Simplicius(?) on the first book of Aristotle’s De Anima, 1993
By: Blumenthal, Henry J., Blumenthal, Henry J. (Ed.)
Title Simplicius(?) on the first book of Aristotle’s De Anima
Type Book Section
Language English
Date 1993
Published in Soul and intellect: Studies in Plotinus and later Neoplatonism
Pages 91-112
Categories no categories
Author(s) Blumenthal, Henry J.
Editor(s) Blumenthal, Henry J.
Translator(s)
Neoplatonic exposition of classical Greek philosophy includes two kinds of reinterpretation. The first and most basic is, of course, the reading of Plato himself as a Neoplatonist. This is, it goes without saying, to be found primarily in all the independent works of Neopla­ tonism, as well as in commentaries on works of Plato. The other, with which readers of the Aristotelian commentators are more often concerned, is the Platonization of Aristotle. The latter is crucial to our understanding of any Neoplatonist commentator, both in himself and also as an authority on Aristotle. And since we are dealing with a text at least superficially based on Aristotle, I shall devote most of this paper to some of the somewhat strange interpretations of him to be found in Book 1 of the De anima commentary. At the same time this particular book also offers an opportunity, which the commentary on what will have seemed to him the more obviously philosophically in­ teresting parts of the De anima does not1, to see how Simplicius works in the area of Plato interpretation, and we shall look at the way in which Plato and Aristotle are both subjected to similar tech­ niques of interpretation. [p. 91]

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Alexandria as a Center of Greek Philosophy in Later Classical Antiquity, 1993
By: Blumenthal, Henry J.
Title Alexandria as a Center of Greek Philosophy in Later Classical Antiquity
Type Article
Language English
Date 1993
Journal Illinois Classical Studies
Volume 18
Pages 307-325
Categories no categories
Author(s) Blumenthal, Henry J.
Editor(s)
Translator(s)
Any discussion of Greek Alexandria may properly take its starting point from the work of P. M. Fraser, even if only to dissent from it. In the preface to Ptolemaic Alexandria Fraser observes that philosophy was one of the “items” that “were not effectively transplanted to Alexandria.”1 In his chapter on philosophy, talking of the establishment of the main philosophical schools at Athens, Fraser writes that it “remained the centre of philosophical studies down to the closing of the schools by Justinian in A.D. 563.”2 The first of these statements is near enough the truth, since the Alexandria of the Ptolemies was not distinguished in philosophy as ifwas in literature or science, though even then some important things happened during that period too. But the implication that this situation continued during the Roman and early Byzantine periods is misleading, and by the end of the period simply false.3 The purpose of this paper is to examine some aspects of the considerable contribution that Alexandria made to the philosophical tradition that continued into the Islamic and Christian middle ages and beyond, and to show that it may lay claim to have been at least equal to that of Athens itself. [Introduction, p. 307]

{"_index":"sire","_type":"_doc","_id":"898","_score":null,"_source":{"id":898,"authors_free":[{"id":1326,"entry_id":898,"agent_type":null,"is_normalised":null,"person_id":108,"institution_id":null,"role":{"id":1,"role_name":"author"},"free_name":"Blumenthal, Henry J.","free_first_name":"Henry J.","free_last_name":"Blumenthal","norm_person":{"id":108,"first_name":"Henry J.","last_name":"Blumenthal","full_name":"Blumenthal, Henry J.","short_ident":"","is_classical_name":null,"dnb_url":"http:\/\/d-nb.info\/gnd\/1051543967","viaf_url":"","db_url":"","from_claudius":null}}],"entry_title":"Alexandria as a Center of Greek Philosophy in Later Classical Antiquity","main_title":{"title":"Alexandria as a Center of Greek Philosophy in Later Classical Antiquity"},"abstract":"Any discussion of Greek Alexandria may properly take its starting point \r\nfrom the work of P. M. Fraser, even if only to dissent from it. In the preface \r\nto Ptolemaic Alexandria Fraser observes that philosophy was one of the \r\n\u201citems\u201d that \u201cwere not effectively transplanted to Alexandria.\u201d1 In his \r\nchapter on philosophy, talking of the establishment of the main \r\nphilosophical schools at Athens, Fraser writes that it \u201cremained the centre of \r\nphilosophical studies down to the closing of the schools by Justinian in A.D. \r\n563.\u201d2 The first of these statements is near enough the truth, since the \r\nAlexandria of the Ptolemies was not distinguished in philosophy as ifwas in \r\nliterature or science, though even then some important things happened \r\nduring that period too. But the implication that this situation continued \r\nduring the Roman and early Byzantine periods is misleading, and by the end \r\nof the period simply false.3 The purpose of this paper is to examine some \r\naspects of the considerable contribution that Alexandria made to the \r\nphilosophical tradition that continued into the Islamic and Christian middle \r\nages and beyond, and to show that it may lay claim to have been at least \r\nequal to that of Athens itself. [Introduction, p. 307]","btype":3,"date":"1993","language":"English","online_url":"","online_resources":"https:\/\/uni-koeln.sciebo.de\/s\/LDONxIQ4990ZfXQ","doi_url":null,"categories":[],"authors":[{"id":108,"full_name":"Blumenthal, Henry J.","role":{"id":1,"role_name":"author"}}],"book":null,"booksection":null,"article":{"id":898,"journal_id":null,"journal_name":"Illinois Classical Studies","volume":"18","issue":"","pages":"307-325"}},"sort":[1993]}

