Ammonios Hermeiou

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One side of a 1290/1291 written manuscript of Ammonios' Isagoge -Comment. Florence, Biblioteca Medicea Laurenziana , Plut. 71,35, fol. 44r

Ammonios Hermeiou ( Greek  Ἀμμώνιος τοῦ Ἑρμείου Ammṓnios tou Hermeíou , also Ammonios of Alexandria , Latin Ammonius Hermiae ; * between 435 and 450 in Alexandria ; † probably after 517) was an influential philosopher of late antiquity . He belonged to the Neoplatonic tendency that was dominant in philosophy at that time . His nickname Hermeiou , which is used to differentiate between philosophers of the same name, means son of Hermeias .

Ammonios studied in Athens . After completing his education, he returned to his hometown of Alexandria, where he gave classes and started a tradition of Aristotle commentary that was continued by his students. He also commented on the Isagogue , a very widespread introduction by the Neo-Platonist Porphyrios to the categories , a fundamental Aristotle writing on logic . Since Ammonius did not confess to the Christian state religion, he was involved in a conflict between the pagan Neo-Platonists and the Patriarch of Alexandria , which he was able to resolve for himself and his school through an agreement with the Patriarch.

Life

Origin, education and teaching activity

According to an older research opinion, the birth of Ammonios is dated between 435 and 445, and according to a more recent approach between 437 and 450. His father was the Egyptian Neoplatonist Hermeias of Alexandria , his mother Aidesia, a relative of the philosopher Syrianos , who in the 430s directed the renowned Athens School of Philosophy as a scholarch . Hermeias met Aidesia in Athens when he was studying with Syrianos there. The Athens School, which followed on from the tradition of the Platonic Academy , was at that time the most important center of Platonism and therefore attractive to those from Egypt eager to learn.

Hermeias returned to his hometown Alexandria after completing his studies. There he got a job as a publicly paid philosophy teacher. He and his wife Aidesia had three sons, the eldest of whom died at the age of seven. Ammonios was the second oldest. Hermeias probably died around 450.

After Hermeias' death, the widow Aidesia insisted that his position was not filled again, but that it was reserved for his two surviving sons, Ammonios and his younger brother Heliodorus. The brothers were still young. The city of Alexandria continued to pay the deceased's salary as maintenance for his sons. Aidesia moved to Athens with her children in order to give them the best possible philosophical education. In the Athenian community of philosophers, Ammonios and Heliodorus became students of the famous Neoplatonist Proclus , who had succeeded Syrianos. Ammonios excelled particularly in geometry and astronomy.

After studying, which should have lasted five to six years, Aidesia and her sons settled back in Alexandria. While Heliodorus was active as an astronomer - nothing is known of any philosophical activity - Ammonios became a teacher. He could probably take over the vacancy held by his father. In addition to philosophy, he also taught geometry and astronomy; in particular, he treated the astronomy of Ptolemy in his lectures . The focus of his philosophy lessons were the teachings of Plato and Aristotle . In addition, Ammonios took part in his brother's astronomical research.

Ammonios' pupils included the well-known Neoplatonist Damascius , who - at that time still very young - entered into a closer relationship with the family of philosophers; evidently he was close to Aidesia, for he gave her the funeral oration, which he adorned with verse. Damascius later wrote the Philosophical History (formerly called Vita Isidori ), which is the main source for the life of Ammonius; however, it has only survived in fragments. According to Damascius, Ammonius was very diligent, and his Aristotle commentary was the most helpful of all.

Excavations in Alexandria, which were reported on in 2007, have uncovered the remains of an extensive complex of buildings that Ammonios may have used for his lectures along with other teachers.

It is commonly believed in scholarship that Ammonios 517 was still alive, but there is no evidence of this. There is also no clear evidence for the assumption, which is sometimes reproduced in the research literature, that he had already died in 526. The fact that his pupil Olympiodorus the Younger was still active in 565 provides an indication of this ; this suggests that Ammonius was still teaching at least in the second decade of the 6th century.

Religious political stance

Between the Christian majority of the population in Alexandria and the followers of traditional cults, to which the Neoplatonists belonged, there were severe tensions, which were violently discharged and also led to official measures against the philosophers. Ammonios was inherently part of the religious minority. As a prominent philosophy teacher, he became involved in the conflict, although he had not exposed himself religiously and also accepted Christians as students. The details of the course of the conflict are unclear; Understanding the processes is made more difficult by the fact that the fragments of Damascius' philosophical history that have been preserved are sometimes difficult to classify and interpret, and Damascius judged the character of his former teacher, in whom he saw a traitor, very negatively.

What is certain is that there was persecution of philosophers who belonged to the religious minority. The religious conflict in Alexandria had intensified in the course of the eighties until Emperor Zenon intervened in 488/89 . At the instigation of the Patriarch Petros III. Mongos of Alexandria an imperial special envoy named Nicomedes was sent to Alexandria to investigate allegations against the philosophy teachers, whereupon some scholars went into hiding; others were arrested and tortured. As a result, the Neoplatonists' previously flourishing teaching operations largely came to a standstill. Ammonios was the only non-Christian philosophy teacher who survived the crisis unmolested. He was able to successfully continue teaching after reaching an agreement with the Church. The fact that he did not show any religious zeal on his own made communication easier. The religious dimension of Neoplatonism, which for example played a central role for his teacher Proklos and for his pupil Damascius, seems to have been alien to him.

