For Aristotle, thought engenders itself through being touched by the thinkable

Evidence

This opposition, the difference within activity and the sublation of that difference, is expressed by Aristotle in saying that νς thinks itself in the reception of thought, in those things which have become thought. νς thinks itself through the reception of the thinkable; this thinkable only comes into being as something touching and thinking, it is first engendered when it touches – this is the way it is for thinking, in the activity of thinking. — Catherine Malabou, The Future of Hegel, 467

Categorization

• DEFINE: Defines thinking as auto-affection: the thinkable is only engendered in the very act of touching/thinking, a key move in the plasticity lineage.
• XREF: connects to: Aristotle models thought on sensation, both being acts of receiving form; Even abstract thought is built from physical and sensory metaphors — Sarah Bakewell, At the Existentialist Café: Freedom,…, 728; Thought is self-initiated while sensation requires an external object — Catherine Malabou, The Future of Hegel: Plasticity,…, 456

Broader Connections

• Thought is self-initiated while sensation requires an external object #expands (0.95) — Catherine Malabou, The Future of Hegel, 456
• Even abstract thought is built from physical and sensory metaphors #corroborates (0.75) — Sarah Bakewell, At the Existentialist Café, 728