Soul Vehicles in Simplicius, 1993
By: Blumenthal, Henry J., Blumenthal, Henry J. (Ed.)
Title Soul Vehicles in Simplicius
Type Book Section
Language English
Date 1993
Published in Soul and intellect: Studies in Plotinus and later Neoplatonism
Pages 173-188
Categories no categories
Author(s) Blumenthal, Henry J.
Editor(s) Blumenthal, Henry J.
Translator(s)
There has been a not inconsiderable amount of discussion of the nature and function of the "exiftia — or exochema — the body or bodies made of not quite bodily substance which served as an intermediary between body and soul in various Neoplatonisms from Porphyry, or even arguably Plotinus, down to and including Proclus. Rather less attention, and, in Simplicius’ case virtually none, has been paid to the nature and role of such intermediary vehicles in the Neoplatonist commentators on Aristotle. The purpose of the following pages will be to examine the use of the concept in Simplicius. [Introduction, p. 173]

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Oxford Studies in Ancient Philosophy, Supplementary volume: Aristotle and the Later Tradition, 1991
By: Blumenthal, Henry J. (Ed.), Robinson, Howard (Ed.)
Title Oxford Studies in Ancient Philosophy, Supplementary volume: Aristotle and the Later Tradition
Type Edited Book
Language English
Date 1991
Publication Place Oxford
Publisher Clarendon Press
Series Oxford Studies in Ancient Philosophy
Categories no categories
Author(s)
Editor(s) Blumenthal, Henry J. , Robinson, Howard
Translator(s)

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The Role of the Commentaries on Aristotle in the Teaching of Philosophy according to the Prefaces of the Neoplatonic Commentaries on the Categories, 1991
By: Hadot, Ilsetraut, Blumenthal, Henry J. (Ed.), Robinson, Howard (Ed.)
Title The Role of the Commentaries on Aristotle in the Teaching of Philosophy according to the Prefaces of the Neoplatonic Commentaries on the Categories
Type Book Section
Language English
Date 1991
Published in Oxford Studies in Ancient Philosophy, Supplementary volume: Aristotle and the Later Tradition
Pages 175-189
Categories no categories
Author(s) Hadot, Ilsetraut
Editor(s) Blumenthal, Henry J. , Robinson, Howard
Translator(s)
n 19671 had only just begun to study Simplicius’ commentary on Epictetus’ Enchiridion, and I had had at that time my first few doubts about whether Praechter’s views on the dogmatic position of Alexandrian Neo­ platonism were well founded.2 Praechter had at least formulated these views in the form of hypotheses, but despite his circumspection, they had quickly become unassailable certainties for historians, universally admired and accepted for over fifty years. It was just at this point that I came across the contribution of A. C. Lloyd, who dared to say3 that Praechter had misread or read too hastily the passages in Simplicius’ commentary on Epictetus which referred to first principles, on which Praechter largely based his theory. It was Lloyd again, in the same paper,4 who put historians of philosophy on their guard against the tendency (likewise deriving from Praechter) to minimize, or even to refuse to acknowledge, the importance of the fact that for a long time all the Neoplatonists believed in a fundamental agreement between Plato’s philosophy and Aristotle’s. In my book Le Problème du néo­ platonisme alexandrin: Hiéroclès et Simplicius’ I simply followed the track marked out by Lloyd. And even now, in the translation with com­ mentary of Simplicius’ commentary on the Categories which has been undertaken under my editorship,5 61 am attempting to carry further the critique of Praechter’s hypotheses which Lloyd began.This will also be the case in the present paper, which will bring out some of the results which might be reached by working on the Neoplatonic commentaries on Aristotle’s Categories. [pp. 175 f.]

