| Title | Simplicius: Commentary, Harmony, and Authority |
| Type | Article |
| Language | English |
| Date | 2009 |
| Journal | Antiquorum Philosophia |
| Volume | 3 |
| Pages | 101-119 |
| Categories | no categories |
| Author(s) | Barney, Rachel |
| Editor(s) | |
| Translator(s) |
| I have tried to make the case for two claims. First, we can do better than to speak of Simplicius as simply being committed to "the" Neoplatonic project of harmonizing Plato and Aristotle. Simplicius’ project is a very distinctive one, and, properly speaking, it is not to harmonize Plato and Aristotle. Nor, on the other hand, is it to harmonize the whole of pagan wisdom, or even the whole of Greek philosophy. Rather, it is to vindicate the unity of a certain dominant, broadly Platonic philosophical tradition, which importantly includes Aristotle, the Presocratics, and, to a lesser extent, the Stoics, in order to better defend that tradition against Christian attack. The scope, methods, and spirit of this project are all modeled on Aristotle’s own treatment of his predecessors, including an expansive but not unreasonable version of the principle of charity. Second, I have tried to bring out that projects of harmonization in philosophy have a perennial attraction for philosophers and interpreters alike, and not only for those who are antecedently committed to a canon of conflicting authorities. Projects of harmonization come in many guises and range across a spectrum from the primarily philosophical to the purely exegetical. Simplicius comes close to the latter extreme: his persona and methods are, in fact, strikingly close to those of a familiar sort of modern scholar, notwithstanding the strong philosophical commitments that inform his project. Finally, I would suggest that this self-appointed role as exegete is, more than anything else, an expression of Simplicius’ self-conscious belatedness. With a few exceptions, such as the residual puzzles about place and time addressed in the Corollaries, Simplicius’ work shows us what it is like to do philosophy after all the philosophical problems have been solved. All that remains open to him is the essentially interpretive work of showing how the correct solutions fit together. [conclusion p. 117-118] |
| Online Resources | https://uni-koeln.sciebo.de/s/bBLV4U0YGAzXs7u |
{"_index":"sire","_id":"825","_score":null,"_source":{"id":825,"authors_free":[{"id":1226,"entry_id":825,"agent_type":null,"is_normalised":null,"person_id":418,"institution_id":null,"role":{"id":1,"role_name":"author"},"free_name":"Barney, Rachel","free_first_name":"Rachel","free_last_name":"Barney","norm_person":{"id":418,"first_name":"Rachel","last_name":"Barney","full_name":"Barney, Rachel","short_ident":"","is_classical_name":null,"dnb_url":"http:\/\/d-nb.info\/gnd\/17355959X","viaf_url":"","db_url":"","from_claudius":null}}],"entry_title":"Simplicius: Commentary, Harmony, and Authority","main_title":{"title":"Simplicius: Commentary, Harmony, and Authority"},"abstract":"I have tried to make the case for two claims. First, we can do better than to speak of Simplicius as simply being committed to \"the\" Neoplatonic project of harmonizing Plato and Aristotle. Simplicius\u2019 project is a very distinctive one, and, properly speaking, it is not to harmonize Plato and Aristotle. Nor, on the other hand, is it to harmonize the whole of pagan wisdom, or even the whole of Greek philosophy. Rather, it is to vindicate the unity of a certain dominant, broadly Platonic philosophical tradition, which importantly includes Aristotle, the Presocratics, and, to a lesser extent, the Stoics, in order to better defend that tradition against Christian attack. The scope, methods, and spirit of this project are all modeled on Aristotle\u2019s own treatment of his predecessors, including an expansive but not unreasonable version of the principle of charity.\r\n\r\nSecond, I have tried to bring out that projects of harmonization in philosophy have a perennial attraction for philosophers and interpreters alike, and not only for those who are antecedently committed to a canon of conflicting authorities. Projects of harmonization come in many guises and range across a spectrum from the primarily philosophical to the purely exegetical. Simplicius comes close to the latter extreme: his persona and methods are, in fact, strikingly close to those of a familiar sort of modern scholar, notwithstanding the strong philosophical commitments that inform his project. Finally, I would suggest that this self-appointed role as exegete is, more than anything else, an expression of Simplicius\u2019 self-conscious belatedness. With a few exceptions, such as the residual puzzles about place and time addressed in the Corollaries, Simplicius\u2019 work shows us what it is like to do philosophy after all the philosophical problems have been solved. All that remains open to him is the essentially interpretive work of showing how the correct solutions fit together. [conclusion p. 117-118]","btype":3,"date":"2009","language":"English","online_url":"","online_resources":"https:\/\/uni-koeln.sciebo.de\/s\/bBLV4U0YGAzXs7u","doi_url":null,"categories":[],"authors":[{"id":418,"full_name":"Barney, Rachel","role":{"id":1,"role_name":"author"}}],"book":null,"booksection":null,"article":{"id":825,"journal_id":null,"journal_name":"Antiquorum Philosophia","volume":"3","issue":"","pages":"101-119"}},"sort":[2009]}
