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Aristotelian objections and post-Aristotelian responses to Plato's elemental theory, 2012
By: Mueller, Ian, Wilberding, James (Ed.), Horn, Christoph (Ed.)

Title	Aristotelian objections and post-Aristotelian responses to Plato's elemental theory
Type	Book Section
Language	English
Date	2012
Published in	Neoplatonism and the Philosophy of Nature
Pages	129-146
Categories	no categories
Author(s)	Mueller, Ian
Editor(s)	Wilberding, James , Horn, Christoph
Translator(s)

Aristotle and Plato advanced very different theories of the traditional four elements. Whereas Plato in his Timaeus proposes a geometrical theory of these elements, Aristotle in his On the Heavens (and On Generation and Corruption) offers a qualitative analysis and offers a series of objections to Plato’s theory. These objections provided later Platonists with the opportunity to defend Plato against and possibly harmonize him with Aristotle. This paper explores Simplicius’ responses to Aristotle one by one, paying particular attention to the brand of scientific discourse that he engages in with Proclus, and to how different commitments to harmonization affect their responses to these objections. [Author’s abstract]

Online Resources

https://uni-koeln.sciebo.de/s/QlpIOoX7gUxpkrf

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Whereas Plato in his Timaeus proposes a geometrical theory of these elements, Aristotle in his On the Heavens (and On Generation and Corruption) offers a qualitative analysis and offers a series of objections to Plato\u2019s theory. These objections provided later Platonists with the opportunity to defend Plato against and possibly harmonize him with Aristotle. This paper explores Simplicius\u2019 responses to Aristotle one by one, paying particular attention to the brand of scientific discourse that he engages in with Proclus, and to how different commitments to harmonization affect their responses to these objections. [Author\u2019s abstract]","btype":2,"date":"2012","language":"English","online_url":"","online_resources":"https:\/\/uni-koeln.sciebo.de\/s\/QlpIOoX7gUxpkrf","doi_url":null,"categories":[],"authors":[{"id":270,"full_name":"Mueller, Ian","role":{"id":1,"role_name":"author"}},{"id":257,"full_name":"Wilberding, James","role":{"id":2,"role_name":"editor"}},{"id":256,"full_name":"Horn, Christoph","role":{"id":2,"role_name":"editor"}}],"book":null,"booksection":{"id":812,"section_of":299,"pages":"129-146","is_catalog":null,"book":{"id":299,"bilderberg_idno":null,"dare_idno":null,"catalog_idno":null,"entry_type":null,"type":4,"language":"en","title":"Neoplatonism and the Philosophy of Nature","title_transcript":"","title_translation":"","short_title":"Horn\/Wilberding2012","has_no_author":null,"volume":null,"date":"2012","edition_no":null,"free_date":"2012","abstract":"Despite Platonism\u2019s unquestioned claim to being one of the most influential movements in the history of philosophy, for a long time the conventional wisdom was that Platonists of late antiquity\u2014or Neoplatonists\u2014were so focused on other-worldly metaphysics that they simply neglected any serious study of the sensible world, which after all is \u2018merely\u2019 an image of the intelligible world, and only recently has this conventional wisdom begun to be dispelled. In fact, precisely because these thinkers did see the sensible world as an image of the intelligible world, they devoted much time and energy to understanding its inner workings. Thus we find Neoplatonists writing on embryology, physiology, meteorology, astronomy, and much else. This volume collects essays by leading international scholars in the field that shed new light on how these thinkers sought to understand and explain nature and natural phenomena. It is thematically divided into two parts, with the first part\u2014\u2018The general metaphysics of Nature\u2019\u2014directed at the explication of central Neoplatonic metaphysical doctrines and their relation to the natural world, and the second part\u2014\u2019Platonic approaches to individual sciences\u2019\u2014showing how these same doctrines play out in individual natural sciences such as elemental physics, geography, and biology. Together these essays show that a serious examination of Neoplatonic natural philosophy has far-reaching consequences for our general understanding of the metaphysics of Platonism, as well as for our evaluation of their place in the history of science.","republication_of":null,"online_url":"","online_resources":"https:\/\/uni-koeln.sciebo.de\/s\/xHUG6gdrtjMT7K4","translation_of":null,"new_edition_of":null,"is_catalog":0,"in_bibliography":0,"is_inactive":0,"notes":null,"doi_url":null,"book":{"id":299,"pubplace":"Oxford","publisher":"Oxford University Press","series":"","volume":"","edition_no":null,"valid_from":null,"valid_until":null}}},"article":null},"sort":[2012]}

Simplicius, On Aristotle ‘Physics 1.5–9’, 2012
By: Simplicius , Baltussen, Han (Ed.), Atkinson, Michael (Ed.), Share, Michael (Ed.), Mueller, Ian (Ed.)

