Simplicius: On Aristotle On the Heavens 1.10-12
Author | : Simplicius, |
Publisher | : A&C Black |
Total Pages | : 145 |
Release | : 2014-04-22 |
ISBN-13 | : 9781472501370 |
ISBN-10 | : 1472501373 |
Rating | : 4/5 (73 Downloads) |
Download or read book Simplicius: On Aristotle On the Heavens 1.10-12 written by Simplicius, and published by A&C Black. This book was released on 2014-04-22 with total page 145 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: 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.