Porphyry, ¿On Principles and Matter¿

A Syriac Version of a Lost Greek Text with an English Translation, Introduction, and Glossaries
1. Auflage 2023
ISBN: 978-3-11-127466-9
Verlag: De Gruyter

Buch, Englisch, Multiple languages, Band 34, 185 Seiten, Format (B × H): 170 mm x 240 mm, Gewicht: 343 g

Reihe: Scientia Graeco-Arabica

The Syriac treatise published in the present volume is in many respects a unique text. Though it has been preserved anonymously, there remains little doubt that it belongs to Porphyry of Tyre. Accordingly, it enlarges our knowledge of the views of the most famous disciple of Plotinus. The text is an important witness to Platonist discussions on First Principles and on Plato’s concept of Prime Matter in the Timaeus. It contains extensive quotations from Atticus, Severus, and Boethus. This text thus provides us with new textual witnesses to these philosophers, whose legacy remains very poorly attested and little known. Additionally, the treatise is a rare example of a Platonist work preserved in the Syriac language. The Syriac reception of Plato and Platonic teachings has left rather sparse textual traces, and the question of what precisely Syriac Christians knew about Plato and his philosophy remains a debated issue. The treatise provides evidence for the close acquaintance of Syriac scholars with Platonic cosmology and with philosophical commentaries on Plato’s Timaeus.

Zielgruppe

Historians of philosophy, specialists in the Middle Platonism and

Autoren/Hrsg.

Porphyry

Arzhanov, Yury

Fachgebiete

• Geisteswissenschaften Philosophie Geschichte der Westlichen Philosophie Antike Philosophie
• Geisteswissenschaften Literaturwissenschaft Klassische Literaturwissenschaft
• Geisteswissenschaften Islam & Islamische Studien Islam & Islamische Studien
• Geisteswissenschaften Geschichtswissenschaft Alte Geschichte & Archäologie

Über Autor(innen)

Yury Arzhanov, Austrian Academy of Sciences, Vienna, Austria.