Title	Simplicius, On Aristotle ‘Physics 1.5–9’
Type	Monograph
Language	English
Date	2012
Publication Place	London
Publisher	Bloomsbury
Series	Ancient Commentators on Aristotle
Categories	no categories
Author(s)	Simplicius
Editor(s)	Baltussen, Han , Atkinson, Michael , Share, Michael , Mueller, Ian
Translator(s)	Baltussen, Han(Baltussen, Han) , Atkinson, M.(Atkinson, Michael ) , Share, Michael (Share, Michael ) , Mueller, Ian(Mueller, Ian) ,

Simplicius' greatest contribution in his commentary on Aristotle on Physics 1.5-9 lies in his treatment of matter. The sixth-century philosopher starts with a valuable elucidation of what Aristotle means by 'principle' and 'element' in Physics. Simplicius' own conception of matter is of a quantity that is utterly diffuse because of its extreme distance from its source, the Neoplatonic One, and he tries to find this conception both in Plato's account of space and in a stray remark of Aristotle's. Finally, Simplicius rejects the Manichaean view that matter is evil and answers a Christian objection that to make matter imperishable is to put it on a level with God. This is the first translation of Simplicius' important work into English. [official abstact]

Online Resources

https://uni-koeln.sciebo.de/s/oDOpblWQWChcrih

Simplicius, On Aristotle ‘On the Heavens 1.3–4’, 2011
By: Mueller, Ian (Ed.), Simplicius

Title	Simplicius, On Aristotle ‘On the Heavens 1.3–4’
Type	Monograph
Language	English
Date	2011
Publication Place	London
Publisher	Bloomsbury
Series	Ancient Commentators on Aristotle
Categories	no categories
Author(s)	Simplicius
Editor(s)	Mueller, Ian
Translator(s)	Mueller, Ian(Mueller, Ian) ,

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. [offical abstract]

Online Resources

https://uni-koeln.sciebo.de/s/4ZoI4eGVxZNSvwF

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Simplicius, On Aristotle ‘On the Heavens 1.2–3’, 2011
By: Mueller, Ian (Ed.), Simplicius

Title	Simplicius, On Aristotle ‘On the Heavens 1.2–3’
Type	Monograph
Language	English
Date	2011
Publication Place	London
Publisher	Bloomsbury
Series	Ancient Commentators on Aristotle
Categories	no categories
Author(s)	Simplicius
Editor(s)	Mueller, Ian
Translator(s)	Mueller, Ian(Mueller, Ian) ,

One of the arguments in Aristotle's On the Heavens propounds that the world neither came to be nor will perish. This volume contains the pagan Neoplatonist Simplicius of Cilicia's commentary on the first part of this this important work. The commentary is notable and unusual because Simplicius includes in his discussion lengthy representations of the Christian John Philoponus' criticisms of Aristotle along with his own, frequently sarcastic, responses. This is the first complete translation into a modern language of Simplicius' commentary, and is accompanied by a detailed introduction, extensive explanatory notes and a bibliography. [offical abstract]

