Blackwell Reference Online

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A ncient G reek philosophy, modern european philosophy, philosophy of mind [Greek, variously translated as intellection, intelligence, and under-standing; it is cognate with the verb noein and its object to noeton ] In a wider sense noesis is thought , in contrast to perception (Greek aisthesis). In its narrow sense, noesis is identified with nous (immediate or intuitive thinking) and contrasted to dianoia (discursive thinking). It is the thought that constitutes the being of the Unmoved Mover in Aristotle 's Metaphysics and is pure intuitive apprehension in Neoplatonism. In Plato 's simile of the line , noesis is beyond dianoia , and while dianoia is concerned with mathematical entities, noesis is the highest state of the mind, which reasons from Forms to Forms, reaches first principles , and then deduces from them. It is dialectical or philosophical reason. In modern times, the contrast between noesis and noema is fundamental to Husserl's phenomenological account of intentional experience. “Life is defined in the case of animals by the power of perception, in that of man by the power of perception or noesis.” Aristotle, Nicomachean Ethics ... log in or subscribe to read full text