Priscian: "On Theophrastus on sense-perception" with 'Simplicius': "On Aristotle on the soul 2.5-12"

270 Pages·2013·1.886 MB·English

by  Pamela Huby, Peter Lautner, J. O. Urmson, Carlos G. Steel

PRISCIAN
On Theophrastus on Sense-Perception

with
‘SIMPLICIUS’
On Aristotle On the Soul 2.5-12
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PRISCIAN
On Theophrastus
on Sense-Perception
Translated by Pamela Huby
with
‘SIMPLICIUS’
On Aristotle
On the Soul 2.5-12
Translated by Carlos Steel
In collaboration with J.O. Urmson
Notes by Peter Lautner
LONDON • NEW DELHI • NEW YORK • SYDNEY
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First published in 1997 by Gerald Duckworth & Co. Ltd.
Paperback edition fi rst published 2014
© 2013 Richard Sorabji, Pamela Huby, Carlos Steel, Peter Lautner
Richard Sorabji, Pamela Huby, Carlos Steel, Peter Lautner have asserted their
right under the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act, 1988, to be identifi ed
as Authors of this work.
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or
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can be accepted by Bloomsbury Academic or the author.
British Library Cataloguing-in-Publication Data
A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library.
ISBN HB: 978-0-7156-2752-5
PB: 978-1-4725-5847-3
ePDF: 978-1-4725-0188-2
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
A catalog record for this book is available from the Library of Congress.
The present translations have been made possible by generous
and imaginative funding from the following sources: the National
Endowment for the Humanities, Division of Research Programs,
an independent federal agency of the USA; the Leverhulme Trust;
the British Academy; the Jowett Copyright Trustees; the Royal
Society (UK); Centro Internazionale A. Beltrame di Storia dello
Spazio e del Tempo (Padua); Mario Mignucci; Liverpool University;
the Leventis Foundation; the Humanities Research Board of the
British Academy; the Esmée Fairbairn Charitable Trust; the Henry
Brown Trust. The editor wishes to thank Dolores Iorizzo for her
help in preparing the volume for press.
Typeset by Ray Davies
Printed and bound in Great Britain
Contents
Preface Richard Sorabji vii
Priscian: On Theophrastus on Sense-Perception
Translation by Pamela Huby
Introduction 3
Bibliography 5
Textual Emendations 7
Translation 9
Notes 49
English-Greek Glossary 71
Greek-English Index 82
Index of Passages 99
‘Simplicius’: On Aristotle On the Soul 2.5-12
Introduction and translation by Carlos Steel
Notes by Peter Lautner
Introduction 103
Textual Emendations 141
Translation 143
Notes 213
English-Greek Glossary 230
Greek-English Index 234
Index of Names and Subjects 260
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Preface
Richard Sorabji
The translation of ‘Simplicius’ on On the Soul by Carlos Steel is based on
a complete draft by J.O. Urmson. Urmson’s original annotations are
marked J.O.U. Apart from a few annotations by the general editor, some-
times marked ‘Ed.’, the great bulk have been supplied by Peter Lautner.
There is a purpose in presenting this translation alongside Pamela
Huby’s translation, with notes, of Priscian’s Paraphrase of Theophrastus
on Sense-Perception. The juxtapostion should help readers to make up
their own minds regarding the question of authorship. In 1972, F. Bossier
and C. Steel questioned the attribution of the On the Soul commentary to
Simplicius and argued for its attribution to his colleague Priscian of Lydia
instead. They thus revived the hypothesis put forward by Franciscus
Piccolomini in 1602. But their article, ‘Priscianus Lydus en de In de Anima
van Pseudo (?) Simplicius’ (Tijdschrift voor Filosofie 34, 1972, pp. 761-
822), being in Dutch, has been less widely read than it deserves to be.
Carlos Steel has now updated his views and presents a revised version of
the article in English. The portion of the text he here translates is
commenting on Aristotle’s views on sense perception. This makes a com-
parison all the easier, because Huby’s text, which is acknowledged to be
by Priscian, purports to represent the views of Aristotle’s successor, Theo-
phrastus, on the very same subject: sense perception. Both texts give a
highly Neoplatonist account.
Theophrastus’ text was an eight-book treatise on Physics. The fifth book
discussed not only sense-perception, but also intellect and imagination
and Aristotle’s views on all of these. These topics are reflected in Priscian’s
paraphrase. There is a reference by ‘Simplicius’ at in DA 136,29 to his own
epitome of Theophrastus’ Physics. Bossier and Steel (p. 763) take this to
be a reference by Priscian to the paraphrase of Theophrastus on Sense-
Perception which is translated here.
Priscian and Simplicius, to whom the commentaries are ascribed, were
among the seven Neoplatonist philosophers who went to Persia when the
Christian Emperor Justinian closed the Athenian School in 529. The
identity of ‘Simplicius’ remains to be decided.
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PRISCIAN
On Theophrastus on
Sense-Perception
translated by
Pamela Huby