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Philoponus: Against Aristotle on the Eternity of the World
Philoponus' treatise Against Aristotle on the Eternity of the World , an attack on Aristotle's astronomy and theology is concerned mainly with the eternity and divinity of the fifth element, or 'quintessence', of which Aristotle took the stars to be composed. Pagans and Christians were divided on whether the world had a beginning, and on whether a belief that the heavens were divine was a mark of religion. Philoponus claimed on behalf of Christianity that the universe was not eternal. His most spectacular arguments, where wrung paradox out of the pagan belief in an infinite past, have been wrongly credited by historians of science to a period 700 years later.
The treatise was to influence Islamic, Jewish, Byzantine and Latin thought, though the fifth element was defended against Philoponus even beyond the time of Copernicus. The influence of the treatise was not easy to trace before the fragments were assembled. Dr. Wildberg has brought them together for the first time and provided a summary which makes coherent sense of the whole. He has also studied a Syriac fragment, which reveals that the treatise originally contained an explicitly theological section on the Christian expectation of a new heaven and a new earth.
The treatise was to influence Islamic, Jewish, Byzantine and Latin thought, though the fifth element was defended against Philoponus even beyond the time of Copernicus. The influence of the treatise was not easy to trace before the fragments were assembled. Dr. Wildberg has brought them together for the first time and provided a summary which makes coherent sense of the whole. He has also studied a Syriac fragment, which reveals that the treatise originally contained an explicitly theological section on the Christian expectation of a new heaven and a new earth.
188 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 2013
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December 25, 2022
Interesting, but this is really just a selection of Simplicius' commentaries on Aristotle's works. The editors just selected the portions where Simplicius either quotes, paraphrases or alludes to Philoponus' work entitled Against Aristotle on the Eternity of the World. What you often get is Simplicius' rants. Simplicius supported Aristotle's position and he engaged in caustic attacks on Philoponus. Scientific developments didn't help Simplicius' position any.
Yes, you do get a good idea of what Philoponus' arguments were in the above work, but you often get more Simplicius than Philoponus. Wasn't an exactly enjoyable read.
Yes, you do get a good idea of what Philoponus' arguments were in the above work, but you often get more Simplicius than Philoponus. Wasn't an exactly enjoyable read.
Displaying 1 of 1 review