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It was just at this point that I \r\ncame across the contribution of A. C. Lloyd, who dared to say3 that \r\nPraechter had misread or read too hastily the passages in Simplicius\u2019 \r\ncommentary on Epictetus which referred to first principles, on which \r\nPraechter largely based his theory. It was Lloyd again, in the same \r\npaper,4 who put historians of philosophy on their guard against the tendency (likewise deriving from Praechter) to minimize, or even to \r\nrefuse to acknowledge, the importance of the fact that for a long time all \r\nthe Neoplatonists believed in a fundamental agreement between \r\nPlato\u2019s philosophy and Aristotle\u2019s. In my book Le Probl\u00e8me du n\u00e9o\u00ad\r\nplatonisme alexandrin: Hi\u00e9rocl\u00e8s et Simplicius\u2019 I simply followed the track \r\nmarked out by Lloyd. And even now, in the translation with com\u00ad\r\nmentary of Simplicius\u2019 commentary on the Categories which has been \r\nundertaken under my editorship,5 61 am attempting to carry further the \r\ncritique of Praechter\u2019s hypotheses which Lloyd began.This will also be the case in the present paper, which will bring out \r\nsome of the results which might be reached by working on the \r\nNeoplatonic commentaries on Aristotle\u2019s Categories. [pp. 175 f.]","btype":2,"date":"1991","language":"English","online_url":"","online_resources":"https:\/\/uni-koeln.sciebo.de\/s\/XguF7or4lVRgRJ5","doi_url":null,"categories":[],"authors":[{"id":4,"full_name":"Hadot, Ilsetraut","role":{"id":1,"role_name":"author"}},{"id":108,"full_name":"Blumenthal, Henry J.","role":{"id":2,"role_name":"editor"}},{"id":139,"full_name":"Robinson, Howard ","role":{"id":2,"role_name":"editor"}}],"book":null,"booksection":{"id":640,"section_of":354,"pages":"175-189","is_catalog":null,"book":{"id":354,"bilderberg_idno":null,"dare_idno":null,"catalog_idno":null,"entry_type":null,"type":4,"language":"en","title":"Oxford Studies in Ancient Philosophy, Supplementary volume: Aristotle and the Later Tradition","title_transcript":"","title_translation":"","short_title":"Blumenthal\/Robinson1991","has_no_author":null,"volume":null,"date":"1991","edition_no":null,"free_date":"1991","abstract":"","republication_of":null,"online_url":"","online_resources":"https:\/\/uni-koeln.sciebo.de\/s\/anTH9fx9QKBfykf","translation_of":null,"new_edition_of":null,"is_catalog":0,"in_bibliography":0,"is_inactive":0,"notes":null,"doi_url":null,"book":{"id":354,"pubplace":"Oxford","publisher":"Clarendon Press","series":"Oxford Studies in Ancient Philosophy","volume":"","edition_no":"","valid_from":null,"valid_until":null}}},"article":null},"sort":[1991]}

