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  • Chapter 4 - Empiricism and Hearsay in Aristotle’s Zoological Collection of Facts

  • Edited by Sophia M. Connell, Birkbeck College, University of London
  • Book:
    The Cambridge Companion to Aristotle's Biology
    Published online:
    14 May 2021
    Print publication:
    27 May 2021, pp 64-82

  • Summary

    Aristotle’s biological treatises are full of explicit commitments to empiricism, expressing both his own views about how one should conduct biological investigations while using observation and sharp critiques of his predecessors for failing to see the facts. This chapter examines some of the most prominent features of Aristotle’s commitments to empirical methods as they can be observed to be at work at the most basic level of his science of biology, that is, at the level of establishing the facts about the parts, activities, lives, and characters of animals as collected in his History of Animals (HA). Specifically, the chapter discusses Aristotle’s methods for establishing and evaluating facts as well as the sometimes all too important role played by folklore, fables, and hearsay in Aristotle’s collection of zoological facts.