"De Anima" (by Aristotle)

"De Anima" (On the Soul) by Aristotle is a philosophical exploration of what it means to be alive and conscious. He defines the soul as the essence or "homestead" of living beings, responsible for their functions. Aristotle categorizes the soul into parts: the nutritive (growth and reproduction), the perceptive (sensation and perception), and the rational (thought and reasoning). He argues that the soul is what gives life to the body, and different beings have different types of souls based on their abilities. Essentially, the work examines the nature of consciousness and how it relates to the physical body.