of brain diseases like dementia. The Yorkshire man’s brain’s proteins were bunched up together, much like how dementia causes brain proteins to bunch up into plaques. This bunching up, or aggregation, could continue even after death, turning regions of the brain into hard masses. Read full article here
Merv
September 30, 2022
