Simplicius: On Aristotle Physics 2 (Ancient Commentators on Aristotle)

Barrie Fleet

ISBN 10: 1780938640 / ISBN 13: 9781780938646

Published by Bloomsbury Academic 2014-04-10, 2014

About this Item

Seller Inventory # 6666-IUK-9781780938646

Bibliographic Details

• Title: Simplicius: On Aristotle Physics 2 (Ancient Commentators on Aristotle)
• Publisher: Bloomsbury Academic 2014-04-10
• Publication Date: 2014
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 1780938640
• ISBN 13: 9781780938646
• Binding: Paperback
• Condition: New

About this title

Synopsis

Book 2 of the Physics is arguably the best introduction to Aristotle's ideas, as well as being the most interesting and representative book in the whole of his corpus. It defines nature and distinguishes natural science from mathematics. It introduces the seminal idea of four causes, or four modes of explanation. It defines chance, but rejects a theory of chance and natural selection in favour of purpose in nature.
Simplicius, writing in the sixth century Ad, adds his own considerable contribution to this work. Seeing Aristotle's God as a Creator, he discusses how nature relates to soul, adds Stoic and Neoplatonist causes to Aristotle's list of four, and questions the likeness of cause to effect. He discusses missing a great evil or a great good by a hairsbreadth and considers whether animals act from reason or natural instinct. He also preserves a Posidonian discussion of mathematical astronomy.

About the Authors

Richard Sorabji is Research Professor of Philosophy at King's College London and a Fellow of Wolfson College, Oxford, UK. He is the author of many books, including Necessity, Clause and Blame, Matter, Space and Motion, and Time, Creation and the Continuum, all published by Bloomsbury, and general editor of the Ancient Commentators on Aristotle series.

Michael Griffin is Professor of Classics and Philosophy at the University of British Columbia, Vancouver, Canada. He is co-editor of the series Ancient Commentators on Aristotle and translator of two of its volumes: Olympiodorus: Life of Plato and On Plato First Alcibiades 1–9 (Bloomsbury 2014) and Olympiodorus: On Plato First Alcibiades 10–28 (Bloomsbury 2015).