The Theology of Aristotle
The Theology of Aristotle was a paraphrase of parts of Plotinus' Six Enneads along with Porphyry's commentary into Arabic. It had a significant effect on early Islamic philosophy, due to Islamic interest in Aristotle. Al-Kindi (Alkindus) and Avicenna, for example, were influenced by Plotinus' works. The translator attempted to integrate Aristotle's ideas with those of Plotinus — while trying to make Plotinus compatible with Christianity and Islam — thus, yielding a unique synthesis.
The Theology of Aristotle, with The Letter on Divine Science and The Sayings of the Greek Sage, a collection of fragments, together form the Plotiniana Arabica. They seem to have been adapted by Ibn Na'ima al-Himsi, a Christian, and edited by Al-Kindi, a Muslim.[1]
There is also a longer version of the Theology, the authorship of which is uncertain. According to Shlomo Pines, it may have been written by Isma'ili. Paul Fenton, on the other hand, thought it may have been derived from Egyptian Jews.
Just as there is an Arabic paraphrase of Plotinus' Six Enneads, blending it with Aristotle's thought, so also there is an Arabic paraphrase of Aristotle's De Anima, blending it with Plotinus' thought. Thus later Islamic philosophy and European philosophy which built on the Islamic texts were based on this Neoplatonic synthesis.
Further reading
Text
- Badawi, Abdurrahman, Aflutin Ind Al’Arab. Plotinus Apud Arabes: Theologia Aristotelis Et Fragmenta Quae Supersunt, Kuwait (repr. 1977, 1995): Arabic original
- Franciscus Patricius, Mystica Aegyptiorum et Chaldaeorum: a Platone voce tradita, et ab Aristotele excepta et conscripta philosophia edente Francisco Patricio, Ferrara 1591: Latin translation
- H.-R. Schwyzer (ed.), Plotini Opera - Tomus II: Enneades IV-V . Plotiniana Arabica ad codicum fidem anglice vertit Geoffrey Lewis, Paris 1959: English translation
Secondary literature
- Peter S. Adamson, Arabic Plotinus: A Philosophical Study of the 'Theology of Aristotle' (2002: London, Gerald Duckworth & Co. Ltd.) ISBN 0715631632
- same, Before Essence and Existence: al-Kindi's Conception of Being, 2007
- D'Ancona, Cristina: Pseudo-"Theology of Aristotle", Chapter I: Structure and Composition. Oriens, 2001, pp. 78-112.
- Paul Fenton, "The Arabic and Hebrew Versions of the Theology of Aristotle" in Pseudo-Aristotle in the Middle Ages: The ‘Theology’ and Other Texts, Jill Kraye, Charles B. Schmitt and W. F. Ryan (1986: London) ISBN 085481065X, 241-264.
- Dimitri Gutas (de), Greek thought, Arabic culture : the Graeco-Arabic translation movement in Baghdad and early ʻAbbāsid society (2nd-4th/8th-10th centuries) (1998: London, Routledge) ISBN 0415061326
- Shlomo Pines, "La longue récension de la Théologie d'Aristote dans ses rapports avec la doctrine ismaélienne" in Revue des études Islamiques 22 (1954) 7-20
- Rowson, Everett K., Jill Kraye & W. F. Ryan & C. B. Schmitt: "The Theology of Aristotle and Some Other Pseudo-Aristotelian Texts Reconsidered" in Pseudo-Aristotle in the Middle Ages: The Theology and Other Texts. Journal of the American Oriental Society, Jul. - Sep., 1992, pp. 478-484.
The other works
- Georges Anawati (de), "Le néoplatonisme dans la pensée musulmane: état actuel des recherches", in Plotino e il neoplatonismo in Oriente e Occidente, Rome 1974 (contains text and translation of the "Letter on Divine Science")
- Rüdiger Arnzen, Aristoteles' De anima : eine verlorene spätantike Paraphrase in arabischer und persischer Überlieferung (1998: Leiden, Brill) ISBN 9004106995
References
- ^ See Adamson, Before Essence and Existence: al-Kindi's Conception of Being.