Damascius claimed that, as an opportunist, Ammonios was only interested in his personal gain; out of greed he had made an agreement with the patriarch. Research has considered the possibility that Ammonios revealed where philosophers who had fled were hiding. However, this is not evident from the surviving fragments of Damascius' work and is unlikely. Possibly the allegation of greed relates to an effort by the philosophy teacher not to lose his public pay. Regarding the financial situation, Damascius reported in another context that Ammonios' mother Aidesia, who was known for her generosity, left her sons in debt.

The content of the agreement between Ammonios and the Patriarch is unknown; The only thing that is certain is that from then on it enabled the philosophy teacher to continue teaching undisturbed. In the past, the hypothesis that Ammonius had agreed to concentrate on Aristotle in class, since his teaching offered Christians less open to attack than Platonism, which was more closely linked to the ancient religion, was well received in research. In fact, all of the traditional works of Ammonius deal with Aristotelian philosophy. However, the assumption that this was due to the agreement is speculative and, based on current research, is not convincing. Research has even suggested that Ammonius converted to Christianity, but this hypothesis has not proven plausible. Richard Sorabji believes that Ammonios promised primarily to renounce cult practices in his school.

Earlier research emphasized that in Alexandria, where Christians could take part in the lessons of a Neoplatonist, the relationship between the religions was generally more relaxed in educated circles than in Athens, where the Neoplatonists took a militant anti-Christian stance. In Athens philosophy was closely linked with pagan theology and cult practices, while in Alexandria predominantly religiously neutral subjects were cultivated and less metaphysical speculation was carried out. This difference also served to explain why the school in Athens was eventually officially closed, while in Alexandria philosophy classes outlived the demise of the remains of the ancient religion. Today, however, the complex relationships are viewed in a more differentiated manner. The two centers were in a lively exchange of ideas and personnel, and a number of philosophers were studying or teaching in both places in the course of their lives. There were consistent opponents of Christianity among the philosophers in Alexandria as well as in Athens, as the tensions and conflicts described in the sources show.

In any case, the decisive role in Alexandria was played by the course that Ammonios took from the point of view of his personal priorities. Apparently he was not guided by strong religious convictions, but was primarily a scholar. Therefore, he was able to come to terms with the existing conditions more easily than other Neo-Platonists and thus secure the continuation of teaching.

Works

Comments on De interpretatione , on the categories , on the Analytica priora (incomplete) and on the Isagoge , an introduction to Aristotle's categories written by the Neo-Platonist Porphyrios , have survived . Ammonios himself edited and published the commentary on De interpretatione ; the other comments are notes made by students from his classes, which were circulated under his name, but which are likely to be enriched with inauthentic material. In addition, his students Johannes Philoponos and Asklepios von Tralleis published under their own names commentaries on the works of Aristotle and on the introduction to the arithmetic of Nicomachus of Gerasa , the starting material of which were transcripts from his lectures. As a result, the main features of Ammonios' commentary on other writings by Aristotle have been handed down: Metaphysics , Physics , Meteorologica , Analytica posteriora , De anima and De generatione et corruptione .

Up to short fragments lost some works mentioned in later literature of Ammonios, including a commentary on the Topik of Aristotle and a record of the hypothetical conclusions. One treatise Aristotle's conception of God, in another Ammonius dealt with a passage in Plato's dialogue Phaedo , in which he objected to the claim that Plato was a skeptic . Olympiodorus the Younger reports that Ammonius treated Gorgias in Plato's teaching ; but this is no evidence that he wrote a comment on this dialogue.

A lost work by Ammonius on the astrolabe , mentioned by Johannes Philoponos, apparently appeared in the 20th century; Christos Soliotis thinks it is a text that he discovered in two manuscripts in the Austrian National Library and published in 1987.

Teaching

Ammonios emphasizes his independence. He states that a commentator does not have to consider everything he comments to be true from the outset, but should critically examine all allegations and, if necessary, turn against them.

Metaphysics and cosmology

According to the prevailing view of the history of philosophy in Neo-Platonist circles since Porphyry, there is a fundamental correspondence between Plato and Aristotle. Ammonios also assumes this. He considers the differences between the doctrines of these two first-rate authorities to be apparent; Aristotle did not fight the ontology of Plato, but only its erroneous interpretation by some Platonists. The metaphysics of Ammonius is in harmony with the basic beliefs of the late ancient Neo-Platonists. According to the Neoplatonic doctrine of the intelligible world and its subdivision into hypostases (levels of being), in contrast to the Christians, he differentiates between the one (highest deity, supreme principle) and the demiurge (creator), whom he considers the (indirect) author of the sensual perceptible things. Although he uses the designation "the God" for both, where the context does not require differentiation, this does not mean that he equates them. In the deity of Aristotle, the "immobile mover", Ammonius sees both the ultimate cause and the effective cause of the cosmos. With this assumption he tries to show a harmony between the Aristotelian theology and the Platonic one. He regards the existence of the world as a necessary consequence of the goodness of the demiurge. Because of the time independence of this necessity, he holds the world for ever and therefore rejects the Christian idea of ​​a world arising in time. If the cosmos had arisen at a certain point in time, God would have made a decision in that time and thus made a change of opinion, which is impossible because it would contradict the immutability of his nature. One can speak of a creation only in the sense of a causality, not in the sense of a specific process in time. Ammonius does not ascribe the creation of the transitory things to a direct influence of the demiurge, but he assumes responsible intermediate authorities; only for the existence of eternal entities in the cosmos is the demiurge the immediate cause.

