Porphyry: The first Platonist commentator on Aristotle, 2004
By: Karamanolis, George, Adamson, Peter (Ed.), Baltussen, Han (Ed.), Stone, Martin W. F. (Ed.)
Title Porphyry: The first Platonist commentator on Aristotle
Type Book Section
Language English
Date 2004
Published in Philosophy, Science and Exegesis in Greek, Arabic and Latin commentaries, Volume 1
Pages 97-120
Categories no categories
Author(s) Karamanolis, George
Editor(s) Adamson, Peter , Baltussen, Han , Stone, Martin W. F.
Translator(s)
In this paper I shall argue that Porphyry was the first Platonist philosopher to write commentaries on Aristotle’s works. Previous scholars have come close to maintaining such a view, but to my knowledge, this has never been expressly argued. They usually hold that Porphyry was the first of the Neoplatonists (ie. the Platonists after Plotinus) to write commentaries on Aristotle, but not the first of the entire Platonist tradition. One reason for this is that Porphyry’s estimation of Aristotle’s philosophy has not been sufficiently appreciated. In addition, I think, the particular nature of philosophical commentary, composed systematically in late antiquity by philosophers such as Alexander of Aphrodisias, Porphyry, or Iamblichus remains in need of clarification, as does its philosophical motivation. As a result, scholars have tended to credit several Platonists before Porphyry with the writing of commentaries on Aristotelian works, simply because they appear to have made various sorts of comments on one or more of his works. I will argue that these Platonists did not, however, produce commentaries of the sort that Porphyry did, which I consider to be ‘commentaries’ in the proper sense of the term. Their failure to do so, I will argue, owes to their particular shared philosophical background, one which, as I will argue, changes with Porphyry. In the first part of my paper (I) I will outline the difference between the various forms of commentary and the specific form of commentary written by Porphyry. I will claim that in the latter case the author sets out to write a commentary in order to facilitate and encourage its study and assist in its teaching. This presupposes acceptance of the views expressed by the source text and implies an assertion of its authority. The examination of the evidence concerning the Platonists before Porphyry shows that none of them can be credited with a commentary on Aristotle of the sort written by Porphyry (II). I will then try to explain why Porphyry wrote commentaries on Aristotle in the first place (III), which leads me to conjecture that he considered Aristotle’s views in the Categories (IV), the Physics (V), and on first principles (VI) compatible with those of Plato and also sufficiently philosophically valuable as to deserve serious study. I will conclude that Porphyry wrote commentaries on Aristotle because, given his interpretations of Aristotle’s views, he accepted him as an authority next to Plato, and this represented something new in the Platonic tradition (VII). [introduction, p. 97]

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One reason for this is that Porphyry\u2019s estimation of Aristotle\u2019s philosophy has not been sufficiently appreciated. In addition, I think, the particular nature of philosophical commentary, composed systematically in late antiquity by philosophers such as Alexander of Aphrodisias, Porphyry, or Iamblichus remains in need of clarification, as does its philosophical motivation. As a result, scholars have tended to credit several Platonists \r\nbefore Porphyry with the writing of commentaries on Aristotelian works, simply because they appear to have made various sorts of comments on one or more of his works. I will argue that these Platonists did not, however, produce commentaries of the sort that Porphyry did, which I consider to be \u2018commentaries\u2019 in the proper sense of the term. Their failure to do so, I will argue, owes to their particular shared philosophical background, one which, as I will argue, changes with Porphyry. 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  • PAGE 1 OF 1
Porphyry: The first Platonist commentator on Aristotle, 2004
By: Karamanolis, George, Adamson, Peter (Ed.), Baltussen, Han (Ed.), Stone, Martin W. F. (Ed.)
Title Porphyry: The first Platonist commentator on Aristotle
Type Book Section
Language English
Date 2004
Published in Philosophy, Science and Exegesis in Greek, Arabic and Latin commentaries, Volume 1
Pages 97-120
Categories no categories
Author(s) Karamanolis, George
Editor(s) Adamson, Peter , Baltussen, Han , Stone, Martin W. F.
Translator(s)
In  this  paper  I  shall  argue  that  Porphyry  was  the  first  Platonist  philosopher  to  write commentaries on Aristotle’s  works.  Previous  scholars  have  come  close  to  maintaining 
such a view,  but to my knowledge,  this  has never been  expressly  argued.  They  usually hold that Porphyry was the first of the  Neoplatonists  (ie.  the Platonists  after Plotinus)  to write commentaries on Aristotle,  but  not the first of the entire  Platonist  tradition.  One reason  for  this  is  that  Porphyry’s  estimation  of  Aristotle’s  philosophy  has  not  been sufficiently  appreciated.  In  addition,  I  think,  the  particular  nature  of  philosophical commentary, composed systematically in late antiquity by philosophers  such  as  Alexander of Aphrodisias,  Porphyry,  or  Iamblichus  remains  in  need  of  clarification,  as  does  its philosophical  motivation.  As  a  result,  scholars  have tended to  credit several  Platonists 
before Porphyry with the writing of commentaries  on  Aristotelian  works,  simply  because they appear to have made various sorts of comments  on  one or  more of his  works.  I  will argue  that  these  Platonists  did  not,  however,  produce commentaries  of  the  sort  that Porphyry did, which I consider to be ‘commentaries’ in the proper sense of the  term.  Their failure to do so, I will argue, owes to their particular shared philosophical  background, one which, as I will argue, changes with Porphyry. In the first part of my paper (I) I will outline the difference between the various forms of commentary and the  specific form  of commentary  written  by  Porphyry.  I  will  claim  that in  the  latter  case  the  author  sets  out  to  write  a  commentary  in  order  to  facilitate  and 
encourage  its  study and assist in  its  teaching. This presupposes acceptance  of  the  views 
expressed by the source text and implies an  assertion of its  authority.  The examination of 
the evidence concerning the Platonists  before  Porphyry shows that none of them  can  be 
credited with a commentary  on  Aristotle  of the  sort  written  by  Porphyry  (II).  I  will  then 
try  to  explain  why  Porphyry  wrote commentaries  on  Aristotle  in  the  first  place  (III), which leads  me  to  conjecture  that  he  considered Aristotle’s  views  in  the  Categories (IV), the  Physics  (V),  and  on  first  principles  (VI)  compatible  with  those  of  Plato  and  also sufficiently  philosophically  valuable  as  to  deserve  serious  study.  I  will  conclude  that Porphyry wrote commentaries on Aristotle because, given his interpretations of Aristotle’s views, he accepted him as an authority  next  to  Plato,  and this  represented something  new in the Platonic tradition (VII). [introduction, p. 97]

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One reason for this is that Porphyry\u2019s estimation of Aristotle\u2019s philosophy has not been sufficiently appreciated. In addition, I think, the particular nature of philosophical commentary, composed systematically in late antiquity by philosophers such as Alexander of Aphrodisias, Porphyry, or Iamblichus remains in need of clarification, as does its philosophical motivation. As a result, scholars have tended to credit several Platonists \r\nbefore Porphyry with the writing of commentaries on Aristotelian works, simply because they appear to have made various sorts of comments on one or more of his works. I will argue that these Platonists did not, however, produce commentaries of the sort that Porphyry did, which I consider to be \u2018commentaries\u2019 in the proper sense of the term. Their failure to do so, I will argue, owes to their particular shared philosophical background, one which, as I will argue, changes with Porphyry. 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