Nous pathêtikos in later Greek philosophy, 1991
By: Blumenthal, Henry J., Blumenthal, Henry J. (Ed.), Robinson, Howard (Ed.)
Title Nous pathêtikos in later Greek philosophy
Type Book Section
Language English
Date 1991
Published in Oxford Studies in Ancient Philosophy, Supplementary volume: Aristotle and the Later Tradition
Pages 191-205
Categories no categories
Author(s) Blumenthal, Henry J.
Editor(s) Blumenthal, Henry J. , Robinson, Howard
Translator(s)
In 1911 H. Kurfess obtained a doctorate from the University of Tübingen with a dissertation on the history of the interpretation of nous poietikos and nous pathetikos} Notoriously the expression nous poietikos never occurs in the text of Aristotle, but its derivation from De mim. 430*11-12 is an easy step, and when philosophers and commentators subsequently discuss it, we know what it is that they are talking about, even if its nature and status remained, and remain, controversial. Similarly nouspathetikos, or rather ho pathetikos nous, occurs only once in the pages of Aristotle, but appears often, if less frequently than nous poietikos, in the texts of his successors and interpreters. In its case, however, though the expression occurs in Aristotle’s De anima, its reference is unclear. To aggravate matters, nous pathetikos quite often appears in his successors in contexts which seem to have nothing to do with the intellect. Yet while nous poietikos has generated an enormous literature from the ancient world up until today, the phrase nous pathetikos has received nothing like the attention of its partner. This paper will examine some of its uses in both commentators and Neo- platonist philosophers in the hope of explaining its appearance and clarifying its meaning. [Introduction, p. 191]

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Aristotle’s Treatment of the Doctrine of Parmenides, 1991
By: Kerferd, George B., Blumenthal, Henry J. (Ed.), Robinson, Howard (Ed.)
Title Aristotle’s Treatment of the Doctrine of Parmenides
Type Book Section
Language English
Date 1991
Published in Oxford Studies in Ancient Philosophy, Supplementary volume: Aristotle and the Later Tradition
Pages 1-7
Categories no categories
Author(s) Kerferd, George B.
Editor(s) Blumenthal, Henry J. , Robinson, Howard
Translator(s)
[Conclusion, p. 7]: id Aristotle envisage the same criticism as this of Parmenides? Some help here may be derived from a consideration of what Aristotle says in Metaph. i,986bi8-987a2. Aristotle clearly felt that one of his own greatest discoveries was the need for Matter as a substrate to explain how what is one in definition can come to appear or be seen as many in experience. It is perhaps with this in mind that he proceeds to speak in praise of Parmenides’ insight and declares of him that claiming that besides the existent nothing non-existent exists, he thinks that of necessity one thing exists, viz. the existent and nothing else ... But being forced to follow the observed facts, and supposing the existence of that which is one in definition, but more than one according to our sensations, he now posits two causes and two principles calling them hot and cold, i.e. fire and earth; of these he ranges the hot with the existent, and the other with the non­ existent. (Trans. W. D. Ross) It should, I suggest, be apparent that this fits perfectly with what Aristotle says in the De caelo and with Simplicius’ approach. It may even in addition be a correct account of what Parmenides was saying, though now rephrased in Aristotle’s own language. But this is indeed another question.

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Phantasia and Mental Images: Neoplatonist Interpretations of De Anima, 3.3, 1991
By: Sheppard, Anne D., Blumenthal, Henry J. (Ed.), Robinson, Howard (Ed.)
Title Phantasia and Mental Images: Neoplatonist Interpretations of De Anima, 3.3
Type Book Section
Language English
Date 1991
Published in Oxford Studies in Ancient Philosophy, Supplementary volume: Aristotle and the Later Tradition
Pages 165-173
Categories no categories
Author(s) Sheppard, Anne D.
Editor(s) Blumenthal, Henry J. , Robinson, Howard
Translator(s)
Aristotle’s treatment of phantasia in De anitna, 3 . 3 , is both suggestive and tantalizing: suggestive because Aristotle there seems to be trying to describe a capacity of the mind which cannot be identified either with sense-perception or with rational thought, a capacity which, if it is not the same as what we call ‘imagination’, at least has a good deal in common with it; but tantalizing because the chapter flits from one point to another and is hard to interpret as a consistent whole. There have been a number of recent attempts to make sense of the chapter and relate it to Aristotle’s other remarks about phantasia elsewhere.1 I shall briefly discuss three of these, which all make some use of modern discussions of imagination; in all three cases the way they see Aristotle’s position is affected by the account of imagination which they themselves favour. [p. 165]