In the theory of ideas and substances , too , Ammonios undertakes a harmonization of Plato and Aristotle by interpreting Aristotle's writing on categories in a Platonic way. The individual substance of the concrete individual things, which Aristotle calls the "first", is, according to Ammonios' understanding, the first only insofar as it is recognized by man before the "second" substance, the general one. There is therefore only an epistemological priority of the individual substance. In terms of the matter, “by nature”, it is the other way around: the earlier recognizable individual substance is the “later” or second because it is constituted by the ontologically “earlier”, the general substance. Thus, with Ammonius, the general takes precedence over the particular, which belongs to him according to the Platonic philosophy. The general of the "second" substance for Aristotle is therefore not understood as a product of conceptual abstraction and does not need the individual substances for its existence. Rather, it is said of it that it “is” according to a substrate . Accordingly, the substance that Aristotle calls the second is, from the ontological point of view - that is, in reality - the first.

Logic and the question of determinism

In logic , Ammonios is strongly influenced by his teacher Proclus; his commentary on De interpretatione is based, as he himself says, on notes from Proklos' lessons, which he supplements with his own statements. In this comment he speaks about the dispute over determinism . In doing so, he particularly comments on the "naval battle argument" presented and rejected by Aristotle in the ninth chapter of De interpretatione . The often discussed argument is based on the idea that the statement “Tomorrow there will be a sea battle” if it is true, is true regardless of time and is therefore already true today; their truth is thus already established before the event. From this it is concluded that the event is determined. Like Aristotle, Ammonius rejects determinism; he tries to find a solution by distinguishing between definitely (necessary) and indefinitely (simple, not necessary) true statements. In older research he was counted among the followers of the traditional "standard interpretation" who believe that for Aristotle statements about future events are neither true nor false as long as the event is still contingent . This restricts the bivalence principle , which only allows the truth values "true" and "false" and assigns exactly one of these truth values ​​to each statement. Without this restriction, a deterministic understanding would have to be accepted. According to the current state of research, however, it can be assumed that Ammonios ascribes a bivalent non-standard position to Aristotle and also represents this himself. According to this position one can hold on to a non-deterministic doctrine without having to restrict the bivalence; Statements about the future are true at all times, but not necessarily true now. In addition, Ammonios goes into two other deterministic arguments that Aristotle does not use. One of them is the "Schnitter Argument", which is directed against the logical admissibility of forward-looking maybe statements, the other concerns providence . Ammonios thinks that the gods can be ascribed a timeless, precise knowledge of the entire future without this position having to lead to determinism. Future events are contingent by their own nature, but fixed from the perspective of timeless divine knowledge. For the gods there is a knowledge of the chronological order of events, but no distinction between past and future. Since the gods are outside of time, contingent events of the future are known to them, but not in such a way that they appear to them like humans as future.

reception

Late antiquity

Among the students of Ammonios were famous philosophers such as Damascius, Simplikios , Olympiodoros the Younger and John Philoponos as well as less well-known scholars such as Asklepios von Tralleis, as well as the later Bishop Zacharias of Mytilene (also called Zacharias Scholastikos or Zacharias Rhetor) and the prominent doctor Gessios ( Gesios) from Petra. Damascius criticized the character of his teacher violently in his Philosophical History , but he paid tribute to his extraordinary diligence and knowledge - especially in astronomy and geometry. The strong influence of Ammonius on the philosophy of late antiquity was based primarily on his Aristotle commentary and also asserted itself through the Aristotle comments of his students, who used their notes from his courses. His commentary on the isagogue of Porphyry influenced the later commentary on this work. In the 6th century, the Neo-Platonist David ("David the Invincible"), a likely Armenian student of Olympiodorus the Younger and Aristotle commentator, pointed out the doctrines of Ammonius and adopted some of his ideas. This led to an Armenian reception of Ammonios, as David's works were not only distributed in the original Greek versions, but were also translated into Old Armenian .

Zacharias of Mytilene wrote a dialogue on the creation of the world (De mundi opificio) , in which he let Ammonios appear. The work actually consisting of five dialogues is often called Ammonios for short . The framework story is a conversation between the author and a Christian youth, influenced by the teachings of Ammonius, whom he dissuades from this inclination. Ammonius fails to convincingly defend the doctrine of the eternity of the world. Zacharias claimed that his account was based on real conversations he had with his teacher Ammonios in Alexandria. He accused Ammonius of covering up the contrast between Plato and Aristotle. This was a common point of contention between Christians and Neoplatonists; the Christians emphasized the differences of opinion of the pagan philosophers in order to discredit their teachings, while the Neoplatonists postulated a unified, coherent Platonic-Aristotelian system.

An influence of Ammonios on the Latin Aristotle commentaries of Boethius and even a study visit of Boethius in Alexandria was suspected in the older research, but this view could not prevail. Jean-Yves Guillaumin put forward the hypothesis that Boethius had used the Alexandrian commentary on the introduction to arithmetic by Nicomachus of Gerasa, based on Ammonios' teaching, for his work De institutione arithmetica .

middle Ages

Byzantine scholars used Ammonius' commentaries on Aristotelian logic. In the 9th century, Photios used the relevant work of the Alexandrian Neoplatonist to explain the categories ; in the 11th century, the unknown author of the Synoptikon syntagma tes philosophias , a compendium on logic, used it. The aftermath of the commentary on De interpretatione can be seen in anonymous Byzantine scholias .

