History of Animals
History of Animals (Greek: Τῶν περὶ τὰ ζῷα ἱστοριῶν, Ton peri ta zoia historion, "Inquiries on Animals"; Latin: Historia Animalium, "History of Animals") is one of the major texts on biology by the ancient Greek philosopher Aristotle, who had studied at Plato's Academy in Athens. It was written in the fourth century BC; Aristotle died in 322 BC.
"Historia animalium" redirects here. For the book by Conrad Gessner, see Historia animalium (Gessner).
Generally seen as a pioneering work of zoology, Aristotle frames his text by explaining that he is investigating the what (the existing facts about animals) prior to establishing the why (the causes of these characteristics). The book is thus an attempt to apply philosophy to part of the natural world. Throughout the work, Aristotle seeks to identify differences, both between individuals and between groups. A group is established when it is seen that all members have the same set of distinguishing features; for example, that all birds have feathers, wings, and beaks. This relationship between the birds and their features is recognized as a universal.
The History of Animals contains many accurate eye-witness observations, in particular of the marine biology around the island of Lesbos, such as that the octopus had colour-changing abilities and a sperm-transferring tentacle, that the young of a dogfish grow inside their mother's body, or that the male of a river catfish guards the eggs after the female has left. Some of these were long considered fanciful before being rediscovered in the nineteenth century. Aristotle has been accused of making errors, but some are due to misinterpretation of his text, and others may have been based on genuine observation. He did however make somewhat uncritical use of evidence from other people, such as travellers and beekeepers.
The History of Animals had a powerful influence on zoology for some two thousand years. It continued to be a primary source of knowledge until zoologists in the sixteenth century, such as Conrad Gessner, all influenced by Aristotle, wrote their own studies of the subject.
Book[edit]
Approach[edit]
In the History of Animals, Aristotle sets out to investigate the existing facts (Greek "hoti", what), prior to establishing their causes (Greek "dioti", why).[1][3] The book is thus a defence of his method of investigating zoology. Aristotle investigates four types of differences between animals: differences in particular body parts (Books I to IV); differences in ways of life and types of activity (Books V, VI, VII and IX); and differences in specific characters (Book VIII).[1]
To illustrate the philosophical method, consider one grouping of many kinds of animal, 'birds': all members of this group possess the same distinguishing features—feathers, wings, beaks, and two bony legs. This is an instance of a universal: if something is a bird, it has feathers and wings; if something has feathers and wings, that also implies it is a bird, so the reasoning here is bidirectional. On the other hand, some animals that have red blood have lungs; other red-blooded animals (such as fish) have gills. This implies, in Aristotle's reasoning, that if something has lungs, it has red blood; but Aristotle is careful not to imply that all red-blooded animals have lungs, so the reasoning here is not bidirectional.[1]
While there is consensus that the History of Animals was aimed mostly at describing attributes of animals, there is a debate about whether or not it suggests that Aristotle was also interested in producing a taxonomy. Most philosophers who have studied the History of Animals and Aristotle's other writings suggest that Aristotle was not trying to produce a taxonomy,[4] but more recent studies by biologists reach different conclusions.[5][6][7]
