Aristotle from York to Basra - Doctoral Dissertation Erik Hermans

286 Pages·2016·1.47 MB·English

Aristotle
 from
 York
 to
 Basra

An
 investigation
 into
 the
 simultaneous
 study
 of

 Aristotle’s
 Categories

in
 the
 Carolingian,
 the
 Byzantine
 and
 the
 Abbasid
 worlds

by

Erik
 Hermans

A
 dissertation
 submitted
 in
 partial
 ful@illment

of
 the
 requirements
 for
 the
 degree
 of

Doctor
 of
 Philosophy

Institute
 for
 the
 Study
 of
 the
 Ancient
 World

New
 York
 University

May,
 2016

_________________________

Robert
 Hoyland
©
 Erik
 Hermans

All
 Rights
 Reserved,
 2016
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

This
 dissertation
 is
 the
 product
 of
 a
 new
 and
 interdisciplinary
 graduate
 program
 at

the
 Institute
 for
 the
 Study
 of
 the
 Ancient
 World
 (ISAW)
 at
 New
 York
 University.

Without
 the
 vision
 and
 generosity
 of
 Leon
 Levy
 and
 Shelby
 White
 ISAW
 would
 not

have
 existed
 and
 this
 dissertation
 would
 not
 have
 been
 written.
 I
 am
 therefore

greatly
 indebted
 to
 these
 philanthropists.

  At
 ISAW
 I
 was
 able
 to
 create
 my
 own
 graduate
 curriculum,
 which
 allowed
 me

to
 expand
 my
 horizon
 as
 a
 classicist
 and
 explore
 the
 richness
 of
 Western
 Europe,

Byzantium
  and
  the
  Middle
  East
  in
  the
  early
  medieval
  period.
  My
  academic

endeavors
  as
  a
  graduate
  student
  would
  not
  have
  been
  successful
  without
  the

reliable,
 helpful
 and
 impeccable
 guidance
 of
 Roger
 Bagnall.
 Without
 him
 American

academia
 would
 still
 be
 a
 labyrinth
 for
 me.

  I
 consider
 myself
 very
 fortunate
 to
 have
 an
 interdisciplinary
 committee
 of

supervisors
 from
 different
 institutions.
 Helmut
 Reimitz
 of
 Princeton
 University
 and

John
 Duffy
 of
 Harvard
 University
 have
 voluntarily
 committed
 themselves
 to
 the

supervision
 of
 both
 my
 comprehensive
 exams
 and
 my
 dissertation.
 I
 would
 like
 to

thank
 them
 deeply
 for
 their
 time
 and
 assistance.
 However,
 I
 am
 most
 indebted
 to
 my

primary
 advisor,
 Robert
 Hoyland.
 He
 introduced
 me
 to
 the
 wealth
 of
 Middle
 Eastern

�iii
history
 and
 comparative
 history
 as
 well
 as
 the
 beauty
 of
 Greco-­‐Arabica.
 His
 original

analyses
 and
 humor
 have
 improved
 the
 quality
 of
 this
 dissertation
 immensely.

  Conversations
 with
 different
 friends
 and
 colleagues
 in
 both
 Nijmegen
 (NL)

and
 New
 York
 City
 have
 helped
 me
 shape
 my
 thoughts
 and
 sharpen
 the
 analyses
 that

lie
 at
 the
 roots
 of
 this
 dissertation.
 In
 Nijmegen,
 I
 would
 like
 to
 thank
 Roald
 Dijkstra,

Leon
 Groenewegen
 and
 Olivier
 Hekster
 in
 particular
 for
 their
 comments
 and
 ideas.

My
 time
 at
 ISAW
 would
 not
 have
 been
 the
 same
 without
 two
 of
 my
 fellow
 graduate

students,
 Jonathan
 Valk
 and
 Randolph
 Ford,
 whose
 ideas,
 comments,
 and
 humor

have
 in@luenced
 almost
 every
 aspect
 of
 this
 dissertation
 as
 well
 as
 my
 views
 as
 a

historian
 in
 general.

  I
  would
  also
  like
  to
  thank
  my
  parents,
  Eke
  Hermans-­‐Stoop
  and
  Frank

Hermans,
 whose
 ideas
 have
 always
 meant
 much
 to
 me.
 The
 same
 is
 true
 for
 my

mother-­‐in-­‐law,
 Cahide
 Cayir.
 Most
 importantly,
 the
 way
 this
 dissertation
 and
 my
 life

as
 a
 graduate
 student
 have
 evolved
 would
 not
 have
 been
 conceivable
 without
 the

endless
 support
 and
 love
 of
 my
 dearest
 wife,
 Sezgi
 Hermans.