Online Resources

https://uni-koeln.sciebo.de/s/7tJQQxPsjADRkKW

{"_index":"sire","_type":"_doc","_id":"97","_score":null,"_source":{"id":97,"authors_free":[{"id":114,"entry_id":97,"agent_type":null,"is_normalised":null,"person_id":270,"institution_id":null,"role":{"id":3,"role_name":"translator"},"free_name":"Mueller, Ian","free_first_name":"Ian","free_last_name":"Mueller","norm_person":{"id":270,"first_name":"Ian","last_name":"Mueller","full_name":"Mueller, Ian","short_ident":"","is_classical_name":null,"dnb_url":"","viaf_url":"","db_url":"","from_claudius":null}},{"id":2273,"entry_id":97,"agent_type":"person","is_normalised":1,"person_id":270,"institution_id":null,"role":{"id":2,"role_name":"editor"},"free_name":"Mueller, Ian","free_first_name":"Ian","free_last_name":"Mueller","norm_person":{"id":270,"first_name":"Ian","last_name":"Mueller","full_name":"Mueller, Ian","short_ident":"","is_classical_name":null,"dnb_url":"","viaf_url":"","db_url":"","from_claudius":null}},{"id":2276,"entry_id":97,"agent_type":"person","is_normalised":1,"person_id":62,"institution_id":null,"role":{"id":1,"role_name":"author"},"free_name":"Simplicius ","free_first_name":"","free_last_name":"","norm_person":{"id":62,"first_name":"Cilicius","last_name":"Simplicius ","full_name":"Simplicius Cilicius","short_ident":"","is_classical_name":null,"dnb_url":"http:\/\/d-nb.info\/gnd\/118642421","viaf_url":"","db_url":"","from_claudius":null}}],"entry_title":"Simplicius, On Aristotle \u2018On the Heavens 1.2\u20133\u2019","main_title":{"title":"Simplicius, On Aristotle \u2018On the Heavens 1.2\u20133\u2019"},"abstract":"One of the arguments in Aristotle's On the Heavens propounds that the world neither came to be nor will perish. This volume contains the pagan Neoplatonist Simplicius of Cilicia's commentary on the first part of this this important work. The commentary is notable and unusual because Simplicius includes in his discussion lengthy representations of the Christian John Philoponus' criticisms of Aristotle along with his own, frequently sarcastic, responses.\r\n\r\nThis is the first complete translation into a modern language of Simplicius' commentary, and is accompanied by a detailed introduction, extensive explanatory notes and a bibliography. [offical abstract]","btype":1,"date":"2011","language":"English","online_url":"","online_resources":"https:\/\/uni-koeln.sciebo.de\/s\/7tJQQxPsjADRkKW","doi_url":null,"categories":[],"authors":[{"id":270,"full_name":"Mueller, Ian","role":{"id":3,"role_name":"translator"}},{"id":270,"full_name":"Mueller, Ian","role":{"id":2,"role_name":"editor"}},{"id":62,"full_name":"Simplicius Cilicius","role":{"id":1,"role_name":"author"}}],"book":{"id":97,"pubplace":"London","publisher":"Bloomsbury","series":"Ancient Commentators on Aristotle","volume":"","edition_no":"","valid_from":null,"valid_until":null},"booksection":null,"article":null},"sort":[2011]}

What's the Matter? Some Neo-Platonist Answers, 2010
By: Mueller, Ian, Mohr, Richard D. (Ed.), Sattler, Barbara M. (Ed.)

Title	What's the Matter? Some Neo-Platonist Answers
Type	Book Section
Language	English
Date	2010
Published in	One Book, The Whole Universe: Plato’s Timaeus Today
Pages	151-163
Categories	no categories
Author(s)	Mueller, Ian
Editor(s)	Mohr, Richard D. , Sattler, Barbara M.
Translator(s)

In this essay I want to say a very few things about Neo-Platonist interpretations of the T im aeus relating to the receptacle and the geometric characterization of earth, water, air, and fire. The starting point of my reflections was translating Simplicius’ commentary on books 3 and 4 of Aristotle’s On th e H eavens, and much of what I say is based upon that. But I will also be invoking a passage from his commentary on Aristotle’s Physics and some material in John Philoponus and Proclus. I begin with some remarks about Simplicius’ basic conception of what we call Aristotle’s criticisms of Plato. [p. 151]

Online Resources

https://uni-koeln.sciebo.de/s/kdy176eZYVE5loi

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Simplicius, On Aristotle ‘On the Heavens 3.7-4.6’, 2009
By: Simplicius , Mueller, Ian (Ed.)

Title	Simplicius, On Aristotle ‘On the Heavens 3.7-4.6’
Type	Monograph
Language	English
Date	2009
Publication Place	London
Publisher	Duckworth
Series	Ancient Commentators on Aristotle
Categories	no categories
Author(s)	Simplicius
Editor(s)	Mueller, Ian
Translator(s)	Mueller, Ian(Mueller, Ian) ,

Commenting on the end of Aristotle's On the Heavens Book 3, Simplicius examines Aristotle's criticisms of Plato's theory of elemental chemistry in the Timaeus. Plato makes the characteristics of the four elements depend on the shapes of component corpuscles and ultimately on the arrangement of the triangles which compose them. Simplicius preserves and criticizes the contributions made to the debate in lost works by two other major commentators, Alexander the Aristotelian, and Proclus the Platonist. In Book 4, Simplicius identifies fifteen objections by Aristotle to Plato's views on weight in the four elements. He finishes Book 4 by elaborating Aristotle's criticisms of Democritus' theory of weight in the atoms, including Democritus' suggestions about the influence of atomic shape on certain atomic motions. This volume includes an English translation of Simplicius' commentary, a detailed introduction, extensive commentary notes and a bibliography.

