Simplicius: On Aristotle On the Heavens 1.3-4

This is the second volume of the first English translation of Simplicius’ responses to Philoponus’ Against Aristotle on the Eternity of the World.

Until the launch of this series nearly twenty years ago, the 15,000 volumes of the ancient Greek commentators on Aristotle constituted the largest corpus of extant Greek philosophical writings not translated into English or other European languages. Over 60 volumes have now appeared in the series, which is planned in some 80 volumes altogether.This is the first English translation of Simplicius’ responses to Philoponus’ Against Aristotle on the Eternity of the World. The commentary is published in two volumes: Ian Mueller's previous book in the series, Simplicius: On Aristotle On the Heavens 1.2-3, and this book on 1.3-4. Philoponus, the Christian, had argued that Aristotle’s arguments do not succeed. For all they show to the contrary, Christianity may be right that the heavens were brought into existence by the only divine being and one moment in time, and will cease to exist at some future moment. Simplicius upholds the pagan view that the heavens are eternal and divine, and argues that their eternity is shown by their astronomical movements coupled with certain principles of Aristotle. The English translation in this volume is accompanied by a detailed introduction, extensive commentary notes and a bibliography.