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  • PAGE 2 OF 2
Simplicius: On Aristotle ‘On the Soul 3.1–5’, 2000
By: Simplicius , Blumenthal, Henry J. (Ed.)
Title Simplicius: On Aristotle ‘On the Soul 3.1–5’
Type Monograph
Language English
Date 2000
Publication Place London
Publisher Duckworth
Series Ancient commentators on Aristotle
Categories no categories
Author(s) , Simplicius
Editor(s) Blumenthal, Henry J.
Translator(s) Blumenthal, Henry J. (Blumenthal, Henry J.) ,
In On the Soul 3.1-5, Aristotle goes beyond the five sense to the general functions of sense perception, the imagination and the so-called active intellect, the of which was still a matter of controversy in the time of Thomas Aquinas.
In his commentary on Aristotle's text, 'Simplicius' insists that the intellect in question is not something transcendental but the human rational soul. He denies both Plotinus' view that a part of the soul has never descended from uninterrupted contemplation of the Platonic Forms, and Proclus' view that the soul cannot be changed in its substance through embodiment.
He also denies that imagination sees things as true or false, which requires awareness of one's own cognitions. He thinks that imagination works by projecting imprints. In the case of mathematics, it can make the imprints more like shapes taken on during sense perception or more like concepts, which calls for lines without breadth. He acknowledges that Aristotle would not agree to reify these concepts as substances, but thinks of mathematical entities as mere abstractions.
Addressing the vexed question of authorship, H. J. Blumenthal concludes that the commentary was written neither by Simplicius nor Priscian. In a novel interpretation, he suggests that if Priscian had any hand in this commentary, it might have been as editor of notes from Simplicius' lectures. [offical abstract]

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Some Notes on the Text of Pseudo-Simplicius' Commentary on Aristotle's De Anima , III. 1-5, 1997
By: Blumenthal, Henry J., Joyal, Mark (Ed.)
Title Some Notes on the Text of Pseudo-Simplicius' Commentary on Aristotle's De Anima , III. 1-5
Type Book Section
Language English
Date 1997
Published in Studies in Plato and the Platonic Tradition. Essays Presented to John Whittaker
Pages 213-228
Categories no categories
Author(s) Blumenthal, Henry J.
Editor(s) Joyal, Mark
Translator(s)

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Soul Vehicles in Simplicius, 1993
By: Blumenthal, Henry J., Blumenthal, Henry J. (Ed.)
Title Soul Vehicles in Simplicius
Type Book Section
Language English
Date 1993
Published in Soul and intellect: Studies in Plotinus and later Neoplatonism
Pages 173-188
Categories no categories
Author(s) Blumenthal, Henry J.
Editor(s) Blumenthal, Henry J.
Translator(s)
There has been a not inconsiderable amount of discussion of the nature and function of the "exiftia — or exochema — the body or bodies made of not quite bodily substance which served as an intermediary between body and soul in various Neoplatonisms from Porphyry, or even arguably Plotinus, down to and including Proclus. Rather less attention, and, in Simplicius’ case virtually none, has been paid to the nature and role of such intermediary vehicles in the Neoplatonist commentators on Aristotle. The purpose of the following pages will be to examine the use of the concept in Simplicius. [Introduction, p. 173]

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Soul and intellect: Studies in Plotinus and later Neoplatonism, 1993
By: Blumenthal, Henry J.
Title Soul and intellect: Studies in Plotinus and later Neoplatonism
Type Monograph
Language English
Date 1993
Publication Place Aldershot (Hampshire)
Publisher Variorum
Series Variorum collected studies series
Volume 426
Categories no categories
Author(s) Blumenthal, Henry J.
Editor(s)
Translator(s)
This book presents a series of Dr. Blumenthal’s studies on the history of Neoplatonism, from its founder Plotinus to the end of Classical Antiquity, relating especially to the Neoplatonists’ doctrines about the soul. The work falls into two parts. The first deals with Plotinus and considers the soul both as part of the structure of the universe and in its capacity as the basis of the individual’s vital and cognitive functions. The second part is concerned with the later history of Neoplatonism, including its end. Its main focus is the investigation of how Neoplatonic psychology was modified and developed by later philosophers, in particular the commentators on Aristotle, and used as the starting point for their Platonizing interpretations of his philosophy.