Online Resources

https://uni-koeln.sciebo.de/s/osDBSiM3mjiYFBZ

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Simplicius, On Aristotle ‘On the Heavens 3.1-7’, 2009
By: Mueller, Ian (Ed.), Simplicius

Title	Simplicius, On Aristotle ‘On the Heavens 3.1-7’
Type	Monograph
Language	English
Date	2009
Publication Place	London
Publisher	Duckworth
Series	Ancient Commentators on Aristotle
Categories	no categories
Author(s)	Simplicius
Editor(s)	Mueller, Ian
Translator(s)	Mueller, Ian(Mueller, Ian) ,

The subject of Aristotle's On the Heavens, Books 3-4, is the four elements of earth, air, fire and water, which exist below the heavens. Book 3, in chapters 1 to 7, frequently criticizes the Presocratic philosophers. Because of this, Simplicius' commentary is one of our main sources of quotations of the Presocratics. Ian Mueller's translation of this commentary gains added importance by enabling us to see the context which guided Simplicius' selection of Presocratic texts to quote. Simplicius also criticizes the lost commentary of the leading Aristotelian commentator, Alexander, and thereby gives us important information about that work. The English translation in this volume is accompanied by a detailed introduction, extensive commentary notes and a bibliography. [official abstract]

Online Resources

https://uni-koeln.sciebo.de/s/uX3HslamkCyrtfT

{"_index":"sire","_type":"_doc","_id":"99","_score":null,"_source":{"id":99,"authors_free":[{"id":116,"entry_id":99,"agent_type":null,"is_normalised":null,"person_id":270,"institution_id":null,"role":{"id":3,"role_name":"translator"},"free_name":"Mueller, Ian","free_first_name":"Ian","free_last_name":"Mueller","norm_person":{"id":270,"first_name":"Ian","last_name":"Mueller","full_name":"Mueller, Ian","short_ident":"","is_classical_name":null,"dnb_url":"","viaf_url":"","db_url":"","from_claudius":null}},{"id":2279,"entry_id":99,"agent_type":"person","is_normalised":1,"person_id":270,"institution_id":null,"role":{"id":2,"role_name":"editor"},"free_name":"Mueller, Ian","free_first_name":"Ian","free_last_name":"Mueller","norm_person":{"id":270,"first_name":"Ian","last_name":"Mueller","full_name":"Mueller, Ian","short_ident":"","is_classical_name":null,"dnb_url":"","viaf_url":"","db_url":"","from_claudius":null}},{"id":2280,"entry_id":99,"agent_type":"person","is_normalised":1,"person_id":62,"institution_id":null,"role":{"id":1,"role_name":"author"},"free_name":"Simplicius ","free_first_name":"","free_last_name":"","norm_person":{"id":62,"first_name":"Cilicius","last_name":"Simplicius ","full_name":"Simplicius Cilicius","short_ident":"","is_classical_name":null,"dnb_url":"http:\/\/d-nb.info\/gnd\/118642421","viaf_url":"","db_url":"","from_claudius":null}}],"entry_title":"Simplicius, On Aristotle \u2018On the Heavens 3.1-7\u2019","main_title":{"title":"Simplicius, On Aristotle \u2018On the Heavens 3.1-7\u2019"},"abstract":"The subject of Aristotle's On the Heavens, Books 3-4, is the four elements of earth, air, fire and water, which exist below the heavens. Book 3, in chapters 1 to 7, frequently criticizes the Presocratic philosophers. Because of this, Simplicius' commentary is one of our main sources of quotations of the Presocratics. Ian Mueller's translation of this commentary gains added importance by enabling us to see the context which guided Simplicius' selection of Presocratic texts to quote. Simplicius also criticizes the lost commentary of the leading Aristotelian commentator, Alexander, and thereby gives us important information about that work. The English translation in this volume is accompanied by a detailed introduction, extensive commentary notes and a bibliography. [official abstract]","btype":1,"date":"2009","language":"English","online_url":"","online_resources":"https:\/\/uni-koeln.sciebo.de\/s\/uX3HslamkCyrtfT","doi_url":null,"categories":[],"authors":[{"id":270,"full_name":"Mueller, Ian","role":{"id":3,"role_name":"translator"}},{"id":270,"full_name":"Mueller, Ian","role":{"id":2,"role_name":"editor"}},{"id":62,"full_name":"Simplicius Cilicius","role":{"id":1,"role_name":"author"}}],"book":{"id":99,"pubplace":"London","publisher":"Duckworth","series":"Ancient Commentators on Aristotle","volume":"","edition_no":null,"valid_from":null,"valid_until":null},"booksection":null,"article":null},"sort":[2009]}

