试论亚里士多德的认知三阶段学说——兼与柏拉图的感知、推理和努斯三阶段论比较

On The Three Stages of Aristotle’s Cognition Theory——also a comparison with Plato’s three-stage theory of perception, reasoning and Nous

柏拉图和亚里士多德虽然在存在论上有显著的不同,但在笔者看来,他们对人的认识过程的三阶段论述框架却基本一致,都包括从感知到理性的过程,都认为人的感知会唤起理性认识能力,而理性中最高且相对独立的努斯把握恒真的对象。但亚里士多德比柏拉图更详细地研究了感知、理性认识及二者的相关性,更加丰富了努斯的功能,从而在具体的灵魂能力与认识对象的相互匹配的问题上与柏拉图有了区分:对于感知如何达到理性,亚里士多德更详细地分析了处于二者之间的想象、记忆、判断、经验等不同阶段;柏拉图的努斯把握理念或类概念,而在亚里士多德看来,把握类概念的是感知,努斯所把握的是证明知识的本原或前提,而这是无法证明或推理的。

Although Plato and Aristotle differ significantly in their existential theories, in the author’s view, their three-stage framework for the exposition of the human cognitive process is essentially the same, and both include the process from perception to reason. And both of them think that perception evokes reason, and that nous, which is the highest and relatively independent cognitive ability in reason, grasps the real object. But Aristotle studies perception, reason and the relation between them in greater detail than Plato, enriching the function of nous more, and distinguishing from Plato in the matter of the mutual matching of specific soul faculties with the objects of cognition: for how perception reaches reason, Aristotle analyzes in greater detail the imagination, memory, judgment, experience, etc., that lie between the two;Plato believes that nous grasps the idea or class concept, but in Aristotle’s view, what grasps the class concept is perception, and what nous grasps is the principle or premise of proving knowledge, which cannot be proved or reasoned.