In the Arabic-speaking world of the Middle Ages, Ammonius was known as a commentator on Aristotle. His commentary on the Isagogue of Porphyry has been translated into Syriac and Arabic. The philosopher al-Fārābī referred to his argument on the doctrine of creation. Al-Fārābī knew the metaphysics of the Alexandrine; he probably used an introduction to the Corpus Aristotelicum that goes back to Ammonius and is now lost . For Avicenna's works on metaphysics, a considerable influence of Ammonios' Aristotle commentary is assumed in the research.

Ammonios was wrongly ascribed the doxographic work On the Views of the Philosophers . This work, which has only come down to us in a single manuscript, is based on ancient sources, but comes from an Arab philosopher of the 9th century (Pseudo-Ammonios).

In the 12th century, Ammonius' commentaries on the categories and on the isagogue were translated into Georgian ; the oldest surviving manuscript dates from the 13th century.

The doctrine of Ammonius and his school of general terms, which in the Middle Ages were called universals , had a strong impact on the medieval philosophers . The universals are divided into three:

  • the Platonic ideas that exist “before the many”, that is, before the individual things and thus independent of them; in the medieval terminology universalia ante rem
  • the forms “in the many”, that is, what gives the matter of the individual things their respective properties; in the medieval terminology universalia in re
  • the concepts that exist in the human mind “after the many”, that is, after they have been derived from the sensory impressions through an abstraction process ; in medieval terminology universalia post rem .

This concept was widely accepted in the Byzantine Empire and was also adopted by Avicenna. In the West it was received by Albertus Magnus , who in turn influenced later thinkers.

In 1268 Wilhelm von Moerbeke translated Ammonios' commentary on De interpretatione into Latin. The work of Thomas Aquinas was available in this Latin version, and he used it for his own commentary.

Modern times

The first page of the first edition of Ammonios' Isagogue Commentary, Venice 1500

The first edition of Ammonios' Commentary on the Isagogue appeared in 1500 by the Venetian publisher Nikolaos Vlastos ; the editor was the scholar Zacharias Kallierges from Crete . The humanist Pomponio Gaurico prepared a Latin translation of this work, which was first published in Venice in 1504 and reprinted several times in the 16th century. In 1503 Aldus Manutius in Venice published the first edition of the commentary on De interpretatione .

In modern research it is recognized that Ammonios set essential accents by not following the harsh anti-Christian course of his Athenian colleagues and particularly emphasizing the Aristotle studies. Koenraad Verrycken comes to the conclusion that Ammonios practiced restraint towards the very complex metaphysics of the Athenian Neoplatonists and preferred a simplified system that was more oriented towards the Aristotelian way of thinking. On the one hand, he “Neoplatonized” the metaphysics of Aristotle, but also “Aristotelianized” Neoplatonism. Matthias Perkams , who speaks of a “Neoplatonic Aristotelianism ” in the Ammonios school, has a similar judgment . Perkams thinks that Ammonios' philosophical achievement was "more integrative than original", but he was also able to reinterpret it in original ways and thus "achieved a systematically quite closed theory". In doing so, his ability to skillfully combine different aspects of a problem came in handy.

In 1976 the crater of the moon, Ammonius, was named after the ancient scholar.

swell

  • Polymnia Athanassiadi (ed.): Damascius: The Philosophical History. Apamea Cultural Association, Athens 1999, ISBN 960-85325-2-3 (critical edition with English translation)
  • Maria Minniti Colonna (Ed.): Zacaria Scolastico: Ammonio , Napoli 1973 (critical edition with Italian translation and commentary)
  • John Dillon et al. (Translator): Aeneas of Gaza: Theophrastus, with Zacharias of Mytilene: Ammonius. Bristol Classical Press, London 2012, ISBN 978-1-78093-209-5 , pp. 93-175 (English translation of Ammonios by Sebastian Gertz)

Editions and translations of the works

expenditure

  • Adolf Busse (Ed.): Ammonius: In Porphyrii isagogen sive V voces (= Commentaria in Aristotelem Graeca Vol. 4 Part 3). Georg Reimer, Berlin 1891 (critical edition)
  • Adolf Busse (Ed.): Ammonius: In Aristotelis categorias commentarius (= Commentaria in Aristotelem Graeca Vol. 4 Part 4). Georg Reimer, Berlin 1895 (critical edition)
  • Adolf Busse (ed.): Ammonius: In Aristotelis de interpretatione commentarius (= Commentaria in Aristotelem Graeca Vol. 4 Part 5). Georg Reimer, Berlin 1897 (critical edition)
  • Max Wallies (Ed.): Ammonii in Aristotelis analyticorum priorum librum I commentarium (= Commentaria in Aristotelem Graeca Vol. 4 Part 6). Georg Reimer, Berlin 1899 (critical edition)
  • Christos Soliotis (Ed.): Unpublished Greek texts on the use and construction of Astrolabe . In: Praktika tes Akademias Athenon 61/1 (1986), 1987, pp. 423–454 (pp. 430–434 critical edition of the essay on the astrolabe attributed to Ammonios; introduction by the editor in Greek with an English summary)

Translations

English

  • Ammonius: On Aristotle On Interpretation 1-8 , translated by David Blank, 2nd edition, Bloomsbury, London 2014, ISBN 978-1-4725-5844-2
  • Ammonius: On Aristotle On Interpretation 9 , translated by David Blank, Duckworth, London 1998, ISBN 0-7156-2691-4
  • Ammonius: On Aristotle Categories , translated by Marc Cohen, Gareth B. Matthews, 2nd edition, Bloomsbury, London 2013, ISBN 978-0-7156-2253-7
  • Ammonius: Interpretation of Porphyry's Introduction to Aristotle's Five Terms , translated by Michael Chase, Bloomsbury, London 2020, ISBN 978-1-3500-8922-8

