Michael Griffin - Alexander: On Aristotle Metaphysics 12

Ancient Commentators on Aristotle

GENERAL EDITORS: Richard Sorabji, Honorary Fellow, Wolfson College, University of Oxford, and Emeritus Professor, Kings College London, UK; and Michael Griffin, Assistant Professor, Departments of Philosophy and Classics, University of British Columbia, Canada.

This prestigious series translates the extant ancient Greek philosophical commentaries on Aristotle. Written mostly between 200 and 600 AD, the works represent the classroom teaching of the Aristotelian and Neoplatonic schools in a crucial period during which pagan and Christian thought were reacting to each other. The translation in each volume is accompanied by an introduction, comprehensive commentary notes, bibliography, glossary of translated terms and a subject index. Making these key philosophical works accessible to the modern scholar, this series fills an important gap in the history of European thought.

A webpage for the Ancient Commentators Project is maintained at ancientcommentators.org.uk and readers are encouraged to consult the site for details about the series as well as for addenda and corrigenda to published volumes.

Book 12 (Lambda) of Aristotles Metaphysics is the culmination of a treatise regarded as one of the greatest works of philosophy by an author known as the Philosopher. It was covered in the commentary on the Metaphysics by Alexander of Aphrodisias, the premier ancient commentator. But, alas, Alexanders treatment of Book 12 is lost, except for fragments preserved in Arabic by Averroes. The author of the extant commentary on Book 12, is called Ps.-Alexander in this volume, as explained in the Introduction.

Since this is the first selection from Ps.-Alexanders portion of the commentary on the Metaphysics to appear in the Ancient Commentators on Aristotle Series, the introduction to this volume includes a discussion of Ps.-Alexanders identity and a critical assessment of his work in addition to an overview of his interpretation of Book 12 and a brief account of his sources. I started work on this translation a number of years ago out of curiosity while studying the Metaphysics as a member of the Ohio Greek Philosophy Group. As I carried out this project, I became increasingly impressed with Ps.-Alexanders contribution. Although he is not of the same calibre as Alexander of Aphrodisias and is cavalier in his treatment of sources, his commentary is most definitely worthy of study. In addition to plausible textual readings and reconstructions, which are still treated seriously by modern editors, he offers informative insights into difficult passages and a comprehensive and illuminating exegesis of Book 12 as a whole, albeit drawing at times on Neoplatonic materials to fill out his interpretation.

In preparing the translation and notes I had the benefit of a wealth of past scholarship as indicated in the bibliography. Renewed interest in Metaphysics 12 over the past two decades has yielded a fresh windfall, including a Symposium Aristotelicum volume and two other edited collections, new critical editions of Book 12 by Stefan Alexandru and Sylvia Fazzo, several commentaries, and a plethora of journal articles. By serendipity Lindsay Judsons Clarendon volume on Metaphysics 12 was published several months before my deadline. After completing the first draft of my translation, I was able to make many improvements by consulting two previous translations, the sixteenth-century Latin version by Seplveda and a very fine recent Italian rendering by Rita Salis. Two earlier volumes in the present series included helpful translations of material which reappears in Ps.-Alexanders commentary: Robert Sharples Alexander of Aphrodisias Questions and Ian Muellers Simplicius On Aristotle On the Heavens. I should add that Muellers work was especially valuable for the translation and notes in Chapter 8.

I am pleased to thank Errol Katayama, David Keyt, Anthony Preus, and Christopher Shields for commenting on a draft of the translation and notes, suggesting many improvements, and sparing me from embarrassing errors. The penultimate draft served as a text for a seminar on Aristotles philosophical theology which I conducted in collaboration with Professor Christopher Shields at the University of Notre Dame and which was the source of helpful feedback and valuable new insights. Erika Gray, my daughter, skilfully assisted with the diagrams for Chapter 8. Mary Dilsaver and Tamara Sharp at the Social Philosophy and Policy Foundation provided indispensable clerical support. The library of Bowling Green State University and the affiliated Ohio Link system were a constant source of essential research materials. I am especially grateful to Richard Sorabji for commenting on early drafts of the translation and introduction and for offering valuable assistance and advice throughout the project.

Fate decreed that my deadline would fall during a global pandemic in 2020, so that I was obliged to finish my work confined to my home, where Aristotles sublime speculations afforded a welcome respite from sublunary tribulations.

Finally, for the constant support and encouragement of my beloved wife Kathryn and family I am deeply grateful.

F.D.M.