| Title | Simplicius: Commentary, Harmony, and Authority |
| Type | Article |
| Language | English |
| Date | 2009 |
| Journal | Antiquorum Philosophia |
| Volume | 3 |
| Pages | 101-119 |
| Categories | no categories |
| Author(s) | Barney, Rachel |
| Editor(s) | |
| Translator(s) |
I have tried to make the case for two claims. First, we can do better than to speak of Simplicius as simply being committed to "the" Neoplatonic project of harmonizing Plato and Aristotle. Simplicius’ project is a very distinctive one, and, properly speaking, it is not to harmonize Plato and Aristotle. Nor, on the other hand, is it to harmonize the whole of pagan wisdom, or even the whole of Greek philosophy. Rather, it is to vindicate the unity of a certain dominant, broadly Platonic philosophical tradition, which importantly includes Aristotle, the Presocratics, and, to a lesser extent, the Stoics, in order to better defend that tradition against Christian attack. The scope, methods, and spirit of this project are all modeled on Aristotle’s own treatment of his predecessors, including an expansive but not unreasonable version of the principle of charity. Second, I have tried to bring out that projects of harmonization in philosophy have a perennial attraction for philosophers and interpreters alike, and not only for those who are antecedently committed to a canon of conflicting authorities. Projects of harmonization come in many guises and range across a spectrum from the primarily philosophical to the purely exegetical. Simplicius comes close to the latter extreme: his persona and methods are, in fact, strikingly close to those of a familiar sort of modern scholar, notwithstanding the strong philosophical commitments that inform his project. Finally, I would suggest that this self-appointed role as exegete is, more than anything else, an expression of Simplicius’ self-conscious belatedness. With a few exceptions, such as the residual puzzles about place and time addressed in the Corollaries, Simplicius’ work shows us what it is like to do philosophy after all the philosophical problems have been solved. All that remains open to him is the essentially interpretive work of showing how the correct solutions fit together. [conclusion p. 117-118] |
| Online Resources | https://uni-koeln.sciebo.de/s/bBLV4U0YGAzXs7u |
{"_index":"sire","_id":"825","_score":null,"_source":{"id":825,"authors_free":[{"id":1226,"entry_id":825,"agent_type":null,"is_normalised":null,"person_id":418,"institution_id":null,"role":{"id":1,"role_name":"author"},"free_name":"Barney, Rachel","free_first_name":"Rachel","free_last_name":"Barney","norm_person":{"id":418,"first_name":"Rachel","last_name":"Barney","full_name":"Barney, Rachel","short_ident":"","is_classical_name":null,"dnb_url":"http:\/\/d-nb.info\/gnd\/17355959X","viaf_url":"","db_url":"","from_claudius":null}}],"entry_title":"Simplicius: Commentary, Harmony, and Authority","main_title":{"title":"Simplicius: Commentary, Harmony, and Authority"},"abstract":"I have tried to make the case for two claims. First, we can do better than to speak of Simplicius as simply being committed to \"the\" Neoplatonic project of harmonizing Plato and Aristotle. Simplicius\u2019 project is a very distinctive one, and, properly speaking, it is not to harmonize Plato and Aristotle. Nor, on the other hand, is it to harmonize the whole of pagan wisdom, or even the whole of Greek philosophy. Rather, it is to vindicate the unity of a certain dominant, broadly Platonic philosophical tradition, which importantly includes Aristotle, the Presocratics, and, to a lesser extent, the Stoics, in order to better defend that tradition against Christian attack. The scope, methods, and spirit of this project are all modeled on Aristotle\u2019s own treatment of his predecessors, including an expansive but not unreasonable version of the principle of charity.\r\n\r\nSecond, I have tried to bring out that projects of harmonization in philosophy have a perennial attraction for philosophers and interpreters alike, and not only for those who are antecedently committed to a canon of conflicting authorities. Projects of harmonization come in many guises and range across a spectrum from the primarily philosophical to the purely exegetical. Simplicius comes close to the latter extreme: his persona and methods are, in fact, strikingly close to those of a familiar sort of modern scholar, notwithstanding the strong philosophical commitments that inform his project. Finally, I would suggest that this self-appointed role as exegete is, more than anything else, an expression of Simplicius\u2019 self-conscious belatedness. With a few exceptions, such as the residual puzzles about place and time addressed in the Corollaries, Simplicius\u2019 work shows us what it is like to do philosophy after all the philosophical problems have been solved. All that remains open to him is the essentially interpretive work of showing how the correct solutions fit together. [conclusion p. 117-118]","btype":3,"date":"2009","language":"English","online_url":"","online_resources":"https:\/\/uni-koeln.sciebo.de\/s\/bBLV4U0YGAzXs7u","doi_url":null,"categories":[],"authors":[{"id":418,"full_name":"Barney, Rachel","role":{"id":1,"role_name":"author"}}],"book":null,"booksection":null,"article":{"id":825,"journal_id":null,"journal_name":"Antiquorum Philosophia","volume":"3","issue":"","pages":"101-119"}},"sort":["Simplicius: Commentary, Harmony, and Authority"]}