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The Role of the Commentaries on Aristotle in the Teaching of Philosophy according to the Prefaces of the Neoplatonic Commentaries on the Categories, 1991
By: Hadot, Ilsetraut, Blumenthal, Henry J. (Ed.), Robinson, Howard (Ed.)
Title The Role of the Commentaries on Aristotle in the Teaching of Philosophy according to the Prefaces of the Neoplatonic Commentaries on the Categories
Type Book Section
Language English
Date 1991
Published in Oxford Studies in Ancient Philosophy, Supplementary volume: Aristotle and the Later Tradition
Pages 175-189
Categories no categories
Author(s) Hadot, Ilsetraut
Editor(s) Blumenthal, Henry J. , Robinson, Howard
Translator(s)
n 19671 had  only  just  begun  to  study  Simplicius’  commentary  on  Epictetus’ 
Enchiridion, and I had had at that time my first few doubts about whether 
Praechter’s  views  on  the  dogmatic  position  of Alexandrian  Neo­
platonism were well founded.2 Praechter had at least formulated these 
views in the form of hypotheses, but despite his circumspection, they 
had quickly become unassailable certainties for historians, universally 
admired and accepted for over fifty years. It was just at this point that I 
came  across  the  contribution  of A. C.  Lloyd,  who  dared  to say3 that 
Praechter had  misread or read too hastily the passages in Simplicius’ 
commentary on Epictetus which referred to first principles, on which 
Praechter  largely  based  his  theory.  It  was  Lloyd  again,  in  the  same 
paper,4  who  put  historians  of philosophy  on  their  guard  against the tendency  (likewise  deriving from  Praechter)  to  minimize,  or even  to 
refuse to acknowledge, the importance of the fact that for a long time all 
the  Neoplatonists  believed  in  a  fundamental  agreement  between 
Plato’s  philosophy  and  Aristotle’s.  In  my  book  Le Problème du néo­
platonisme alexandrin: Hiéroclès et Simplicius’ I simply followed the track 
marked  out  by  Lloyd.  And  even  now,  in  the  translation  with  com­
mentary of Simplicius’ commentary on the  Categories which has been 
undertaken under my editorship,5 61 am attempting to carry further the 
critique of Praechter’s hypotheses which Lloyd began.This will also be the case in the present paper, which will bring out 
some  of  the  results  which  might  be  reached  by  working  on  the 
Neoplatonic commentaries on Aristotle’s  Categories. [pp. 175 f.]

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It was just at this point that I \r\ncame across the contribution of A. C. Lloyd, who dared to say3 that \r\nPraechter had misread or read too hastily the passages in Simplicius\u2019 \r\ncommentary on Epictetus which referred to first principles, on which \r\nPraechter largely based his theory. It was Lloyd again, in the same \r\npaper,4 who put historians of philosophy on their guard against the tendency (likewise deriving from Praechter) to minimize, or even to \r\nrefuse to acknowledge, the importance of the fact that for a long time all \r\nthe Neoplatonists believed in a fundamental agreement between \r\nPlato\u2019s philosophy and Aristotle\u2019s. In my book Le Probl\u00e8me du n\u00e9o\u00ad\r\nplatonisme alexandrin: Hi\u00e9rocl\u00e8s et Simplicius\u2019 I simply followed the track \r\nmarked out by Lloyd. And even now, in the translation with com\u00ad\r\nmentary of Simplicius\u2019 commentary on the Categories which has been \r\nundertaken under my editorship,5 61 am attempting to carry further the \r\ncritique of Praechter\u2019s hypotheses which Lloyd began.This will also be the case in the present paper, which will bring out \r\nsome of the results which might be reached by working on the \r\nNeoplatonic commentaries on Aristotle\u2019s Categories. [pp. 175 f.]","btype":2,"date":"1991","language":"English","online_url":"","online_resources":"https:\/\/uni-koeln.sciebo.de\/s\/XguF7or4lVRgRJ5","doi_url":null,"categories":[],"authors":[{"id":4,"full_name":"Hadot, Ilsetraut","role":{"id":1,"role_name":"author"}},{"id":108,"full_name":"Blumenthal, Henry J.","role":{"id":2,"role_name":"editor"}},{"id":139,"full_name":"Robinson, Howard ","role":{"id":2,"role_name":"editor"}}],"book":null,"booksection":{"id":640,"section_of":354,"pages":"175-189","is_catalog":null,"book":{"id":354,"bilderberg_idno":null,"dare_idno":null,"catalog_idno":null,"entry_type":null,"type":4,"language":"en","title":"Oxford Studies in Ancient Philosophy, Supplementary volume: Aristotle and the Later Tradition","title_transcript":"","title_translation":"","short_title":"Blumenthal\/Robinson1991","has_no_author":null,"volume":null,"date":"1991","edition_no":null,"free_date":"1991","abstract":"","republication_of":null,"online_url":"","online_resources":"https:\/\/uni-koeln.sciebo.de\/s\/anTH9fx9QKBfykf","translation_of":null,"new_edition_of":null,"is_catalog":0,"in_bibliography":0,"is_inactive":0,"notes":null,"doi_url":null,"book":{"id":354,"pubplace":"Oxford","publisher":"Clarendon Press","series":"Oxford Studies in Ancient Philosophy","volume":"","edition_no":"","valid_from":null,"valid_until":null}}},"article":null},"sort":["The Role of the Commentaries on Aristotle in the Teaching of Philosophy according to the Prefaces of the Neoplatonic Commentaries on the Categories"]}

