The Arabic Plotinus: A Study of the "Theology of Aristotle" and Related Texts

Dissertation, University of Notre Dame (2000)
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Abstract

Even though it is arguably the most important source for Neoplatonic ideas in the Arabic speaking philosophical tradition, the Arabic Plotinus has until recently received little philosophical attention. This is regrettable, because of the enormous historical and philosophical interest of the work. Historically, it stands at the beginning of a vital tradition that passed on Greek thought first to Islamic thinkers and, later, to the Christian world. Philosophically, the text presents a unique opportunity to study the earliest confrontation of several traditions of thought, Neoplatonism, Aristotelianism and Islam being chief among them. Thus the dissertation explores the ramifications for Platonic philosophy, broadly construed, in a new context where philosophers began to show how Neoplatonism could be reconciled with monotheism, and how Islam could be reconciled with the various strands of the Greek tradition. ;The text of the Arabic Plotinus, which includes the so-called "Theology of Aristotle," is the work of an anonymous author from al-Kindi's translation circle who paraphrased parts of Plotinus' Enneads. I argue that this author, whom I call the Adaptor, set out not only to translate the works of Plotinus but to alter them philosophically in a systematic way. After dealing with philological issues regarding the text, I move through the Adaptor's handling of Plotinus' three main hypostases: Soul, Intellect, and the First Principle. I argue that changes introduced into the text demonstrate that the Adaptor was trying to fashion a text that would cohere with other philosophical sources and answer contemporary theological debates. In conclusion I discuss the integrity and philosophical viability of the resulting text, as well as the identity of the Adaptor. Appendices include discussions of al-Kindi's and Avicenna's use of the Arabic Plotinus, and a translation of Avicenna's commentary on the "Theology of Aristotle."

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Peter Adamson
Ludwig Maximilians Universität, München

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