Simplicius the Neoplatonist in Light of Contemporary Research

Dr. Ilsetraut Hadot

doi:10.5771/9783896658951

Summary

This book, translated from the French, offers a synthesis of modern research devoted to Simplicius's life and to three of his five commentaries: On Epictetus' Handbook, On Aristotle's De anima, On Aristotle's Categories. Its biographical part brings to light the historical role played by this Neoplatonic philosopher. Born in Cilicia, Asia Minor, he studied in Alexandria and Athens and apparently ended his life teaching in Syria on the frontier between the Byzantine and Sassanide Empires.

His role was that of a mediator between the Greco-Roman world and philosophy and Syriac philosophy, which would feed Arabic philosophy at its beginning.

The second part of the book, devoted to doctrinal and authorship issues, also deals with the underlying pedagogical curriculum and methods proper to Neoplatonic commentaries, which modern interpretation all too often tends to neglect in studies on Simplicius and other Neoplatonists.

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Bibliographic data

Copyright year: 2020
ISBN-Print: 978-3-89665-894-4
ISBN-Online: 978-3-89665-895-1
Publisher: Academia, Baden-Baden
Series: Academia Philosophical Studies
Volume: 67
Language: English
Pages: 262
Product type: Book Titles

Titelei/Inhaltsverzeichnis No access Pages 1 - 10
1. I. Name No access
2. II. Simplicius’s origins and where he studied No access
3. III. The philosophical and religious atmosphere in Alexandria during Simplicius’s stay No access
4. IV. Date of Simplicius’s departure for Athens No access
5. V. Date of departure for Persia and reasons for exile No access
6. VI. The stay in Persia No access
7. 1. 1. Older hypotheses: The seven philosophers, or at least Simplicius, returned to Athens or Alexandria No access
  2. 1. a) Simplicius’s conversation with a Manichaean No access
    2. b) Where did Simplicius found the famous school of mathematics which continued after him? No access
    3. c) In the tenth century, the Arab historian al-Masʿūdī visited a Platonist school in Ḥarrān, a city on the frontier with Persia which had remained largely pagan. No access
    4. 1. aa) Late sixth to early seventh century No access
      2. bb) Second half of the eighth century No access
      3. (1) The prophets of the Ṣābians No access
        (2) the Qurʾānic Ṣābians No access
        (3) The god of Abraham as seen by Muslims, Neoplatonists, and Ṣābians No access
      4. dd) Four Arabic accounts of the role of Ḥarrān in the transmission of Greek thought to the Arabs No access
      5. ee) The “temples” of Ḥarrān: astrological-philosophical terminology No access
  3. 1. a) Simplicius’s observation on the river Aboras (Khābūr) in Mesopotamia No access
    2. b) The Syrian goddess Atargatis (Simplicius, In Phys., 641.33 – 35 Diels) No access
    3. c) The calendars in use in Ḥarrān No access
    4. d) The addressee of a commentary by Simplicius on Aristotle’s De anima according to the Fihrist of Ibn al-Nadīm (d. 995): by Philippe Vallat No access
8. VIII. Conclusions No access
9. IX. Some additional remarks No access
10. X. Three epigrams on Simplicius No access
1. 1. 1. The method of composition of Neoplatonist commentaries No access
  2. 1. a) The Aristotelian curriculum as preparation for the Platonic curriculum No access
    2. b) The superiority of Plato over Aristotle No access
    3. c) The assertion that the philosophies of Aristotle and Plato are complementary but related hierarchically No access
2. 1. 1. Editions No access
  2. 2. Translations No access
  3. 3. The place of the commentary on Epictetus’s Encheiridion in the Neoplatonist programme of studies No access
  4. 4. The kind of people to whom the Encheiridion was directed (its usefulness: an essential point in the second introductory outline in six points) No access
  5. 1. a) Praechter’s hypothesis No access
    2. b) Alan Cameron’s hypothesis No access
    3. c) Merlan’s hypothesis No access
  6. 6. The doctrinal orientation of the commentary on Epictetus’s Encheiridion No access
  7. 7. The reception of Stoic doctrines by Simplicius in his commentary on Epictetus’s Encheiridion No access
  8. 1. a) An unidentified abridgement of Simplicius’s commentary on Epictetus No access
    2. b) A Christian commentary on the Paraphrasis Christiana No access
    3. c) The influence of the commentary on the humanists No access
    4. d) Traces of the Encheiridion commentary in Arabic sources? No access
3. 1. 1. Editions No access
  2. 2. Translations No access
  3. 3. The place of the commentary on the De anima in the Neoplatonist curriculum No access
  4. 4. Atā Wālīs (or ʾIta Wālīs, according to Michel Tardieu), the dedicatee of the De anima commentary No access
  5. 5. The sources and the philosophical orientation of the De anima commentary No access
  6. 1. a) Conclusion concerning the authenticity of the De anima commentary attributed to Simplicius by the manuscript tradition No access
  7. 7. The dating of the De anima commentary No access
  8. 8. The purpose (σκοπός) of the De anima commentary No access
  9. 1. a) Traces of the De anima commentary in Arabic philosophical literature No access
    2. b) The survival of the commentary in the Renaissance No access
4. 1. 1. Editions No access
  2. 2. Translations No access
  3. 3. An epigram from Ambrosianus 306 (E 99 sup.) No access
  4. 4. Simplicius’s sources in his Categories commentary No access
  5. 5. The filiation of the five late Neoplatonist commentaries on the Categories No access
  6. 6. The place, purpose, and usefulness of the commentary on the Categories in the Aristotelian curriculum of the Neoplatonists No access
  7. 7. The dating of the Categories commentary and additional bibliography No access
  8. 1. a) The posterity of Simplicius’s Categories commentary in Arabic according to the Fihrist of Ibn al-Nadīm: by Philippe Vallat No access
    2. b) The survival of the Categories commentary in the Byzantine era and the Latin Middle Ages No access
1. I. Simplicius’s commentary on Euclid’s Elements No access
2. 1. 1. A commentary on a dialogue of Plato No access
  2. 2. The Epitome of Theophrastus’s Physics No access
  3. 3. The commentary on the Metaphysics No access
  4. 4. A lost commentary by Simplicius on Iamblichus’s On the Pythagorean Way of Life in three books No access
  5. 5. A commentary by Simplicius on Aristotle’s Meteorologica No access
  6. 6. A commentary by Simplicius on the Art of Rhetoric of Hermogenes No access
  7. 7. A treatise on syllogisms? No access
3. III. A false attribution No access
D. Epilogue No access Pages 240 - 242
Bibliography No access Pages 243 - 262