East
 Village,
 New
 York
 City

November
 14
 2015

�iv
ABSTRACT

In
 the
 eighth
 and
 ninth
 centuries
 CE
 intellectuals
 in
 three
 different
 societies
 were

studying
 the
 same
 classical
 text
 in
 three
 different
 languages.
 In
 Western
 Europe,

Carolingian
 intellectuals
 were
 studying
 the
 Categories
 of
 Aristotle
 in
 Latin,
 while
 in

Byzantium
 contemporary
 scholars
 were
 reading
 it
 in
 Greek
 and
 in
 the
 Middle
 East

Abbasid
 scholars
 did
 so
 in
 Arabic.
 My
 dissertation
 addresses
 the
 question
 of
 why
 the

Categories
 was
 studied
 at
 the
 same
 time
 in
 these
 three
 different
 culturo-­‐political

worlds.
 The
 primary
 sources
 that
 I
 use
 include
 paraphrases
 and
 translations
 of
 the

Categories
 that
 are
 found
 in
 the
 works
 of
 John
 of
 Damascus
 and
 Photius
 in
 the

Byzantine
 world,
 Alcuin
 and
 John
 Scottus
 Eriugena
 in
 the
 Carolingian
 world
 and
 Ibn

Al-­‐Muqaffaʿ
 and
 Al-­‐Kindī
 in
 the
 Islamic
 world.
 Rather
 than
 providing
 an
 analysis
 of

the
 philosophical
 interpretations
 of
 the
 Categories
 by
 any
 of
 these
 intellectuals,
 I

explore
 the
 possible
 explanations
 of
 the
 simultaneous
 study
 of
 the
 Categories,
 such

as
  direct
  contact
  between
  these
  scholars,
  movement
  of
  manuscripts
  and

coincidence.
 I
 conclude
 that
 the
 most
 likely
 explanation
 is
 that
 the
 late
 Roman

educational
  curriculum
  which
  was
  established
  by
  the
  sixth
  century
  and
  which

included
 Aristotle’s
 Categories,
 continued
 to
 exert
 its
 in@luence
 in
 all
 three
 cultural

zones.
 As
 a
 result,
 I
 argue
 that
 early
 medieval
 scholars
 living
 as
 far
 apart
 as
 England

and
 Iraq
 had
 a
 similar
 intellectual
 horizon
 in
 which
 exposure
 to
 Aristotelian
 logic
 in

schools
 played
 an
 important
 role.

�v
TABLE
 OF
 CONTENTS

Acknowledgements

  iii

Abstract

  v

List
 of
 Tables

  vii

Introduction

  1

  A
 remarkable
 similarity

  2

  A
 holistic
 approach
 to
 the
 early
 Middle
 Ages

  4

  Methodology

  13

  The
 Categories
 in
 Antiquity

  20

Chapter
 I:
 Intellectuals
 around
 750
 CE

  30

  John
 of
 Damascus

  31

  Ibn
 al-­‐Muqaffaʿ

  45

  What
 was
 happening
 in
 Western
 Europe?

  77

Chapter
 II:
 Intellectuals
 around
 800
 CE

  83

  The
 council
 of
 787

  84

  Alcuin

  94

  Nicephorus,
 Theodore
 the
 Studite

  114

  What
 was
 happening
 in
 the
 Caliphate?

  132

Chapter
 III:
 Intellectuals
 around
 850
 CE

  137

  al-­‐Kindī

  138

  Photius

  159

  John
 Scottus
 Eriugena

  173

Chapter
 IV:
 The
 Categories
 from
 York
 to
 Basra

  186

  Answering
 the
 primary
 questions

  187

  Hypothesis
 I:
 exchange
 of
 texts

  189

  Hypothesis
 II:
 simultaneous
 renaissances

  202

  Hypothesis
 III:
 a
 common
 educational
 curriculum

  208

  Conclusion

  233

Bibliography

  236

�vi
LIST
 OF
 TABLES

Table
 1:
 The
 Fourfold
 Classi@ication

  21

Table
 2:
 The
 Tenfold
 Classi@ication

  21

Table
 3:
 The
 Categories
 in
 the
 Manṭiq

  68

Table
 4:
 The
 Tenfold
 Classi@ication
 in
 the
 Manṭiq

  72

Table
 5:
 The
 Tenfold
 Classi@ication
 in
 Alcuin’s
 De
 Dialectica

  106

Table
 6:
 The
 Tenfold
 Classi@ication
 in
 Al-­‐Kindī’s
 On
 the
 Quantity
 (…)