Simplicius, On Aristotle ‘On the Heavens 2.10–14’, 2005
By: Mueller, Ian (Ed.), Simplicius

Title	Simplicius, On Aristotle ‘On the Heavens 2.10–14’
Type	Monograph
Language	English
Date	2005
Publication Place	London
Publisher	Duckworth
Series	Ancient Commentators on Aristotle
Categories	no categories
Author(s)	Simplicius
Editor(s)	Mueller, Ian
Translator(s)	Mueller, Ian(Mueller, Ian) ,

Aristotle believed that the outermost stars are carried round us on a transparent sphere. There are directions in the universe and a preferred direction of rotation. The sun, moon and planets are carried on different revolving spheres. The spheres and celestial bodies are composed of an everlasting fifth element, which has none of the ordinary contrary properties like heat and cold which could destroy it, but only the facility for uniform rotation. But this creates problems as to how the heavenly bodies create light, and, in the case of the sun, heat. The topics covered in this part of Simplicius' commentary are: the speeds and distances of the stars; that the stars are spherical; why the sun and moon have fewer motions than the other five planets; why the sphere of the fixed stars contains so many stars whereas the other heavenly spheres contain no more than one (Simplicius has a long excursus on planetary theory in his commentary on this chapter); discussion of people's views on the position, motion or rest, shape, and size of the earth; that the earth is a relatively small sphere at rest in the centre of the cosmos. [offical abstract]

Online Resources

https://uni-koeln.sciebo.de/s/xfBZJ9BSZVumD7u

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Simplicius, On Aristotle ‘On the Heavens 2.1–9’, 2004
By: Mueller, Ian (Ed.), Simplicius

Title	Simplicius, On Aristotle ‘On the Heavens 2.1–9’
Type	Monograph
Language	English
Date	2004
Publication Place	London
Publisher	Durckworth
Series	Ancient Commentators on Aristotle
Categories	no categories
Author(s)	Simplicius
Editor(s)	Mueller, Ian
Translator(s)	Mueller, Ian(Mueller, Ian) ,

Aristotle believed that the outermost stars are carried round us on a transparent sphere. There are directions in the universe and a preferred direction of rotation. The sun moon and planets are carried on different revolving spheres. The spheres and celestial bodies are composed of an everlasting fifth element, which has none of the ordinary contrary properties like heat and cold which could destroy it, but only the facility for uniform rotation. But this creates problems as to how the heavenly bodies create light, and, in the case of the sun, heat. The value of Simplicius' commentary on On the Heavens 2,1-9 lies both in its preservation of the lost comments of Alexander and in Simplicius' controversy with him. The two of them discuss not only the problem mentioned, but also whether soul and nature move the spheres as two distinct forces or as one. Alexander appears to have simplified Aristotle's system of 55 spheres down to seven, and some hints may be gleaned as to whether, simplifying further, he thinks there are seven ultimate movers, or only one.

Online Resources

https://uni-koeln.sciebo.de/s/xfBZJ9BSZVumD7u

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Mathematics and Philosophy in Proclus' Commentary on Book I of Euclid's Elements, 1987
By: Mueller, Ian, Pépin, Jean (Ed.), Saffrey, Henri Dominique (Ed.)

Title	Mathematics and Philosophy in Proclus' Commentary on Book I of Euclid's Elements
Type	Book Section
Language	English
Date	1987
Published in	Proclus, lecteur et interprète des anciens. Actes du colloque international du CNRS, Paris (2-4 octobre 1985)
Pages	305-318
Categories	no categories
Author(s)	Mueller, Ian
Editor(s)	Pépin, Jean , Saffrey, Henri Dominique
Translator(s)

In the prologue to his commentary on book I of Euclid’s Elements Proclus refers to two areas of disagreement among the Platonists concerning mathematics. In the first passage in which he does this (29.14ff.) he indicates that some philoi from his own hearth encourage students to disdain mathematics, enlisting on their side Plato himself because of some of Socrates’ remarks in the Republic, notably the rhetorical question of 533 c 3-5 [...]. The second passage comes at the end of Proclus’ famous description of the character of geometry [...]. In this paper I wish to pursue these disagreements in the hopes of throwing light on distinctive features of Proclus’ philosophy of mathematics. [Introduction, p. 305]

Online Resources

https://uni-koeln.sciebo.de/s/pxjytHOeGkGM4YU

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PAGE 1 OF 2

Aristotelian objections and post-Aristotelian responses to Plato's elemental theory, 2012
By: Mueller, Ian, Wilberding, James (Ed.), Horn, Christoph (Ed.)

