The topic of this Master's thesis is the study of animals in antiquity. The first part of the thesis deals with the philosophical conception of animals. Animals have always been interesting to humans, who have often observed them and compared them with themselves. They probably saw in them similar characteristics, as many ancient philosophers often raised the questions: what is an animal, is it intelligent, does it have a soul and/or a mind? The second part of the thesis focuses on the 'scientific' approach to the study of animals, as taken, for example, by Aristotle. Aristotle wrote several works on the subject of animals, describing different species, their behaviour and anatomy, but always in comparison with man, who he considered to be the most perfect living being. From what has been written, it is possible to deduce that Aristotle himself dissected some animals and thus studied them more anatomically. By collecting data, Aristotle probably wanted to classify animals into different groups according to their common characteristics. His work later influenced many Roman authors, especially Pliny the Elder, who included some chapters on animals in his Natural History (Naturalis historia). Although Pliny did not deal with zoology on the same level as Aristotle, his collection was considered a treasure trove of knowledge in those days. The thesis focuses, among other things, on the classification of animals by the two authors and how (and if) their findings influenced Linnaeus's formulation of the biological scientific systematics that we still use today.
|
