Reexamining the case for neoplatonic influence on philoponus causal theories 6. Philoponus and the rejection of aristotelian science in. This excellent contribution by sarah broadie, herself a major authority on aristotle, concerns the latter section of book 4 chs. On aristotle physics 2 ancient commentators on aristotle a. Physica, or naturales auscultationes, possibly meaning lectures on nature is a named text, written in ancient greek, collated from a collection of surviving manuscripts known as the corpus. Philoponus commentary on aristotles physics book 1. Philoponus does offer novelties when he treats motion round a bend as in. Thus it is reasonable to suggest that even today philoponus commentary is either. Aristotles physics book i edited by diana quarantotto.
Books by john philoponus author of against aristotle on. John philoponus, also called john the grammarian, greek joannes philoponus or joannes grammaticus, flourished 6th century, christian philosopher, theologian, and literary scholar whose writings expressed an independent christian synthesis of classical hellenistic thought, which in translation contributed to syriac and arabic cultures and to medieval western thought. Physica, or naturales auscultationes, possibly meaning lectures on nature is a named text, written in ancient greek, collated from a collection of surviving manuscripts known as the corpus aristotelicum, attributed to the 4thcentury bc philosopher aristotle. Click download or read online button to get on aristotle s physics 4 book now. Aristotle suggests that one must proceed from things that are familiar but vague, and derive. See all books authored by john philoponus, including philoponus. While the text has inspired a rich scholarly literature, this is the first volume devoted solely to it to have been published for many years, and it includes a new translation of the greek text. Themistius on aristotle physics 4 download ebook pdf, epub. Then, both in cases of natural generation and artificial production, it. Philoponus argumentation is analytically examined and explained, its premises brought to light and its conclusions evaluated. Philoponus, osborne, university lecturer in philosophy catherine. Aristotles natural philosophy stanford encyclopedia of. In book 4 of physics written 800 years before john philoponus was born, and 2,000 years before newton wrote his laws of motion, the great philosopher aristotle stated the principle of inertia more or less correctly. On aristotles physics 3 ancient commentators on aristotle.
Aristotle included these thinkers as an aside, because they were not engaged in physics, but in questioning the very basis of physics. Philoponus explains away the apparent conflict between the didactic method unavoidable in physics and the strict demonstrative method described in the analytics. The internet classics archive physics by aristotle. His critique of aristotle in the physics commentary was a major influence on giovanni pico della mirandola and galileo. On aristotle physics 58 by john philoponus goodreads. Book 3 of aristotles physics elaborates definitions of change and infinity concepts central to his theory of nature. John philoponus has 65 books on goodreads with 128 ratings. Mar 10, 2015 as mentioned above, the volumes by keimpe algra and johannes van ophuijsen as well as inna kupreeva translate those portions from philoponus commentary on book 4 of aristotles physics other than the socalled corollaries on space and void. Philoponus commentary on the last part of aristotles physics book 4 does not offer major alternatives to aristotles science, as did his commentary on the earlier parts, concerning place, vacuum and motion in a vacuum. On aristotle s physics 58, with on aristotle s on the void ancient commentators on aristotle 9780801430053.
Paul lettinck has restored a lost text of philoponus by translating it for the first time from arabic only limited fragments have survived in the original greek. Philoponus on generability and perishability lindsay judson prolegomena to the study of philoponus contra aristotelem christian wildberg philoponus commentary on aristotle s physics i in the sixteenth century charles schmidt. Philoponus commentary on the last part of aristotle s physics book 4 does not offer major alternatives to aristotle s science, as did his commentary on the earlier parts, concerning place, vacuum and motion in a vacuum. The article deals with the oldest criticism of anaximanders monism, for which we have evidence, found in john philoponus commentary on the first book of aristotles physics.
Philoponus has been identified as the founder in dynamics of the theory of impetus, an inner force impressed from without, which, in its later recurrence, has been hailed as a scientific revolution. Philoponus commentaries do not merely report and explain aristotle and the other thinkers whom aristotle is discussing. John philoponuss most popular book is against aristotle on the eternity of the world. Philoponus commentary on the last part of aristotles physics book 4 does not offer major alternatives to aristotles science, as did his commentary on the earlier parts. John philoponus also known as john the grammarian or john of alexandria, was a byzantine.
However, philoponus reserved his own definition for an excursus, already translated in this series, the corollary on place. Due to this novel interpretation of aristotles terminology, light is now understood not statically but as. References to philoponus by muslims who may have called him yahyah alnahwi on. John philoponus books list of books by author john. John philoponus stanford encyclopedia of philosophy. References to philoponus by muslims who may have called him yahyah alnahwi on the national library of medicine site. On aristotle physics 2 ancient commentators on aristotle hardcover december 31, 1993. Books by john philoponus author of against aristotle on the. In book i, he argues that everything that comes into existence does so from a substratum. Philoponus commentary on aristotle s physics book 1.
The propagation of light without the passage of time 4. Philoponus main significance for the history of science lies in his being, at the close of antiquity, the first thinker to undertake a comprehensive and massive attack on the principal tenets of aristotles physics and cosmology, an attack unequaled in thoroughness until galileo. Until the launch of this series over fifteen years ago, the 15000 volumes of t. Book 2 of the physics is arguably the best introduction to aristotles work, both because it explains some of his central concepts, such as nature. Themistius on aristotle physics 4 download ebook pdf. Discover book depositorys huge selection of philoponus books online. Philoponus originated one of physics great paradigm shifts. Philoponus on the nature of the heavens and the movement of. In the chapters discussed in this section of philoponus physics commentary, aristotle explores a range of questions about the basic structure of reality, the nature of prime matter, the principles of change, the relation between form and matter, and the issue of whether things can come into being out of nothing, and if so, in what sense that is true.
