SGA 15 (2025)

Table of Contents (PDF)

Abstract: According to the testimony provided in Pseudo-Apuleius’ Peri Hermeneias (XIII, p. 213.5–10 Moreschini), Aristo of Alexandria (fl. 1^st century BCE) was the first Peripatetic philosopher to introduce the five subaltern modes of syllogisms in the first and second figures (Barbari, Celaront, Celantop, Cesaro, Camestrop). In the available collections of testimonia, this text from the Peri Hermeneias has been regarded as the sole source for reconstructing Aristo’s position. However, a passage in Galen’s Institutio logica (XI 3–4 Kalbfleisch) appears to reference the five new syllogistic modes developed by Aristo on the basis of Aristotle’s Prior Analytics I 4. In this paper, I aim to show, through a comparative analysis with Pseudo-Apuleius’ testimony, that Galen’s Inst. log. XI 3–4 refers to the five modes elaborated by Aristo. If the examination of the extant evidence has been conducted accurately, Galen’s passage may thus be properly recognized as a new testimony to the syllogistic system of Aristo of Alexandria. To achieve this objective, (1) I will first reconstruct the method by which Aristo deduced the five new syllogistic modes, drawing on Ps.-Ap., De Int. XIII, p. 213.5–10 Moreschini; (2) secondly, I will propose a new reconstruction of the Greek text of Galen’s Inst. log. XI 3–4, which contains numerous lacunae and interpretive challenges.

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Abstract: This paper offers a new interpretation of the final chapters of Galen’s Περὶ ἀλυπίας (§§ 59-81) recently found in a Parisian manuscript (BnF, Suppl. gr. 675, f. 8r = P). Rather than being a versio brevior of the treatise transmitted in Vlatadon 14 (ca. 1450), this text should be seen as a short anthology of excerpts (συλλογή), compiled in the mid-12^th century by an anonymous Byzantine scholar for personal use and copied in his own hand.

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Abstract: Hierarchy is the disposition of the different levels of perfection from the closest to the most distant from God. Dionysius depicts reality as a web of connection (συμπάθεια) and proportionality (ἀναλογία), in which the power of God penetrates every being, from the highest angel to the lowest element of the visible realm. The structure described by Dionysius is intrinsic to his understanding of reality, as his aim is the assimilation and union with God. He elaborated on the concept of hierarchy to create a continuum between all the levels of reality and to harmonise them. Hence, the concept of hierarchy leads one to think of the sensible world as a receptacle of symbols and figures referring to the intelligible world. How, in this context, the angels have been used by Pseudo-Dionysius as a pedagogical tool for humanity? This article aims to analyse analogies and differences between the angelic and human realms, to underline the specific functions of the celestial hierarchy toward the ecclesiastical hierarchy.

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Abstract: The article presents, for the first time, a new Arabic fragment of Porphyry on the triad “Goodness– Power–Wisdom” preserved by the medieval Copto-Arabic theologian al-Muʾtaman ibn al-ʿAssāl (d. between 1270 and 1286). The article argues that the fragment is authentic and belongs to Porphyry’s Commentary on the Timaeus and that it was translated into Arabic, whether as part of an Arabic adaptation of Porphyry’s Commentary on the Timaeus or as embedded in some later work, by Isḥāq ibn Ḥunayn (d. 910). The article further contextualizes this fragment with particular attention to the tenth-century Muslim philosopher al-Isfizārī. It shows that al-Isfizārī likely drew on Porphyry in Question 20 of his metaphysical treatise Kitāb fī Masāʾil al-umūr al-ilāhiyya.

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Abstract: The most important book on mathematical music theory in Arabic is al-Fārābī’s Kitāb al-Mūsīqī al-kabīr, which presents the system of the ancient Greeks but then, intentionally diverging from “ancient” treatises, adds a chapter on instruments, which “the ancients” did not in their treatises. This article examines al-Fārābī’s account of the tonal system of his Greek sources and how he deals with them; so far, a similar investigation has only been undertaken relating to his account of rhythm. It also explores, by means of a structured comparison with the tonal system presented by al-Fārābī on the ṭunbūr of Baghdad, the relationship or possible transfer between music theory and practice.

