Aristotle and Philoponus on Light
Aristotle and Philoponus on Light

Author: Jean De Groot

Publisher: Routledge

Published: 2015-08-14

Total Pages: 158

ISBN-13: 1317380622

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Originally published in 1991. Philoponus’ long commentary on Aristotle’s definition of light sets up the major concerns, both in optics and theory of light, that are discussed here. Light was of special interest in Neoplatonism because of its being something incorporeal in the world of natural bodies. Light therefore had a special role in the philosophical analysis of the interpenetration of bodies and was also a paradigm for the soul-body problem. The book contains much about the physiology of vision as well as the propagation of light. Several chapters investigate the philosophical theory behind what came to be known as ‘multiplication of species’ in medieval light theory. These issues in the history of science are placed within an analysis of Neoplatonic development of the distinction between Aristotle’s kinesis and energeia. The book treats Philoponus’ philosophy of mathematical science from the point of view of matter, quantity, and three-dimensionality.

Philoponus: On Aristotle On the Soul 2.7-12
Philoponus: On Aristotle On the Soul 2.7-12

Author: Philoponus,

Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing

Published: 2014-04-22

Total Pages: 224

ISBN-13: 1472501195

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In this, one of the most original ancient texts on sense perception, Philoponus, the sixth century AD commentator on Aristotle, considers how far perceptual processes are incorporeal. Colour affects us in the same way as light which, passing through a stained glass window, affects the air, but colours only the masonry beyond. Sounds and smells are somewhat more physical, travelling most of the way to us with a moving block of air, but not quite all the way. Only the organ of touch takes on the tangible qualities perceived, because reception of sensible qualities in perception is cognitive, not physical. Neither light nor the action of colour involves the travel of bodies. Our capacities for psychological activity do not follow, nor result from, the chemistry of our bodies, but merely supervene on that. On the other hand, Philoponus shows knowledge of the sensory nerves, and he believes that thought and anger both warm us. This argument is used elsewhere to show how we can tell someone else's state of mind.

Aristotle and Early Christian Thought
Aristotle and Early Christian Thought

Author: Mark Edwards

Publisher: Routledge

Published: 2019-03-13

Total Pages: 248

ISBN-13: 1315520192

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In studies of early Christian thought, ‘philosophy’ is often a synonym for ‘Platonism’, or at most for ‘Platonism and Stoicism’. Nevertheless, it was Aristotle who, from the sixth century AD to the Italian Renaissance, was the dominant Greek voice in Christian, Muslim and Jewish philosophy. Aristotle and Early Christian Thought is the first book in English to give a synoptic account of the slow appropriation of Aristotelian thought in the Christian world from the second to the sixth century. Concentrating on the great theological topics – creation, the soul, the Trinity, and Christology – it makes full use of modern scholarship on the Peripatetic tradition after Aristotle, explaining the significance of Neoplatonism as a mediator of Aristotelian logic. While stressing the fidelity of Christian thinkers to biblical presuppositions which were not shared by the Greek schools, it also describes their attempts to overcome the pagan objections to biblical teachings by a consistent use of Aristotelian principles, and it follows their application of these principles to matters which lay outside the purview of Aristotle himself. This volume offers a valuable study not only for students of Christian theology in its formative years, but also for anyone seeking an introduction to the thought of Aristotle and its developments in Late Antiquity.

Encyclopedia of Medieval Philosophy
Encyclopedia of Medieval Philosophy

Author: Henrik Lagerlund

Publisher: Springer Science & Business Media

Published: 2010-12-07

Total Pages: 1448

ISBN-13: 140209728X

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This is the first reference ever devoted to medieval philosophy. It covers all areas of the field from 500-1500 including philosophers, philosophies, key terms and concepts. It also provides analyses of particular theories plus cultural and social contexts.

Simplicius: On Aristotle On the Heavens 1.3-4
Simplicius: On Aristotle On the Heavens 1.3-4

Author: Simplicius,

Publisher: A&C Black

Published: 2014-04-22

Total Pages: 232

ISBN-13: 1472501705

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This is the first English translation of Simplicius' responses to Philoponus' Against Aristotle on the Eternity of the World. The commentary is published in two volumes: Ian Mueller's previous book in the series, Simplicius: On Aristotle On the Heavens 1.2-3, and this book on 1.3-4. Philoponus, the Christian, had argued that Aristotle's arguments do not succeed. For all they show to the contrary, Christianity may be right that the heavens were brought into existence by the only divine being and one moment in time, and will cease to exist at some future moment. Simplicius upholds the pagan view that the heavens are eternal and divine, and argues that their eternity is shown by their astronomical movements coupled with certain principles of Aristotle. The English translation in this volume is accompanied by a detailed introduction, extensive commentary notes and a bibliography.