Book 3 of aristotle s physics elaborates definitions of change and infinity concepts central to his theory of nature. This book provides a comprehensive and indepth study of physics i, the first book of aristotles foundational treatise on natural philosophy. In physics book 2, aristotle defines nature as an internal source of change. Book 2 of the physics is arguably the best introduction to aristotles work, both because it explains some of his central concepts, such as nature and the four causes, and because it asks questions that are still debated today. Pdf philoponus commentary on aristotles physics book 1. This is the latest addition to the aca series on john philoponus commentary on aristotles physics, of which four volumes have already appeared, covering book 1, book 3 and most recently books 58. Aristotle s subject here is time, and his treatment of it had led to controversy in earlier writers. John philoponus philosopher and theologian britannica. The text, recovered from annotations in an arabic translation of aristotle, is an abridging paraphrase of philoponus commentary on physics books 57, with two final comments on book 8. In this commentary on aristotle physics book eight, chapters one to five, the sixthcentury philosopher simplicius quotes and explains important fragments of the presocratic philosophers, provides the fragments of his christian opponent philoponus against aristotle on the eternity of the world, and makes extensive use of the lost commentary of aristotles leading defender, alexander of. Original text from a treatise on aristotles physics, criticizing the philosophers view of imparted motion. Philoponus commentary on the last part of aristotles physics book 4 does not offer major alternatives to aristotles science, as did his commentary on the earlier parts, concerning place. Feb 26, 2009 in the chapters discussed in this section of philoponus physics commentary, aristotle explores a range of questions about the basic structure of reality, the nature of prime matter, the principles of change, the relation between form and matter, and the issue of whether things can come into being out of nothing, and if so, in what sense that is true. John philoponus was one of the last great original thinkers of greek antiquity, and he was the first person to begin a significant, wideranging assault on aristotles flawed physics.
In this commentary on aristotle physics book eight, chapters one to five, the sixthcentury philosopher simplicius quotes and explains important fragments of the presocratic philosophers, provides the fragments of his christian opponent philoponus against aristotle on the eternity of the world, and makes extensive use of the lost commentary of. Aristotles opening chapter in the physics is an abstract reflection on methodology for the investigation of nature, or physics. Book 2 of the physics is arguably the best introduction to aristotle s work, both because it explains some of his central concepts, such as nature and the four causes, and because it asks questions that are still debated today. This site is like a library, use search box in the widget to get ebook that you want. John philoponus, also known as john the grammarian or john of alexandria, was a byzantine alexandrian philologist, aristotelian commentator and christian theologian, author of a considerable number of philosophical treatises and theological works. Aristotles subject here is time, and his treatment of it had led to.
Physics 350 bc one of aristotles treatises on natural science. As algra and van ophuijsen argue in the introduction and notes to their volume, however, philoponus. In a sixthcentury commentary on physics 3, philoponus makes use of aristotle s views to argue for a christian interpretation of infinity. Philoponus investigates aristotles claims about the relation between a science and its axioms, explores alternative ways of formalising aristotles refutation of eleatic monism and provides a sustained critique of aristotles analysis of the eleatics purported mistakes about unity and being. Aristotle claims that in a chain of efficient causes, where the first element of the series acts through the intermediary of the other items, it is the first member in the causal chain, rather than the intermediaries, which is the moving cause physics 8.
Aristotle s opening chapter in the physics is an abstract reflection on methodology for the investigation of nature, or physics. Philoponus on generability and perishability lindsay judson prolegomena to the study of philoponus contra aristotelem christian wildberg philoponus commentary on aristotles physics i in the sixteenth century charles schmidt. When we have determined the nature of motion, our next task will be to attack in the same way the terms which are involved in it. A rigorous, sometimes polemical writer and an original thinker who was controversial in his own time, john philoponus broke from the aristotelian neoplatonic tradition, questioning methodology and eventually leading to empiricism in the natural.
We must therefore see that we understand the meaning of motion. Catherine osborne for the beginning of philoponus commentary on aristotles physics, in the introduction to her translation of book 1, chs. On aristotle physics 2 john philoponus snippet view 1993. Reconciling the mathematical and physical aspects of optics 3. As mentioned above, the volumes by keimpe algra and johannes van ophuijsen as well as inna kupreeva translate those portions from philoponus commentary on book 4 of aristotles physics other than the socalled corollaries on space and void.
J m van ophuijsen the first translation into english of this commentary, philoponus explains aristotles account of place to elementary students. John philoponus books list of books by author john philoponus. Download for offline reading, highlight, bookmark or take notes while you read philoponus. The ancient philosopher aristotle argued that the world must have existed from eternity in his physics as follows. Therefore, if the underlying matter of the universe came into existence, it would come into existence from a substratum. In this, the first half of philoponus analysis of book one of aristotle s physics, the principal themes are metaphysical. On aristotle s physics 4 download ebook pdf, epub, tuebl. In the text translated here he wanted instead to explain aristotles view to elementary students. Philoponus explains away the apparent conflict between the didactic method unavoidable in physics and the strict demonstrative method described in the. In a sixthcentury commentary on physics 3, philoponus. Socrates had inquired about the nature of things, such as piety, and plato had claimed that the nature of things is their form. The propagation of light, impetus theory, and aristotles physics iii.
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