Abstract: This article is devoted to the textual transmission of Aristotleâs Metaphysics books Kappa and Lambda,
with special reference to manuscript Ab (Florence, Laur. 87.12), which often disagrees with the most
ancient manuscripts of the Metaphysics(E and J). It has played a prominent part in the XIXth and
XXth century editions and has been regarded as evidence for an independent tradition, possibly going
back to antiquity, to Aristotleâs times, or to a papyrus exemplar. But it appears that this cannot be
true for the last books of the Metaphysics: in 1979 Harlfinger showed that for the final part of book
Lambda(1073a to the end) and for the whole of books My and Ny, Ab belongs to the same alpha family
as E and J, and therefore it is not a witness to a beta family. In Harlfingerâs footsteps, the present
article goes further and argues that this is the case for the final part of book Kappa(1065a to the
end) and for the whole of book Lambda.
Abstract: Alexander of Aphrodisias' continuous commentary on Aristotle's Metaphysics book Lambda was already lost in the XIIth century AD. Nevertheless, it kept exercising an influence through the commentary of Averroes and through two other texts of Alexander: the treatise On the Principles of the Universe and the (so called) Quaestio I.1. This article shows that these last two texts both contain a section based on Metaphysics Lambda, chapters 6 ff which brings a confirmation to a fact argued elsewhere, namely, that all of Alexander's texts bear an exegetical character and are built upon Aristotle's texts. Furthermore, a comparison between the text of Lambda and Alexander's interpretation allows us to see the distinctive contribution Of Alexander to what has been traditionally known as Aristotle's theology. Thus, among other things, we owe to Alexander, or to his intermediate sources, the idea that the heavens, being ensouled, are moved in a circle by their desire to imitate the First Mover in its perfect state of quietude. We also owe to Alexander air extended discussion which conflates the theory of Lambda to the related inquiries of Aristotle's Physics VIII.
Abstract: The paper discusses the attribution of the compendium De Philosophia Aristotelis to Nicolaus of Damascus the general historian (fl.: end Ist c. BC). By contrast, there are reasons to believe that the work was written by a Peripatetic Nicolaus between the III and the VI century, most likely from Syria in the IV c. AD. Among the consequences: one piece of evidence for interest in a wide range of Aristotle's works already in the Ist century BC/ Ist century AD is removed; the supposedly earliest evidence for "Metaphysics" as the title of Aristotle's work is moved to a later date; the idea that Peripatetic activity more or less ceased with Alexander, Themistius being the only exception, is weakened by another counter-example. On the contrary, a distinctively Peripatetic culture must have been still alive in Themistius' and Nicolasâ time, when special tools were produced both for teaching activity and for the transmission of Aristotle's philosophy to later eras.
Notes: Silvia Fazzo, Mauro Zonta (2008) ARISTOTLE'S THEORY OF CAUSES AND THE HOLY TRINITY NEW EVIDENCE ABOUT THE CHRONOLOGY AND RELIGION OF NICOLAUS "OF DAMASCUS" LAVAL THEOLOGIQUE ET PHILOSOPHIQUE 64: 3. 681-690 OCT
Abstract: The identity and chronology of Nicolaus Peripatheticus, the author of a summary of Aristotle's philosophy, were recently discussed in a paper by Silvia Fazzo published in the Revue des etudes Grecques. The usual dating. based upon the identification of Nicolaus with the famous historian Nicolaus Damascenus, places Nicolaus in the I-st century BC, but Fazzo argues that it is likely that he lived in the period ranging from the 3(rd) to the 5(th) centuries AD, and more likely, during the age of the Roman Emperor Julian (361-363 AD). This hypothesis is supported by a new fragment in Hebrew translation, discovered by Mauro Zonta, where Nicolaus gives an explanation of the Christian doctrine of Gods Trinity in terms of Aristotle's doctrine Of causes : God is one, being a single substance, but He is also three, insofar as He is the efficient, formal, and final causes of the world As far as it is possible for such a short fragment, the authors contend that it is plausible to date it from the age of Julian.
Notes: S. F., âExordes, raccords, 'titres' chez Aristoteâ, in: Transmettre les Savoirs, ed. by F. Le Blay, Presses Universitaires de Rennes 2009, pp. 295-308;
id., âEsordi e trattati in Aristoteleâ, in Linguaggio, mente e mondo, ed. M. Carrara â G. De Anna â S. Magrin, Padova, 2003, p. 19-38.
