“Poner ante la vista”: Sensibilidad y acción humana en Aristóteles

Abstract

In this text, I wish to reflect on the possibility of sensibly "perceiving”— especially through hearing and sight —some signs related to human actions in order to answer the question: How does an action look? And, based on this, how can we evaluate it? To do so, I will analyze some passages from Aristotle's Problems concerning the perception of movement and action, and then relate them to the theory of dramatic composition in the Poetics. Finally, I will explain why the imitation of actions present in dramatic art is a valuable resource for understanding the complexity of practical life, precisely because of its ability to present action in all its unity and organicity. The intention is to show how exemplarity, contemplation, and evaluation of human actions contribute to the formation of the "vital meaning."