  155

Table
 7:
 Photius’
 Clear
 Summary

  170

Table
 8:
 The
 Tenfold
 Classi@ication
 in
 Eriugena’
 Periphyseon

  182

�vii
INTRODUCTION

�1
A
 REMARKABLE
 SIMILARITY

In
 the
 middle
 of
 the
 ninth
 century
 three
 different
 intellectuals
 were
 studying
 the

same
 text
 at
 the
 same
 time.
 A
 trained
 historian
 who
 reads
 the
 previous
 sentence

might
 think
 that
 starting
 one’s
 dissertation
 with
 such
 a
 seemingly
 trivial
 observation

is
 an
 odd
 choice.
 After
 all,
 one
 of
 the
 fundamental
 characteristics
 of
 intellectuals
 in

most
 historical
 societies
 is
 their
 active
 inquiry
 into
 texts
 and
 manuscripts.
 Moreover,

the
 fact
 that
 contemporary
 intellectuals
 were
 studying
 the
 same
 text
 is
 not
 a
 special

phenomenon
 either:
 intellectuals
 who
 were
 part
 of
 the
 same
 discourse
 often
 shared

an
  interest
  in
  the
  same
  texts.
  Such
  intellectual
  discourses
  took
  place
  among

individuals
 who
 either
 spoke
 the
 same
 language
 or
 who
 were
 part
 of
 the
 same

community.
 However,
 the
 three
 ninth-­‐century
 intellectuals
 in
 question
 were
 not
 part

of
 the
 same
 community.
 They
 did
 not
 interact
 with
 each
 other
 and
 they
 did
 not
 even

know
 about
 each
 other’s
 existence.
 More
 importantly,
 they
 lived
 in
 different
 states

where
 different
 languages
 were
 used.
 Consequently,
 the
 fact
 that
 they
 were
 still

studying
 the
 same
 text
 at
 the
 same
 time
 is
 not
 trivial,
 but,
 instead,
 remarkable.

  The
 three
 intellectuals
 were
 John
 Scottus
 Eriugena,
 Photius
 and
 Al-­‐Kindī.

Eriugena
 (ca.
 815
 -­‐
 ca.
 877)
 was
 active
 in
 the
 Carolingian
 Empire
 and
 wrote
 all
 of
 his

works
 in
 Latin.
 Photius
 (ca.
 810
 -­‐
 ca.
 893)
 lived
 in
 Constantinople,
 the
 capital
 of
 the

Byzantine
 Empire,
 and
 wrote
 in
 Greek.
 Al-­‐Kindī
 (ca.
 801
 -­‐
 ca.
 873)
 composed
 his

oeuvre
 in
 Arabic
 and
 worked
 all
 his
 life
 in
 Baghdad,
 the
 capital
 of
 the
 Caliphate.
 In

�2
others
 words,
 these
 three
 scholars
 were
 active
 in
 three
 different
 worlds
 that
 were

separated
 by
 political,
 geographical
 and
 linguistic
 boundaries.
 It
 is
 therefore
 not

surprising
 that
 they
 were
 each
 part
 of
 separate
 intellectual
 communities
 in
 which

different
 texts
 were
 studied
 and
 produced.
 Nevertheless,
 what
 is
 surprising
 is
 the

fact
 that,
 despite
 these
 differences,
 they
 each
 studied
 the
 same
 classical
 text:
 a

treatise
  by
  the
  ancient
  philosopher
  Aristotle
  (384
  -­‐
  322
  BCE),
  known
  as
  the

Categories.
  Eriugena
  used
  the
  Categories
  to
  de@ine
  the
  attributes
  of
  God
  in
  his

treatise
 the
 Periphyseon.
 At
 the
 same
 time
 in
 Constantinople,
 Photius
 decided
 that

the
 Categories
 was
 the
 only
 classical
 text
 worthy
 of
 being
 paraphrased
 in
 its
 entirety

as
 part
 of
 his
 theological
 work
 the
 Amphilochia.
 Several
 hundred
 miles
 southeast,
 Al-­‐
Kindī
 was
 writing
 a
 short
 primer
 that
 explained
 to
 his
 students
 which
 texts
 they
 had

to
 read
 in
 order
 to
 become
 philosophers.
 The
 one
 text
 to
 which
 Al-­‐Kindī
 gave
 most

prominence
  in
  this
  primer
  was
  also
  the
  Categories
  of
  Aristotle.
  Furthermore,

Eriugena,
 Photius
 and
 Al-­‐Kindī
 were
 not
 the
 only
 ones
 in
 their
 language
 tradition
 to

study
 this
 treatise.
 In
 the
 generations
 before
 them
 scholars
 like
 Alcuin,
 John
 of

Damascus
 and
 Ibn
 al-­‐Muqaffaʿ
 had
 studied
 the
 same
 treatise
 in
 Latin,
 Greek
 and

Arabic.
 The
 simultaneous
 interest
 in
 the
 Categories
 of
 Aristotle
 in
 three
 different

early
  medieval
  societies
  is
  remarkable
  and
  requires
  an
  interdisciplinary

investigation
 that
 has
 not
 yet
 been
 conducted.
 This
 dissertation
 aims
 to
 @ill
 that
 gap

in
 scholarship.

�3