Abstract

This chapter addresses the relationship of sexual reproduction in Generation of Animals to Aristotle's theory of the four causes in Physics II, seeking to investigate the causal context for the female's portrayal as a deformed or mutilated male. The dual meaning of aitia as cause and explanation is highlighted, as is the central role of logos in Aristotle's description of the four causes. This ambiguity of nature and language in Aristotle's portrayal is taken as a justification for using sex and gender, the "female" and "the feminine," as equivalent in the book's analysis. Because none of the four essential causes can explain the genesis of the female, an analysis is launched of the nonessential causes: accident, luck (tuchē), and chance (automaton) in Physics II, inquiring into the sources of motion in such phenomena.

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