French

  • Les Attributions (Catégories): le texte aristotélicien et les prolégomènes d'Ammonios d'Hermeias , translated by Yvan Pelletier, Bellarmin, Montréal 1983, ISBN 2-89007-473-0

Georgian (medieval)

  • Maïa Rapava (ed.): T'xzulebebi k'art'ul mcerlobaši: Amonios Ermisis t'xzulebebi k'art'ul mcerlobaši (The Works of Ammonios Hermeiou in Georgian Literature) . Tbilisi 1983 (critical edition of the Georgian translations)

Latin (medieval)

  • Gérard Verbeke (Ed.): Ammonius: Commentaire sur le Peri Hermeneias d'Aristote. Traduction de Guillaume de Moerbeke (= Corpus Latinum commentariorum in Aristotelem Graecorum 2). Publications Universitaires de Louvain, Louvain 1961

Latin (humanistic)

  • Rainer Thiel , Charles Lohr (ed.): Ammonius Hermeae: Commentaria in quinque voces Porphyrii, translated by Pomponius Gauricus; In Aristotelis categorias (extended postscript by Johannes Philoponus = CAG XIII / i), translated by Ioannes Baptista Rasarius . Frommann-Holzboog, Stuttgart-Bad Cannstatt 2002, ISBN 3-7728-1229-5 (reprint of the Venice 1539 and Venice 1562 editions with an introduction by the editors)
  • Rainer Thiel, Gyburg Radke , Charles Lohr (eds.): Ammonius Hermeae: Commentaria in Peri hermeneias Aristotelis, translated by Bartholomaeus Sylvanus . Frommann-Holzboog, Stuttgart-Bad Cannstatt 2005, ISBN 3-7728-1232-5 (reprint of the Venice 1549 edition with an introduction by the editors)

literature

Overview representations

  • David Blank: Ammonius Hermeiou and his school. In: Lloyd P. Gerson (Ed.): The Cambridge History of Philosophy in Late Antiquity , Vol. 2, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge 2010, ISBN 978-0-521-19484-6 , pp. 654–666, 1128– 1130
  • Henri Dominique Saffrey, Jean-Pierre Mahé: Ammonios d'Alexandrie . In: Richard Goulet (ed.): Dictionnaire des philosophes antiques , Vol. 1, CNRS, Paris 1989, ISBN 2-222-04042-6 , pp. 168-170
  • Michael Schramm: Ammonios Hermeiou. In: Christoph Riedweg et al. (Ed.): Philosophy of the Imperial Era and Late Antiquity (= Outline of the history of philosophy . The philosophy of antiquity. Volume 5/3). Schwabe, Basel 2018, ISBN 978-3-7965-3700-4 , pp. 2007-2031, 2161-2165

Investigations

  • Elias Tempelis: The School of Ammonius, Son of Hermias, on Knowledge of the Divine . Athens 1998, ISBN 960-85212-5-4
  • Koenraad Verrycken: The metaphysics of Ammonius son of Hermeias . In: Richard Sorabji (Ed.): Aristotle Transformed. The Ancient Commentators and Their Influence. 2nd, revised edition. Bloomsbury, London 2016, ISBN 978-1-47258-907-1 , pp. 215-250

