Porphyry: To Gaurus on How Embryos are Ensouled and On What is in Our Power

Concerning embryos, Porphyry takes an original view on issues that had been left undecided by his teacher Plotinus and earlier by the doctor Galen. What role is played in the development of the embryo by the souls or the natures of the father, of the mother, of the embryo, or of the whole world? Porphyry''s detailed answer, in contrast to Aristotle''s, gives a significant role to the soul and to t...