On One Attribute of the Active Intellect in Aristotle

Abstract

This paper examines one attribute of the active intellect (νοῦς ποιητικός)— ἕξις (disposition, quality). In “De Anima” (III.5) Aristotle characterizes νοῦς ποιητικός “as a kind of disposition (ὡς ἕξις τις), like light.” Why does Aristotle call the active intellect ἕξις? There are two difficulties here. (1) If ἕξις is some sort of quality or property (as it is sometimes taken to be), how can it be “unmixed, separated, eternal and immortal”, as Aristotle further characterizes it? (2) The second difficulty concerns the Aristotelian comparison of the active intellect with the light. Though it is often considered to be a simple figure of speech, I contend that Aristotle’s comparison between the active intellect and the light is not a mere metaphor. Since the light and the active intellect are “some ἕξις”, the clarification of the phenomenon of light may help to clarify what active intellect is.