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Abstract: Since Amos Bertolacci’s seminal study on the occurrence of the term ayyiyya in the textual tradition of the Šifāʾ was published in 2012, the concept has gained increasing popularity among Western students of his logic and metaphysics. Below, I shall review Bertolacci’s arguments in light of the textual tradition of the Šifāʾ and the post-Avicennan philosophical tradition from the time of Avicenna’s student Bahmanyār up to the eighteenth century. The conclusion will be that ayyiyya, while undeniably present in the textual tradition of the Šifāʾ, is not Avicennan but was introduced into the texts in later times in replacement of a misunderstood inniyya. Lastly, this article owes its existence to Bertolacci’s original publication. So, rather than merely critique his work, it is more of a sequel to it, allowing us to see things from a broader perspective.

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Abstract: This article focuses on a quotation in Arabic from Aristotle’s Politics, which is the first of its kind, because it is complete rather than a paraphrase. It appears in a twelfth-century medical treatise where it is commented on at length. It is translated here and restored with its commentary. The quotation reopens the debate on a possible translation of the first book of Aristotle’s Politics.

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Abstract: The purpose of this article is to revisit an issue raised by Catarina Belo in 2009. Belo argues that in his commentaries Averroes follows the Aristotelian conception of women as defective males, whereas Averroes develops a different, more progressive view that gives women a more positive role in two of his treatises: the Commentary on the Republic ( CRep), and the Bidāyat al-muǧtahid wa-nihāyat al-muqtaṣid ( The Distinguished Jurist’s Primer). Belo also claims that this “progressive” view is in line with Averroes’ own opinion on women. This article will challenge the view of a “progressive” Averroes on the question of women and will introduce a new critical approach. (The article does not address the question of how to define “feminism”). Belo examines two treatises that belong to different disciplines – law and philosophy – though she does not justify this procedure. I argue, rather, that the question of women in Averroes’ thought should focus on the CRep only. This treatise belongs to the epistemic context of Averroes’ political philosophy and its specific architecture. I identify and collect the passages in the CRep that mention women. Since some of these passages present views that seem a priori more progressive than others, I attempt to resolve these discrepancies, first, by shedding light on the context of these passages and underlining remarks made by Averroes that would temper the philosopher’s so-called progressivism in regard to the role played by women in politics, and second, by taking seriously the philosophical architecture introduced by Averroes that is based on an analogy between political science and medical science. This argument sets the stage for a “metaphorical” interpretation of the passages of the First Treatise (corresponding to Plato’s Republic, Book 5) according to which the CRep is assimilated to a psychological treatise rather than to political philosophy per se.

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Abstract: This essay explores the how Albert the Great’s first curriculum at the 13th century Cologne studium generale of the Dominican friars set the stage for Proclus’ most powerful impact on Latin medieval scholasticism. Two key doctrines in Albert’s vision of the contemplative life are then compared and contrasted to Proclus and Dionysius: the notion of a highly structured contemplative ascent that begins with symbols, and the grace/nature distinction.

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Abstract: This paper presents the first edition of Marsilio Ficino’s annotations to Proclus’ De arte hieratica contained in the manuscript Vallicellianus F 20. The edition is followed by a lemmatic commentary.

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Abstract: The application to psychology of the mathematical figura of harmony is perhaps the ideal test-case for evaluating Marsilio Ficino’s ideas concerning the role of figural discourse in general within the history of philosophy. In his Compendium on Plato’s Timaeus, Ficino begins by presenting a relatively traditional account of the construction of the mathematical figure of the triangle or lambda with its twofold ascending sequence of numbers that includes the various ratios and the geometrical, arithmetical, and harmonic means. However, he then innovates with a kind of thought-experiment whereby he inserts (1) the duality of limit and infinity and the five Platonic genera; (2) the various ratios yielding consonances, <3> the soul’s powers, including unity, will, intelligence, and so forth. Most importantly, he applies the previously inserted ratios to the various psychic powers, albeit without elaborating on the full significance of such an application. The final section of this essay explores the relation between the account of the harmonic figura and the analogical structure of the world as a whole according to the Compendium.

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