Web links

Remarks

  1. ↑ Matthias Perkams: Two chronological notes to Ammonius Hermiae and John Philoponus . In: Rheinisches Museum für Philologie 152, 2009, pp. 385–391, here: 385–388.
  2. ^ David Blank: Ammonius Hermeiou and his school. In: Lloyd P. Gerson (Ed.): The Cambridge History of Philosophy in Late Antiquity , Vol. 2, Cambridge 2010, pp. 654–666, here: 654f .; Edward J. Watts: City and School in Late Antique Athens and Alexandria , Berkeley / Los Angeles 2006, pp. 207f.
  3. ^ David Blank: Ammonius Hermeiou and his school. In: Lloyd P. Gerson (Ed.): The Cambridge History of Philosophy in Late Antiquity , Vol. 2, Cambridge 2010, pp. 654–666, here: 655; Michael Schramm: Ammonios Hermeiou. In: Christoph Riedweg et al. (Ed.): Philosophy of the Imperial Era and Late Antiquity (= Outline of the history of philosophy. The philosophy of antiquity. Vol. 5/3), Basel 2018, pp. 2007–2031, here: 2007; Matthias Perkams: Hermeias of Alexandria. In: Christoph Riedweg et al. (Ed.): Philosophy of the Imperial Era and Late Antiquity (= Outline of the history of philosophy. The philosophy of antiquity. Vol. 5/3), Basel 2018, pp. 2002–2004, here: 2002f.
  4. ^ David Blank: Ammonius Hermeiou and his school. In: Lloyd P. Gerson (Ed.): The Cambridge History of Philosophy in Late Antiquity , Vol. 2, Cambridge 2010, pp. 654–666, here: 655; Edward J. Watts: City and School in Late Antique Athens and Alexandria , Berkeley / Los Angeles 2006, pp. 209f .; Michael Schramm: Ammonios Hermeiou. In: Christoph Riedweg et al. (Ed.): Philosophy of the Imperial Era and Late Antiquity (= Outline of the History of Philosophy. The Philosophy of Antiquity. Vol. 5/3), Basel 2018, pp. 2007–2031, here: 2007.
  5. ^ David Blank: Ammonius Hermeiou and his school. In: Lloyd P. Gerson (Ed.): The Cambridge History of Philosophy in Late Antiquity , Vol. 2, Cambridge 2010, pp. 654–666, here: p. 655 and note 2; Michael Schramm: Ammonios Hermeiou. In: Christoph Riedweg et al. (Ed.): Philosophy of the Imperial Era and Late Antiquity (= Outline of the history of philosophy. The philosophy of antiquity. Vol. 5/3), Basel 2018, pp. 2007–2031, here: 2007f.
  6. ↑ Damaskios, Philosophical History , ed. Polymnia Athanassiadi: Damascius: The Philosophical History , Athens 1999, No. 56. Cf. Damian Caluori: Damaskios. In: Christoph Riedweg et al. (Ed.): Philosophy of the Imperial Era and Late Antiquity (= Outline of the History of Philosophy. The Philosophy of Antiquity. Vol. 5/3), Basel 2018, pp. 1987–2002, here: 1987.
  7. ↑ Michael Schramm: Ammonios Hermeiou. In: Christoph Riedweg et al. (Ed.): Philosophy of the Imperial Era and Late Antiquity (= Outline of the History of Philosophy. The Philosophy of Antiquity. Vol. 5/3), Basel 2018, pp. 2007–2031, here: 2007.
  8. ^ David Blank: Ammonius Hermeiou and his school. In: Lloyd P. Gerson (Ed.): The Cambridge History of Philosophy in Late Antiquity , Vol. 2, Cambridge 2010, pp. 654–666, here: p. 655 and note 3.
  9. ^ Koenraad Verrycken: The development of Philoponus' thought and its chronology . In: Richard Sorabji (Ed.): Aristotle Transformed. The Ancient Commentators and Their Influence , 2nd, revised edition, London 2016, pp. 251–294, here: 257f.
  10. ↑ Matthias Perkams: Two chronological notes to Ammonius Hermiae and John Philoponus . In: Rheinisches Museum für Philologie 152, 2009, pp. 385–391, here: p. 390 and note 22. Cf. Edward J. Watts: City and School in Late Antique Athens and Alexandria , Berkeley / Los Angeles 2006, p 233 and note 2.
  11. ↑ See on these processes Edward J. Watts: City and School in Late Antique Athens and Alexandria , Berkeley / Los Angeles 2006, pp. 210–220.
  12. ↑ Polymnia Athanassiadi (ed.): Damascius: The Philosophical History , Athens 1999, p. 29f .; Edward J. Watts: City and School in Late Antique Athens and Alexandria , Berkeley / Los Angeles 2006, pp. 220–226.
  13. ↑ Damaskios, Philosophical History , ed. Polymnia Athanassiadi: Damascius: The Philosophical History , Athens 1999, No. 118B.
  14. ↑ Richard Sorabji turns against the betrayal hypothesis considered by Polymnia Athanassiadi (ed.): Damascius: The Philosophical History , Athens 1999, pp. 30–32: Divine names and sordid deals in Ammonius' Alexandria . In: Andrew Smith (Ed.): The Philosopher and Society in Late Antiquity , Swansea 2005, pp. 203-213, here: 210.
  15. ^ Richard Sorabji: The Philosophy of the Commentators, 200-600 AD. A Sourcebook , Vol. 1, London 2004, pp. 23f.
  16. ↑ Damaskios, Philosophical History , ed. Polymnia Athanassiadi: Damascius: The Philosophical History , Athens 1999, No. 56. Cf. Edward J. Watts: City and School in Late Antique Athens and Alexandria , Berkeley / Los Angeles 2006, pp. 222f. and note 113.
  17. ^ Henry J. Blumenthal : Alexandria as a Center of Greek Philosophy in Later Classical Antiquity . In: Illinois Classical Studies 18, 1993, pp. 307-325, here: 320-322; Henry J. Blumenthal: John Philoponus: Alexandrian Platonist? In: Hermes 114, 1986, pp. 314-335, here: 321-325; Koenraad Verrycken: The metaphysics of Ammonius son of Hermeias . In: Richard Sorabji (Ed.): Aristotle Transformed. The Ancient Commentators and Their Influence , 2nd, revised edition, London 2016, pp. 215–250, here: 247f.
