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A medieval controversy about odor
Author(s) -
Kemp Simon
Publication year - 1997
Publication title -
journal of the history of the behavioral sciences
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.216
H-Index - 26
eISSN - 1520-6696
pISSN - 0022-5061
DOI - 10.1002/(sici)1520-6696(199722)33:3<211::aid-jhbs1>3.0.co;2-u
Subject(s) - odor , carrion , object (grammar) , key (lock) , history , epistemology , aesthetics , philosophy , sociology , psychology , ecology , biology , neuroscience , linguistics
Medieval scholars debated whether odor was transmitted through a mediumas suggested by Aristotle or by fumes or vapors from the odoriferous objectas suggested by Plato. Key evidence believed to support Aristotle'stheory was the behavior of birds in detecting carrion from far away. Themedieval approach to this essentially secular controversy was, nevertheless,similar to that used in issues thinkers of that time regarded as of moreimportance.