The commentators: their identity and their background, 1996
By: Blumenthal, Henry J., Blumenthal, Henry J. (Ed.)
Title The commentators: their identity and their background
Type Book Section
Language English
Date 1996
Published in Aristotle and Neoplatonism in late antiquity: Interpretations of the "De Anima"
Pages 35-51
Categories no categories
Author(s) Blumenthal, Henry J.
Editor(s) Blumenthal, Henry J.
Translator(s)

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The writings of the De anima commentators, 1996
By: Blumenthal, Henry J., Blumenthal, Henry J. (Ed.)
Title The writings of the De anima commentators
Type Book Section
Language English
Date 1996
Published in Aristotle and Neoplatonism in late antiquity: Interpretations of the "De Anima"
Pages 53-71
Categories no categories
Author(s) Blumenthal, Henry J.
Editor(s) Blumenthal, Henry J.
Translator(s)
So far we have discussed the work of our commentators as if it was 
simply scholarship  and  philosophical exposition,  whether of their own 
philosophy or that of Aristotle which most of them held to be fundamen­
tally the same. There is, however, another aspect of the commentaries 
which, while not prominent, should not be forgotten. That is the way in 
which doing such work was an integral part of a life aimed at the greatest 
possible degree of return to that higher reality from which the commenta­
tors  saw  human  life  as  a  decline  and  separation.  It  is  becoming 
increasingly better understood that for the great majority of Greek philo­
sophers, philosophy was not only a way of thinking but a way of life.70 The 
late Neoplatonists  seem  to have gone  even further,  and  regarded  the 
production of commentaries as a kind of service to the divine, much as a 
Christian monk who engaged in scholarship would have seen it in that 
light So we find at the end of Simplicius’ commentary on the De caelo what 
can only be described as a prayer: ‘Oh lord and artificer of the universe 
and the simple bodies in it, to you and all that has been brought into being 
by you I offer this work as a hymn, being eager to see as a revelation the 
magnitude of your works and to proclaim it to those who are worthy, so 
that thinking no  mean  or mortal  thoughts  about  you  we  may  make 
obeisance to you in accordance with the high place you occupy in respect 
of all that is produced by you’ (731.25-9). Those who think that ancient 
philosophy ceased to be of interest some three and a half centuries before 
these words were written and who may from time to time consult Sim­
plicius for an opinion on the meaning of an Aristotelian text, are unlikely 
ever to see these words, or those that come at the end of the commentary 
on the Enckeiridion (138.22-3). Without them they cannot fully under­
stand the nature of works beyond whose surface they never penetrate, 
works whose very composition could be seen as an act of reverence to the 
gods of paganism. [Conclusion, p. 71]

