s of meaning and prescription.
In many cases, Aristotle is dealing with the tangible and is using reason to uncover the meaning beneath the surface. In many of his inquiries, the subject matter is intangible and requires the use of reason in a more rigorous fashion. In his metaphysical and ethical writings, Aristotle develops his theses by using reason alone, examining experience and the ideas of others for a way to approach the essential questions and issues involved. He writes in On the Soul:
Enough has been said of the views about the soul which have been handed down by our predecessors. Let us start again, as it were from the beginning, and try to determine what the soul is and what would be its most comprehensive definition (Aristotle 165).
In dealing with the soul, Aristotle must examine the mind-body problem that interested Plato as well and that has been examined by many other philosophers before and since. Aristotle again uses the method of defining all terms and then of separating the various elements into categories that make it easier to understand the whole and to see the separate parts at the same time. He considers all of the senses in order to eliminate what the soul is not and to find what the soul is.
In his work On the Soul, Aristotle offers certain conclusions which he then explores in detail. Firs
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