Simplicius: On Aristotle on the Heavens 1.10-12

In the three chapters of On the Heavens dealt with in this volume, Aristotle argues that the universe is ungenerated and indestructible. In Simplicius' commentary, translated here, we see a battle royal between the Neoplatonist Simplicius and the Aristotelian Alexander, whose lost commentary on Aristotle's On the Heavens Simplicius partly preserves. Simplicius' rival, the Christian Philoponus, had conducted a parallel battle in his Against Proclus but had taken the side of Alexander against Proclus and other Platonists, arguing that Plato's Timaeus gives a beginning to the universe. Simplicius takes the Platonist side, denying that Plato intended a beginning. The origin to which Plato refers is, according to Simplicius, not a temporal origin, but the divine cause that produces the world without beginning.

Author: Simplicius
Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing PLC
Published: 04/10/2014
Pages: 192
Binding Type: Paperback
Weight: 0.47lbs
Size: 9.21h x 6.14w x 0.31d
ISBN13: 9781472557438
ISBN10: 1472557433
BISAC Categories:
- Philosophy | Criticism
- Philosophy | History & Surveys | Ancient & Classical
- Science | Space Science | Astronomy

About the Author

R.J. Hankinson is Professor of Philosophy at the University of Texas at Austin, USA. His translations of Simplicius: On Aristotle On the Heavens 1.1-4 and Simplicius: On Aristotle On the Heavens 1.5-9 are also available in the series.