Peripatetic Philosophy, 200 BC to AD 200: An Introduction and Collection of Sources in Translation

Description

This book provides a collection of sources, many of them fragmentary and previously scattered and hard to access, for the development of Peripatetic philosophy in the later Hellenistic period and the early Roman Empire. It also supplies the background against which the first commentator on Aristotle from whom extensive material survives, Alexander of Aphrodisias (fl. c. AD 200), developed his interpretations which continue to be influential even today. Many of the passages are here translated into English for the first time, including the whole of the summary of Peripatetic ethics attributed to 'Arius Didymus'.

Robert W. Sharples is Emeritus Professor of Classics at University College London. He has published extensively on the Peripatetic tradition in antiquity, notably in the context of the Theophrastus Project and of the Ancient Commentators on Aristotle series. He is currently a member of the team working on the decipherment of a commentary on Aristotle preserved in the Archimedes Palimpsest. He has also published a successful textbook, Stoics, Epicureans and Sceptics (1996), and a number of editions of ancient texts.

'An excellent collection that will help to transform the study of later ancient philosophy. With comprehensive mastery of the widely scattered evidence, Sharples has selected, translated and annotated the most important sources for Aristotle's school during this crucial period, thereby enabling a greatly improved understanding not just of Aristotle's own legacy, but also of later Platonism, Stoic philosophy and other intellectual developments in late antiquity. This sourcebook will be a vital resource for teaching and research for years to come.' Brad Inwood, University of Toronto 'During the four centuries 200 BC-AD 200 foundations for the invention of Aristotelianism were being laid. The evidence for this important development, hitherto quite scattered and obscure, can now be thoroughly studied through the translations and discussions Professor Sharples provides in this splendid source book. By organizing the material under the headings of logic and ontology, ethics, and physics, he has made it possible to get a clear grasp of the principal themes and philosophical issues of this Peripatetic tradition. His book is a major achievement.' A. A. Long, University of California, Berkeley