Title	Aristotelian objections and post-Aristotelian responses to Plato's elemental theory
Type	Book Section
Language	English
Date	2012
Published in	Neoplatonism and the Philosophy of Nature
Pages	129-146
Categories	no categories
Author(s)	Mueller, Ian
Editor(s)	Wilberding, James , Horn, Christoph
Translator(s)

Aristotle and Plato advanced very different theories of the traditional four elements. Whereas Plato in his Timaeus proposes a geometrical theory of these elements, Aristotle in his On the Heavens (and On Generation and Corruption) offers a qualitative analysis and offers a series of objections to Plato’s theory. These objections provided later Platonists with the opportunity to defend Plato against and possibly harmonize him with Aristotle. This paper explores Simplicius’ responses to Aristotle one by one, paying particular attention to the brand of scientific discourse that he engages in with Proclus, and to how different commitments to harmonization affect their responses to these objections. [Author’s abstract]

Online Resources

https://uni-koeln.sciebo.de/s/QlpIOoX7gUxpkrf

Aristotle and Simplicius on Mathematical Infinity, 1981
By: Mueller, Ian, Theodōrakopulos, Iōannēs Nikolaou (Ed.)

Title	Aristotle and Simplicius on Mathematical Infinity
Type	Book Section
Language	English
Date	1981
Published in	Proceedings of the World Congress on Aristotle, Thessaloniki August 7-14 1978
Pages	179-182
Categories	no categories
Author(s)	Mueller, Ian
Editor(s)	Theodōrakopulos, Iōannēs Nikolaou
Translator(s)

Aristotle was the first not only to distinguish between potential and actual infinity but also to insist that potential infinity alone is enough for mathematics thus initiating an issue still central to the philosophy of mathematics. Modern scholarship, however, has attacked Aristotle's thesis because, according to the received doctrine, it does not square with Euclidean geometry and it also seems to contravene Aristotle's belief in the finitude of the physical universe. This monograph, the first thorough study of the issue, puts Aristotle's views on infinity in the proper perspective. Through a close study of the relevant Aristotelian passages it shows that the Stagirite's theory of infinity forms a well argued philosophical position which does not bear on his belief in a finite cosmos and does not undermine the Euclidean nature of geometry. The monograph draws a much more positive picture of Aristotle's views and reaffirms his disputed stature as a serious philosopher of mathematics. This innovative and stimulating contribution will be essential reading to a wide range of scholars, including classicists, philosophers of science and mathematics as well as historians of ideas. [author's abstract]

Online Resources

https://uni-koeln.sciebo.de/s/XpR1jO7FPHTJmR4

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Mathematics and Philosophy in Proclus' Commentary on Book I of Euclid's Elements, 1987
By: Mueller, Ian, Pépin, Jean (Ed.), Saffrey, Henri Dominique (Ed.)

Title	Mathematics and Philosophy in Proclus' Commentary on Book I of Euclid's Elements
Type	Book Section
Language	English
Date	1987
Published in	Proclus, lecteur et interprète des anciens. Actes du colloque international du CNRS, Paris (2-4 octobre 1985)
Pages	305-318
Categories	no categories
Author(s)	Mueller, Ian
Editor(s)	Pépin, Jean , Saffrey, Henri Dominique
Translator(s)

In  the  prologue  to  his  commentary  on  book  I  of  Euclid’s Elements Proclus  refers  to  two  areas  of  disagreement  among  the  Platonists concerning  mathematics.  In  the  first passage  in  which  he  does  this (29.14ff.)  he  indicates  that  some  philoi  from  his  own  hearth  encourage 
students  to  disdain mathematics,  enlisting  on  their  side  Plato  himself because  of  some  of  Socrates’  remarks  in  the  Republic,  notably  the rhetorical  question  of  533 c 3-5 [...]. The  second  passage  comes  at  the  end  of  Proclus’  famous description  of  the  character  of  geometry [...]. In  this  paper  I wish  to  pursue  these  disagreements  in  the  hopes  of throwing  light  on  distinctive  features  of  Proclus’  philosophy  of mathematics. [Introduction, p. 305]

Online Resources

https://uni-koeln.sciebo.de/s/pxjytHOeGkGM4YU

Simplicius, On Aristotle ‘On the Heavens 1.2–3’, 2011
By: Mueller, Ian (Ed.), Simplicius