Author: Bob Ticer

Publisher: AuthorHouse

Published: 2004-07-01

Total Pages: 292

ISBN-13: 1418400947

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Prior to 20th century physics it was believed an ethereal medium pervaded all space. It was believed the ether is necessary to explain light as waves propagating through a medium. Physicists failed to confirm the ether really exists. Only indirect inference to wave properties can be made with regard to its possible existence. Otherwise it is invisible to our world. Ethereal physics has been abandoned. It has been replaced with a methodology whereby only what can be observed is considered real. All observable effects are mathematically related in the form of a functional theory. Much of theory is postulated, not explained. There is, for instance, no attempt to explain the probability nature of quantum mechanics. Only the results are considered pertinent to scientific investigation. However, with the historical foundation from which modern theory evolves, physicists are becoming confused. They believe, for instance, general relativity predicts black holes. There are no black holes. They are myths created from inconsistent interpretation of theory. This book goes beyond physics to explain the physics of gravity, the atomic structure and cosmology. It provides a historical perspective for understanding physics in a more consistent manner.

Aristotle and Neoplatonism in Late Antiquity
Aristotle and Neoplatonism in Late Antiquity

Author: H. J. Blumenthal

Publisher: Cornell University Press

Published: 1996

Total Pages: 268

ISBN-13: 9780801433368

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"H. J. Blumenthal is such an eminent scholar in the field of Neoplatonic Studies, and the scholarship exhibited by this book is so wide-ranging and impressive, that I would venture to say that this is the most important book on Neoplatonism to be published since Dominic O'Meara's Pythagoras Revived." —Steven Strange, Emory UniversityScholars have traditionally used the Aristotelian commentators as sources for lost philosophical works and occasionally also as aids to understanding Aristotle. In H. J. Blumenthal's view, however, the commentators often assumed that there was a Platonist philosophy to which not only they but Aristotle himself subscribed. Their expository writing usually expressed their versions of Neoplatonist philosophy. Blumenthal here places the commentators in their intellectual and historical contexts, identifies their philosophical views, and demonstrates their tendency to read Aristotle as if he were a member of their philosophical circle.This book focuses on the commentators' exposition of Aristotle's treatise De anima (On the Soul), because it is relatively well documented and because the concept of soul was so important in all Neoplatonic systems. Blumenthal explains how the Neoplatonizing of Aristotle's thought, as well as the widespread use of the commentators' works, influenced the understanding of Aristotle in both the Islamic and Judaeo-Christian traditions.H. J. Blumenthal is the author or coeditor of six previous books and is currently preparing a two-volume translation, with introduction and commentary, of Simplicius' Commentary on "De anima" for publication in Cornell's series Ancient Commentators on Aristotle.

Aristotle's Physics and Its Medieval Varieties
Aristotle's Physics and Its Medieval Varieties

Author: Helen S. Lang

Publisher: SUNY Press

Published: 1992-01-01

Total Pages: 336

ISBN-13: 9780791410837

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This book considers the concepts that lay at the heart of natural philosophy and physics from the time of Aristotle until the fourteenth century. The first part presents Aristotelian ideas and the second part presents the interpretation of these ideas by Philoponus, Albertus Magnus, Thomas Aquinas, John Buridan, and Duns Scotus. Across the eight chapters, the problems and texts from Aristotle that set the stage for European natural philosophy as it was practiced from the thirteenth to the seventeenth centuries are considered first as they appear in Aristotle and then as they are reconsidered in the context of later interests. The study concludes with an anticipation of Newton and the sense in which Aristotle's physics had been transformed.

Time for Aristotle
Time for Aristotle

Author: Ursula Coope

Publisher: Clarendon Press

Published: 2005-10-20

Total Pages: 200

ISBN-13: 0191530123

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What is the relation between time and change? Does time depend on the mind? Is the present always the same or is it always different? Aristotle tackles these questions in the Physics, and Time for Aristotle is the first book in English devoted to this discussion. Aristotle claims that time is not a kind of change, but that it is something dependent on change; he defines it as a kind of 'number of change'. Ursula Coope argues that what this means is that time is a kind of order (not, as is commonly supposed, a kind of measure). It is universal order within which all changes are related to each other. This interpretation enables Coope to explain two puzzling claims that Aristotle makes: that the now is like a moving thing, and that time depends for its existence on the mind. Brilliantly lucid in its explanation of this challenging section of the Physics, Time for Aristotle shows his discussion to be of enduring philosophical interest.