Aristotelian understanding of being human is presented as the philosophical core of King’s conceptual system. A summary of King’s thought is organized according to contemporary influences. The article then turns to what Aristotle teaches about the composition of the world and what it means to be a human being. Wallace’s life-powers model of the soul brings these insights into contemporary thought. Aristotelian philosophy completes King’s account of the personal system by providing insight into what it is to be human. Parallels in the reasoning of transaction and Aristotelian deliberation are further evidence of classical influences within King’s work.
Aquinas, St. Thomas . (1948). Summa theologica. In A. Pegis (Ed.). Introduction to St. Thomas Aquinas. New York: Random House.
2.
Aristotle . (1941a). Nicomachean ethics. In R. McKeon (Ed.). The basic works of Aristotle (pp. 935-1112). New York: Random House.
3.
Aristotle . (1941b). On the soul. In R. McKeon (Ed.). The basic works of Aristotle (pp. 535-603). New York: Random House.
4.
Aristotle . (1941c). Physics. In R. McKeon (Ed.). The basic works of Aristotle (pp. 218-394). New York: Random House.
5.
Carter, K. F. , & Dufour, L. T. (1994). King’s theory: A critique of the critiques. Nursing Science Quarterly, 7, 128-133.
6.
Ford, N. M. (1991). When did I begin? Conception of the human individual in history, philosophy and science. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press.
7.
King, I. M. (1981). A theory for nursing: Systems, concepts, process. New York: John Wiley.
8.
King, I. M. (1990). Health as the goal of nursing. Nursing Science Quarterly, 3, 123-128.
9.
King, I. M. (1992). King’s theory of goal attainment. Nursing Science Quarterly, 5, 19-26.
10.
King, I. M. (1996). The theory of goal attainment in research and practice. Nursing Science Quarterly, 9, 61-66.
11.
King, I. M. (1997). Reflections on the past and a vision for the future. Nursing Science Quarterly, 10, 15-17.
12.
Takahashi, T. (1992). Perspectives on nursing knowledge. Nursing Science Quarterly, 5, 86-91.
13.
von Bertalanffy, L. (1968). General systems theory. New York: George Braziller.
14.
Wallace, W. A. (1996). The modeling of nature: Philosophy of science and philosophy of nature in synthesis. Washington, DC: Catholic University of America Press.
15.
Whelton, B. J. (1996). A philosophy of nursing practice: An application of the Thomistic-Aristotelian concept of nature to the science of nursing (Doctoral dissertation, Catholic University of America, 1996). Dissertation Abstracts International, A57/03, 1176.