Title	Simplicius, On Aristotle ‘On the Heavens 1.2–3’
Type	Monograph
Language	English
Date	2011
Publication Place	London
Publisher	Bloomsbury
Series	Ancient Commentators on Aristotle
Categories	no categories
Author(s)	, Simplicius
Editor(s)	Mueller, Ian
Translator(s)	Mueller, Ian(Mueller, Ian) ,

One of the arguments in Aristotle's On the Heavens propounds that the world neither came to be nor will perish. This volume contains the pagan Neoplatonist Simplicius of Cilicia's commentary on the first part of this this important work. The commentary is notable and unusual because Simplicius includes in his discussion lengthy representations of the Christian John Philoponus' criticisms of Aristotle along with his own, frequently sarcastic, responses.

This is the first complete translation into a modern language of Simplicius' commentary, and is accompanied by a detailed introduction, extensive explanatory notes and a bibliography. [offical abstract]

Online Resources

https://uni-koeln.sciebo.de/s/7tJQQxPsjADRkKW

Simplicius, On Aristotle ‘On the Heavens 1.3–4’, 2011
By: Mueller, Ian (Ed.), Simplicius

Title	Simplicius, On Aristotle ‘On the Heavens 1.3–4’
Type	Monograph
Language	English
Date	2011
Publication Place	London
Publisher	Bloomsbury
Series	Ancient Commentators on Aristotle
Categories	no categories
Author(s)	, Simplicius
Editor(s)	Mueller, Ian
Translator(s)	Mueller, Ian(Mueller, Ian) ,

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. [offical abstract]

Online Resources

https://uni-koeln.sciebo.de/s/4ZoI4eGVxZNSvwF

Simplicius, On Aristotle ‘On the Heavens 2.10–14’, 2005
By: Mueller, Ian (Ed.), Simplicius

Title	Simplicius, On Aristotle ‘On the Heavens 2.10–14’
Type	Monograph
Language	English
Date	2005
Publication Place	London
Publisher	Duckworth
Series	Ancient Commentators on Aristotle
Categories	no categories
Author(s)	, Simplicius
Editor(s)	Mueller, Ian
Translator(s)	Mueller, Ian(Mueller, Ian) ,

Aristotle believed that the outermost stars are carried round us on a transparent sphere. There are directions in the universe and a preferred direction of rotation. The sun, moon and planets are carried on different revolving spheres. The spheres and celestial bodies are composed of an everlasting fifth element, which has none of the ordinary contrary properties like heat and cold which could destroy it, but only the facility for uniform rotation. But this creates problems as to how the heavenly bodies create light, and, in the case of the sun, heat. The topics covered in this part of Simplicius' commentary are: the speeds and distances of the stars; that the stars are spherical; why the sun and moon have fewer motions than the other five planets; why the sphere of the fixed stars contains so many stars whereas the other heavenly spheres contain no more than one (Simplicius has a long excursus on planetary theory in his commentary on this chapter); discussion of people's views on the position, motion or rest, shape, and size of the earth; that the earth is a relatively small sphere at rest in the centre of the cosmos. [offical abstract]

Online Resources

https://uni-koeln.sciebo.de/s/xfBZJ9BSZVumD7u

Simplicius, On Aristotle ‘On the Heavens 2.1–9’, 2004
By: Mueller, Ian (Ed.), Simplicius

Title	Simplicius, On Aristotle ‘On the Heavens 2.1–9’
Type	Monograph
Language	English
Date	2004
Publication Place	London
Publisher	Durckworth
Series	Ancient Commentators on Aristotle
Categories	no categories
Author(s)	, Simplicius
Editor(s)	Mueller, Ian
Translator(s)	Mueller, Ian(Mueller, Ian) ,

Aristotle believed that the outermost stars are carried round us on a transparent sphere. There are directions in the universe and a preferred direction of rotation. The sun moon and planets are carried on different revolving spheres. The spheres and celestial bodies are composed of an everlasting fifth element, which has none of the ordinary contrary properties like heat and cold which could destroy it, but only the facility for uniform rotation. But this creates problems as to how the heavenly bodies create light, and, in the case of the sun, heat. The value of Simplicius' commentary on On the Heavens 2,1-9 lies both in its preservation of the lost comments of Alexander and in Simplicius' controversy with him. The two of them discuss not only the problem mentioned, but also whether soul and nature move the spheres as two distinct forces or as one. Alexander appears to have simplified Aristotle's system of 55 spheres down to seven, and some hints may be gleaned as to whether, simplifying further, he thinks there are seven ultimate movers, or only one.