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There is, however, another aspect of the commentaries \r\nwhich, while not prominent, should not be forgotten. That is the way in \r\nwhich doing such work was an integral part of a life aimed at the greatest \r\npossible degree of return to that higher reality from which the commenta\u00ad\r\ntors saw human life as a decline and separation. It is becoming \r\nincreasingly better understood that for the great majority of Greek philo\u00ad\r\nsophers, philosophy was not only a way of thinking but a way of life.70 The \r\nlate Neoplatonists seem to have gone even further, and regarded the \r\nproduction of commentaries as a kind of service to the divine, much as a \r\nChristian monk who engaged in scholarship would have seen it in that \r\nlight So we find at the end of Simplicius\u2019 commentary on the De caelo what \r\ncan only be described as a prayer: \u2018Oh lord and artificer of the universe \r\nand the simple bodies in it, to you and all that has been brought into being \r\nby you I offer this work as a hymn, being eager to see as a revelation the \r\nmagnitude of your works and to proclaim it to those who are worthy, so \r\nthat thinking no mean or mortal thoughts about you we may make \r\nobeisance to you in accordance with the high place you occupy in respect \r\nof all that is produced by you\u2019 (731.25-9). Those who think that ancient \r\nphilosophy ceased to be of interest some three and a half centuries before \r\nthese words were written and who may from time to time consult Sim\u00ad\r\nplicius for an opinion on the meaning of an Aristotelian text, are unlikely \r\never to see these words, or those that come at the end of the commentary \r\non the Enckeiridion (138.22-3). Without them they cannot fully under\u00ad\r\nstand the nature of works beyond whose surface they never penetrate, \r\nworks whose very composition could be seen as an act of reverence to the \r\ngods of paganism. [Conclusion, p. 71]","btype":2,"date":"1996","language":"English","online_url":"","online_resources":"https:\/\/uni-koeln.sciebo.de\/s\/1xXItSZspUfzEIR","doi_url":null,"categories":[],"authors":[{"id":108,"full_name":"Blumenthal, Henry J.","role":{"id":1,"role_name":"author"}},{"id":108,"full_name":"Blumenthal, Henry J.","role":{"id":2,"role_name":"editor"}}],"book":null,"booksection":{"id":927,"section_of":213,"pages":"53-71","is_catalog":null,"book":{"id":213,"bilderberg_idno":null,"dare_idno":null,"catalog_idno":null,"entry_type":null,"type":1,"language":"en","title":"Aristotle and Neoplatonism in late antiquity: Interpretations of the \"De Anima\"","title_transcript":"","title_translation":"","short_title":"Blumenthal1996a","has_no_author":null,"volume":null,"date":"1996","edition_no":null,"free_date":"1996","abstract":"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.","republication_of":null,"online_url":"","online_resources":"https:\/\/uni-koeln.sciebo.de\/s\/fixlFMqtKju8xdW","translation_of":null,"new_edition_of":null,"is_catalog":0,"in_bibliography":0,"is_inactive":0,"notes":null,"doi_url":null,"book":{"id":213,"pubplace":"London","publisher":"Duckworth","series":"","volume":"","edition_no":"","valid_from":null,"valid_until":null}}},"article":null},"sort":["The writings of the De anima commentators"]}

Were Aristotle's Intentions in writing the De Anima Forgotten in Late Antiquity?, 1997
By: Blumenthal, Henry J.
Title Were Aristotle's Intentions in writing the De Anima Forgotten in Late Antiquity?
Type Article
Language English
Date 1997
Journal Documenti e Studi sulla Tradizione Filosofica Medievale
Volume 8
Pages 143–157
Categories no categories
Author(s) Blumenthal, Henry J.
Editor(s)
Translator(s)
In general we have to conclude that while the whole "Philoponus” commentary may include a number of explicit references to the biological writings, and while the real Philoponus may often refer to medical and scientific issues, there is no systematic  bias towards explaining the contents of the De anima in terms of them. There is, however, just as in the Ps-Simplicius commentary, enough said about such matters, and 
enough reference made to other parts of the biological corpus, to show that the commentators were still aware of the original intentions of the work — or, at the very least, behaved as if they were — even if they did not always feel bound by them. That awareness was to survive into the Middle Ages as well. [Conclusion, p. 157]

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