  18. ↑ See Henry J. Blumenthal: John Philoponus: Alexandrian Platonist? In: Hermes 114, 1986, pp. 314-335, here: 322f .; Étienne Évrard: Jean Philopon, son commentaire on Nicomaque et ses rapports avec Ammonius . In: Revue des Études grecques 78, 1965, pp. 592–598, here: 597f .; Koenraad Verrycken: The metaphysics of Ammonius son of Hermeias . In: Richard Sorabji (Ed.): Aristotle Transformed. The Ancient Commentators and Their Influence , 2nd, revised edition, London 2016, pp. 215–250, here: 247f. Note 219; Rainer Thiel, Charles Lohr (ed.): Ammonius Hermeae: Commentaria in quinque voces Porphyrii, translated by Pomponius Gauricus; In Aristotelis categorias (extended postscript by Johannes Philoponus = CAG XIII / i), translated by Ioannes Baptista Rasarius , Stuttgart-Bad Cannstatt 2002, p. VII.
  19. ^ Richard Sorabji: Divine names and sordid deals in Ammonius' Alexandria . In: Andrew Smith (ed.): The Philosopher and Society in Late Antiquity , Swansea 2005, pp. 203-213, here: 203-207. See Edward J. Watts: City and School in Late Antique Athens and Alexandria , Berkeley / Los Angeles 2006, pp. 223-230.
  20. ↑ On this question, see Henry J. Blumenthal: Alexandria as a Center of Greek Philosophy in Later Classical Antiquity . In: Illinois Classical Studies 18, 1993, pp. 307-325, here: 313f., 323f. and Henry J. Blumenthal: John Philoponus: Alexandrian Platonist? In: Hermes 114, 1986, pp. 314-335, here: 314-316, 319-321. See Ilsetraut Hadot: The Role of the Commentaries on Aristotle in the Teaching of Philosophy according to the Prefaces of the Neoplatonic Commentaries on the Categories . In: Henry Blumenthal, Howard Robinson (Eds.): Aristotle and the Later Tradition , Oxford 1992, pp. 175-189.
  21. ^ See also Jacques Brunschwig: Le chapitre 1 du De interpretatione. Aristote, Ammonius et nous . In: Laval théologique et philosophique 64, 2008, pp. 35–87.
  22. ↑ On the question of authenticity, see Michael Chase (translator): Ammonius: Interpretation of Porphyry's Introduction to Aristotle's Five Terms , London 2020, p. 6f.
  23. ↑ For details see Leendert G. Westerink: Deux commentaires sur Nicomaque: Asclépius et Jean Philopon . In: Revue des Études grecques 77, 1964, pp. 526-535; Étienne Évrard: Jean Philopon, son commentaire on Nicomaque et ses rapports avec Ammonius . In: Revue des Études grecques 78, 1965, pp. 592–598, here: 592f., 598.
  24. ^ Concetta Luna : Trois études sur la tradition des commentaires anciens à la Métaphysique d'Aristote , Leiden 2001, pp. 99-106.
  25. ↑ See Matthias Perkams: Self-consciousness in der Spätantike , Berlin 2008, pp. 143–149.
  26. ↑ Olympiodorus the Younger, In Platonis Gorgiam commentaria 39.2.
  27. ↑ See Heinrich Dörrie , Matthias Baltes (ed.): Der Platonismus in der Antike , Volume 3, Stuttgart-Bad Cannstatt 1993, p. 277.
  28. ↑ Christos Soliotis (Ed.): Unpublished Greek texts on the use and construction of Astrolabe . In: Praktika tes Akademias Athenon 61/1 (1986), 1987, pp. 423–454, here: 447.
  29. ^ Ammonios, Prolegomena on Category Comment 8.
  30. ↑ Cristina D'Ancona: Il neoplatonismo alessandrino: alcune linee della ricerca contemporanea . In: Adamantius 11, 2005, pp. 9–38, here: 34–36; Koenraad Verrycken: The metaphysics of Ammonius son of Hermeias . In: Richard Sorabji (Ed.): Aristotle Transformed. The Ancient Commentators and Their Influence , 2nd, revised edition, London 2016, pp. 215–250, here: 237f.
  31. ^ Koenraad Verrycken: La métaphysique d'Ammonius chez Zacharie de Mytilène . In: Revue des Sciences philosophiques et théologiques 85, 2001, pp. 241–266, here: 243f., 246, 253f .; Elias Tempelis: The School of Ammonius, Son of Hermias, on Knowledge of the Divine , Athens 1998, pp. 134-148.
  32. ^ Rainer Thiel: Aristotle's category writing in their ancient commentary , Tübingen 2004, pp. 237–242; Michael Schramm: Ammonios Hermeiou. In: Christoph Riedweg et al. (Ed.): Philosophy of the Imperial Era and Late Antiquity (= Outline of the History of Philosophy. The Philosophy of Antiquity. Vol. 5/3), Basel 2018, pp. 2007–2031, here: 2014–2016 .
  33. ^ David Blank: Ammonius Hermeiou and his school. In: Lloyd P. Gerson (Ed.): The Cambridge History of Philosophy in Late Antiquity , Vol. 2, Cambridge 2010, pp. 654–666, here: 661.
  34. ↑ For Ammonios' solution, see Michael Groneberg: Ammonios and the sea battle . In: Freiburg Journal for Philosophy and Theology 49, 2002, pp. 236–250. See Doukas Kapantaïs: Determinism and Deliberation in De Interpretatione 9 . In: Hasard et nécessité dans la philosophie grecque , Athens 2005, pp. 130–154. Kapantaïs considers Ammonios' solution to be a mistake, since it can neither be used as an argument against determinism nor correctly reproduces Aristotle's view. See Mario Mignucci: Ammonius on Future Contingent Propositions . In: Michael Frede , Gisela Striker (ed.): Rationality in Greek Thought , Oxford 1996, pp. 279-310 and the contributions to the volume Ammonios and the Seabattle edited by Gerhard Seel . Texts, Commentary, and Essays , Berlin 2001.
