Aristotelianism in the First Century BCE: Xenarchus of Seleucia PDF
Preview Aristotelianism in the First Century BCE: Xenarchus of Seleucia
ARISTOTELIANISM IN THE FIRST CENTURY BCE ThisbookisafullstudyoftheremainingevidenceforXenarchusof Seleucia, one of the earliest interpreters of Aristotle. Andrea Falcon places the evidence in its context, the revival of interest in Aristo- tle’sphilosophythattookplaceinthefirstcenturybce.Xenarchusis oftenpresentedasarebel,challengingAristotleandtheAristotelian tradition. Falcon argues that there is more to Xenarchus and his philosophical activity than an opposition to Aristotle; he was a cre- ativephilosopher,andhisviewsarebestunderstoodasanattemptto revise and update Aristotle’s philosophy. By looking at how Xenar- chusnegotiateddifferentaspectsofAristotle’sphilosophy,thisbook highlightselementsofruptureaswellasstrandsofcontinuitywithin theAristoteliantradition. andrea falcon isAssociateProfessorofPhilosophyatConcordia University, Montreal. He is the author of Aristotle and the Science of Nature: Unity without Uniformity (Cambridge 2005) and Corpi e movimenti:ilDecaelodiAristoteleelasuatradizionenelmondoantico (Naples2001). ARISTOTELIANISM IN THE FIRST CENTURY BCE Xenarchus of Seleucia ANDREA FALCON cambridge university press Cambridge,NewYork,Melbourne,Madrid,CapeTown, Singapore,Sa˜oPaulo,Delhi,Tokyo,MexicoCity CambridgeUniversityPress TheEdinburghBuilding,Cambridgecb28ru,UK PublishedintheUnitedStatesofAmericabyCambridgeUniversityPress,NewYork www.cambridge.org Informationonthistitle:www.cambridge.org/9780521876506 (cid:2)C AndreaFalcon2012 Thispublicationisincopyright.Subjecttostatutoryexception andtotheprovisionsofrelevantcollectivelicensingagreements, noreproductionofanypartmaytakeplacewithoutthewritten permissionofCambridgeUniversityPress. Firstpublished2012 PrintedintheUnitedKingdomattheUniversityPress,Cambridge AcataloguerecordforthispublicationisavailablefromtheBritishLibrary LibraryofCongressCataloguinginPublicationdata Falcon,Andrea. Aristotelianisminthefirstcenturybce:XenarchusofSeleucia/AndreaFalcon. p. cm. Includesindex. isbn978-0-521-87650-6(hardback) 1.Xenarchus,ofSeleucia,75b.c.–18a.d. 2.Aristotle. 3.Philosophy,Ancient. I.Title. b626.x254f35 2012 185–dc23 2011030304 isbn978-0-521-87650-6Hardback CambridgeUniversityPresshasnoresponsibilityforthepersistenceor accuracyofURLsforexternalorthird-partyinternetwebsitesreferredto inthispublication,anddoesnotguaranteethatanycontentonsuch websitesis,orwillremain,accurateorappropriate. InmemoryofBobSharples, whosupportedthisproject Aristotle’sphysicsisoneofthemostastonishingsystemshumanrea- son has ever built; it gave answers to all the questions the ancients had about the heavens and their motions, the elements and their transformations, the most precise and complete answers offered up untilthen,andalltheseanswerswerelogicallyorganizedinatheory comparedtowhichallpriordoctrinesseemedtobemerebeginnings. That such a system exercised on minds the powerful seduction that mostoftheArabicorChristianphilosophersexperiencedintheMid- dle Ages, is easy to understand. In contrast, it is surprising to learn thattheimmediatesuccessorsofAristotleprovedthemselvestobe,in general,rebellioustothisinfluence. (PierreDuhem,LeSyst`emedumonde,vol.i,p.242,mytranslation) Contents Acknowledgments pageix Listofabbreviations x Introduction 1 part i Xenarchus:themanandhiswork 11 11 1 Life 13 2 Affiliation 17 3 ThereturntoAristotleandPlatointhefirstcenturybce 21 4 Exegesisinthefirstcenturybce 25 5 Againstthefifthsubstance 27 6 Xenarchus’criticismofAristotle 32 7 Xenarchus’theoryofnaturalmotion 35 8 Xenarchus’explanationofcelestialmotion 36 9 XenarchusandtheHellenistictheoriesofmotion 40 10 Xenarchusstoicus? 42 11 XenarchusandAristotle’sethics part ii Texts,translations,andnotes 51 51 i Aristotle’sargumentsfortheexistenceofaspecialsimplebody 55 ii Xenarchus:thetestimonies 57 1 Life 63 2 Physics 126 3 Psychology 139 4 Ethics 157 5 OntheTimaeus vii viii Contents part iii Reception 167 167 1 XenarchusandthereceptionofAristotle’sphysicsinantiquity 176 2 XenarchusandPlotinus 183 3 VestigesofXenarchusintheMiddleAges Conclusion 199 References 205 Indexofnames 220 Indexofpassages 222 Generalindex 227 Acknowledgments This book carries forward the investigation I conducted in Aristotle and theScienceofNature:UnitywithoutUniformity(Cambridge2005).While workingonit,itbecamecleartomethatAristotle’sphysicsisbothexcep- tionalandanomalousinthecontext ofancient physics; atthatpoint,the decision to study the reception of this physics in the Peripatetic tradition was easy to take. And when I discovered that this reception was at best mixed,whatitmeanttobeaPeripateticphilosopherinantiquitybecame an interesting and urgent question. This study attempts to answer that question. I am throughout indebted to the work of Bob Sharples on the Peripatetic tradition, which has been a model of scholarship as well as an invaluablesourceofinformation. IfinishedthebookwhileIwasawayfromteachingintheFallof2009.I thankConcordiaUniversity,Montreal,forgrantingmeasabbaticalleaveto completemytask.ThebulkofthebookwaswrittenwhileIwasamember oftheInstituteforAdvancedStudyatPrincetonintheWinterandSpring of2008.DuringthatperiodHeinrichvonStadenwasawonderfulmentor, alwaysgenerousinadviceandsuggestions.SpecialthanksgotoAlanBowen and Bob Todd, who were generous in reading early drafts of this book. Their extensive comments have saved me from many mistakes. I am also grateful to the anonymous reader for Cambridge University Press, whose suggestionsonthestructureofthebookwereveryhelpful. ix
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