Abstract

This chapter analyses how Aristotle explains and justifies his initial statement that all men by nature desire to know. In particular, it aims at clarifying how Aristotle argues that human knowledge differs from the animals' one and develops from sense perception to memory, experience and technê. This development coincides with a development from knowledge of individuals to knowledge of universals, reaching its peak in sophia, defined as epistêmê of first principles and causes, which is the highest form of knowledge desired by men. These Aristotelian arguments are further clarified by a location in their intellectual context and a comparison with views expressed, above all, by Hippocratic physicians, Plato and Isocrates.