  35. ↑ Lucca Obertello: Proclus, Ammonius and Boethius on Divine Knowledge . In: Dionysius 5, 1981, pp. 127-164, here: 138-145; Richard Sorabji: The three deterministic arguments opposed by Ammonius . In: Ammonius: On Aristotle On Interpretation 9 , trans. by David Blank, London 1998, pp. 3–15, here: 5–7.
  36. ^ Henry J. Blumenthal: Pseudo-Elias and the Isagoge Commentaries Again . In: Rheinisches Museum für Philologie 124, 1981, pp. 188–192.
  37. ↑ Maïa Rapava: Traditions et innovations dans l'école neo-platonicienne of Alexandria (Ammonius Hermia et l'David Invincible) . In: Bedi Kartlisa 40, 1982, pp. 216-227; Henri Dominique Saffrey, Jean-Pierre Mahé: Ammonios d'Alexandrie . In: Richard Goulet (ed.): Dictionnaire des philosophes antiques , Vol. 1, Paris 1989, pp. 168–170, here: 169f.
  38. ↑ See Philip Merlan : Ammonius Hermiae, Zacharias Scholasticus and Boethius . In: Greek, Roman, and Byzantine Studies 9, 1968, pp. 193–203, here: 193–197; see. Koenraad Verrycken: La métaphysique d'Ammonius chez Zacharie de Mytilène . In: Revue des Sciences philosophiques et théologiques 85, 2001, pp. 241–266, here: 247ff. (Criticism of Merlan's position).
  39. ^ David Blank: Ammonius Hermeiou and his school. In: Lloyd P. Gerson (Ed.): The Cambridge History of Philosophy in Late Antiquity , Vol. 2, Cambridge 2010, pp. 654–666, here: 665f.
  40. ^ The hypothesis comes from Pierre Courcelle: Les lettres grecques en Occident de Macrobe à Cassiodore , Paris 1948, pp. 268–278, 284–300. It is supported by Cornelia J. de Vogel: Boethiana I . In: Vivarium 9, 1971, pp. 49-66, here: 50, 54, 56-65. For the counter-arguments see James Shiel: Boethius' Commentaries on Aristotle . In: Mediaeval and Renaissance Studies 4, 1958, pp. 217–244, here: 226–230, 235f., 239, 244; Lorenzo Minio-Paluello: Boethius as translator and commentator on Aristotelian writings . In: Manfred Fuhrmann , Joachim Gruber (eds.): Boethius , Darmstadt 1984, pp. 146–154, here: 147f .; James Shiel: Boethius' commentaries on Aristotle . In: Richard Sorabji (Ed.): Aristotle Transformed. The Ancient Commentators and Their Influence , 2nd, revised edition, London 2016, pp. 377–402, here: 383–387, 391f., 400.
  41. ↑ Jean-Yves Guillaumin: La structure du chapitre 1, 4 de l'Institution Arithmétique de Boèce et le cours d'Ammonios sur Nicomaque . In: Revue d'histoire des sciences 47, 1994, pp. 249-258.
  42. ↑ Michael Schramm: Ammonios Hermeiou. In: Christoph Riedweg et al. (Ed.): Philosophy of the Imperial Era and Late Antiquity (= Outline of the history of philosophy. The philosophy of antiquity. Vol. 5/3), Basel 2018, pp. 2007–2031, here: 2029f.
  43. ↑ Vincenzo Poggi: Ammonio d'Ermia, maestro di Severo d'Antiochia . In: Alfredo Valvo (ed.): La diffusione dell'eredità classica nell'età tardoantica e medievale , Alessandria 1997, pp. 159–175, here: 161–164.
  44. ↑ Amos Bertolacci : The Reception of Aristotle's Metaphysics in Avicenna's Kitāb al-Šifāʾ. A Milestone of Western Metaphysical Thought , Leiden / Boston 2006, pp. 65f., 79-88; Michael Schramm: Ammonios Hermeiou. In: Christoph Riedweg et al. (Ed.): Philosophy of the Imperial Era and Late Antiquity (= Outline of the History of Philosophy. The Philosophy of Antiquity. Vol. 5/3), Basel 2018, pp. 2007–2031, here: 2031.
  45. ↑ Michael Schramm: Ammonios Hermeiou. In: Christoph Riedweg et al. (Ed.): Philosophy of the Imperial Era and Late Antiquity (= Outline of the History of Philosophy. The Philosophy of Antiquity. Vol. 5/3), Basel 2018, pp. 2007–2031, here: 2031.
  46. ↑ Ulrich Rudolph (Ed.): Die Doxographie des Pseudo-Ammonios , Stuttgart 1989, p. 16f.
  47. ↑ Simon Fortier: Ammonius on Universals and Abstraction. In: Laval théologique et philosophique 68, 2012, pp. 21–33, here: 21–31; Michael Schramm: Ammonios Hermeiou. In: Christoph Riedweg et al. (Ed.): Philosophy of the Imperial Era and Late Antiquity (= Outline of the history of philosophy. The philosophy of antiquity. Vol. 5/3), Basel 2018, pp. 2007–2031, here: 2030.
  48. ^ Koenraad Verrycken: The metaphysics of Ammonius son of Hermeias . In: Richard Sorabji (Ed.): Aristotle Transformed. The Ancient Commentators and Their Influence , 2nd, revised edition, London 2016, pp. 215–250, here: 244–250.
  49. ↑ Matthias Perkams: confidence in Late Antiquity , Berlin 2008, p 18, 23rd
  50. ↑ Matthias Perkams: confidence in Late Antiquity , Berlin 2008, S. 148th
This article was added to the list of articles worth reading on March 12, 2013 in this version .
personal data
SURNAME Ammonios Hermeiou
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Ammonius of Alexandria; Ammonius Hermiae; Ἀμμώνιος τοῦ Ἑρμείου (Greek)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION late antique philosopher
DATE OF BIRTH around 440
PLACE OF BIRTH Alexandria
DATE OF DEATH uncertain: after 517