Forms, Souls, and Embryos

James Wilberding is Professor of Ancient and Medieval Philosophy at Ruhr University, Bochum (Germany). Previously he was a lecturer in Classics at Newcastle University (UK) and Assistant Professor of Philosophy at Williams College (USA).

"Wilberding’s Forms, Souls, and Embryos is a pioneering work. It explores the uncharted territory of late ancient philosophy’s growing interest in medicine and biology. Its distinguished achievement lies in discovering a new world for future research – the metaphysical foundation of the key concepts of conception and the origin of life, as presented in Neoplatonism, the school which carried the vitality of ancient thought into the Middle Ages and the Renaissance. Wilberding’s conclusion that the Neoplatonic attribution of causal significance to both sexes in biological generation does not constitute as quiet a revolution as it seems originally, is equally valid for the achievement of his book itself."- Dr. Svetla Slaveva-Griffin, Florida State University, USA"This is a fascinating book, well worth reading if you have any interest in Platonic philosophy or ancient philosophy more generally ... It is time that we took more notice of philosophical engagement with embryological theory from the earliest thinkers to the early modern period. Wilberding’s book is a major advance in scholarship in this area and will surely open up substantial avenues for further research. The typescript is immaculate; there are comprehensive notes, an excellent bibliography and index locorum. In short, this book in outstanding in content, style and presentation."- Sophia M. Connell, University of Cambridge, UK, in the Bryn Mawr Classica Review

• IntroductionChapter 1: The Embryological BackgroundGeneral Background: Four Key Issues in Ancient EmbryologyEmbryology in PlatoChapter 2: The Metaphysical BackgroundMetaphysical Models in EmbryologyThe Biological Development of the Theory of FormsChapter 3: Neoplatonic Embryology: The Core TheoryThe One-Seed TheoryThe Origin and Nature of the SeedThe Maternal Actualization of the SeedOther External Factors in the Formation of the OffspringAppendix to Chapter 3: Eclectic TheoriesThe Commentary on the Hippocratic On the Nature of the Child by John of AlexandriaTheophilus Protospatharius’ On the Construction of the Human BeingPseudo-Galen’s De SpermatePseudo-Iamblichus’ Theology of ArithmeticPseudo-Galen’s Whether What is Carried in the Womb is a Living ThingThe Commentary on Aristotle’s On the Generation of Animals by Michael of EphesusMichael’s Interpretation of Aristotle’s EmbryologyMichael’s Interpretation of Plato’s EmbryologyChapter 4: Formation and Animation of the EmbryoThe Order of the Embryo’s FormationThe Animation of the EmbryoChapter 5: The Problem of TeratogenesisEpilogueBibliographyIndex LocorumSubject Index