The brute within

"Hendrik Lorenz presents a comprehensive study of Plato's and Aristotle's conception of appetitive desire. They see this as a form of non-rational motivation that humans share with other animals, and which aims primarily at the pleasures of food, drink, and sex. Lorenz explores the cognitive resources that both philosophers make available for the explanation of non-rational desires, and pinpoints what they take rationality to add to the motivational structure of human beings. In doing so, he exposes a remarkable degree of continuity between Plato's and Aristotle's thought in this area. He also sheds fresh light, not only on both philosophers' theories of motivation, but also on how they conceive of the mind, both in itself and in relation to the body."

"The Brute Within will be of substantial interest to anyone engaged in the study of emotion, rationality, motivation, and philosophy of psychology, as well as to ancient philosophers."--Jacket.