Aristotle on Attention

Abstract: I argue that a study of the Nicomachean Ethics and of the Parva Naturalia shows that Aristotle had a notion of attention. This notion captures the common aspects of apparently different phenomena like perceiving something vividly, being distracted by a loud sound or by a musical piece, focusing on a geometrical problem. For Aristotle, these phenomena involve a specific selectivity that is the outcome of the competition between different cognitive stimuli. This selectivity is attention. I argue that Aristotle studied the common aspects of the physiological processes at the basis of attention and its connection with pleasure. His notion can explain perceptual attention and intellectual attention as voluntary or involuntary phenomena. In addition, it sheds light on how attention and enjoyment can enhance our cognitive activities.

Object Details

• Location: Deutsche Nationalbibliothek Frankfurt am Main
• Extent: Online-Ressource
• Language: Englisch

References and Relationships

• Bibliographic citation: Aristotle on Attention ; volume:103 ; number:4 ; year:2021 ; pages:602-633 ; extent:32 ; Archiv für Geschichte der Philosophie ; 103, Heft 4 (2021), 602-633 (gesamt 32)

Contributors, Places and Time

• Creator: Fiecconi, Elena Cagnoli

Further information

• DOI: 10.1515/agph-2018-0014
• URN: urn:nbn:de:101:1-2024041118284512205455
• Rights: Open Access; Der Zugriff auf das Objekt ist unbeschränkt möglich.
• Last update: 14.08.2025, 10:53 AM CEST