Online Resources

https://uni-koeln.sciebo.de/s/xfBZJ9BSZVumD7u

Simplicius, On Aristotle ‘On the Heavens 3.1-7’, 2009
By: Mueller, Ian (Ed.), Simplicius

Title	Simplicius, On Aristotle ‘On the Heavens 3.1-7’
Type	Monograph
Language	English
Date	2009
Publication Place	London
Publisher	Duckworth
Series	Ancient Commentators on Aristotle
Categories	no categories
Author(s)	, Simplicius
Editor(s)	Mueller, Ian
Translator(s)	Mueller, Ian(Mueller, Ian) ,

The subject of Aristotle's On the Heavens, Books 3-4, is the four elements of earth, air, fire and water, which exist below the heavens. Book 3, in chapters 1 to 7, frequently criticizes the Presocratic philosophers. Because of this, Simplicius' commentary is one of our main sources of quotations of the Presocratics. Ian Mueller's translation of this commentary gains added importance by enabling us to see the context which guided Simplicius' selection of Presocratic texts to quote. Simplicius also criticizes the lost commentary of the leading Aristotelian commentator, Alexander, and thereby gives us important information about that work. The English translation in this volume is accompanied by a detailed introduction, extensive commentary notes and a bibliography. [official abstract]

Online Resources

https://uni-koeln.sciebo.de/s/uX3HslamkCyrtfT

Simplicius, On Aristotle ‘On the Heavens 3.7-4.6’, 2009
By: Simplicius , Mueller, Ian (Ed.)

Title	Simplicius, On Aristotle ‘On the Heavens 3.7-4.6’
Type	Monograph
Language	English
Date	2009
Publication Place	London
Publisher	Duckworth
Series	Ancient Commentators on Aristotle
Categories	no categories
Author(s)	, Simplicius
Editor(s)	Mueller, Ian
Translator(s)	Mueller, Ian(Mueller, Ian) ,

Commenting on the end of Aristotle's On the Heavens Book 3, Simplicius examines Aristotle's criticisms of Plato's theory of elemental chemistry in the Timaeus. Plato makes the characteristics of the four elements depend on the shapes of component corpuscles and ultimately on the arrangement of the triangles which compose them. Simplicius preserves and criticizes the contributions made to the debate in lost works by two other major commentators, Alexander the Aristotelian, and Proclus the Platonist.

In Book 4, Simplicius identifies fifteen objections by Aristotle to Plato's views on weight in the four elements. He finishes Book 4 by elaborating Aristotle's criticisms of Democritus' theory of weight in the atoms, including Democritus' suggestions about the influence of atomic shape on certain atomic motions.

This volume includes an English translation of Simplicius' commentary, a detailed introduction, extensive commentary notes and a bibliography.

Online Resources

https://uni-koeln.sciebo.de/s/osDBSiM3mjiYFBZ

Simplicius, On Aristotle ‘Physics 1.5–9’, 2012
By: Simplicius , Baltussen, Han (Ed.), Atkinson, Michael (Ed.), Share, Michael (Ed.), Mueller, Ian (Ed.)

Title	Simplicius, On Aristotle ‘Physics 1.5–9’
Type	Monograph
Language	English
Date	2012
Publication Place	London
Publisher	Bloomsbury
Series	Ancient Commentators on Aristotle
Categories	no categories
Author(s)	, Simplicius
Editor(s)	Baltussen, Han , Atkinson, Michael , Share, Michael , Mueller, Ian
Translator(s)	Baltussen, Han(Baltussen, Han) , Atkinson, M.(Atkinson, Michael ) , Share, Michael (Share, Michael ) , Mueller, Ian(Mueller, Ian) ,

Simplicius' greatest contribution in his commentary on Aristotle on Physics 1.5-9 lies in his treatment of matter. The sixth-century philosopher starts with a valuable elucidation of what Aristotle means by 'principle' and 'element' in Physics. Simplicius' own conception of matter is of a quantity that is utterly diffuse because of its extreme distance from its source, the Neoplatonic One, and he tries to find this conception both in Plato's account of space and in a stray remark of Aristotle's. Finally, Simplicius rejects the Manichaean view that matter is evil and answers a Christian objection that to make matter imperishable is to put it on a level with God. This is the first translation of Simplicius' important work into English. [official abstact]

Online Resources

https://uni-koeln.sciebo.de/s/oDOpblWQWChcrih

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