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phantasia, for instance, as when one sees a small golden disk in the sky but thinks that the sun
is larger than the earth (428b24). Phantasia has one foot in each camp; it is in some respects
like perception and in others like intellection and so Aristotle briey considers making it a
function of the two combined, but this option is quickly ruled out as well.
It is clear, therefore, that phantasia will be neither belief together with perception,
nor belief through perception, nor a blend of belief and perception.
(428a2426)
Having ruled out a quick and unqualied identication of phantasia with perception or
thought or the two combined, Aristotle sets out to build an account of phantasia which is
sensitive to the common features shared by both types of cognitive faculties. Phantasia has an
important role to play in the explanation of both the similarities of perceptual and intellectual
cognition and their dierences. First, however, the distinctive characteristics of phantasia must
be determined. One such feature is phantasias vulnerability to error, unlike perception;
another is phantasias widespread occurrence, nearly all animals possess it, unlike intellection;
yet another is its dependence upon perception for its origin and its objects.
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