The Theology of Aristotle, also calledTheologia Aristotelis (Arabic:أثولوجيا أرسطو,romanized: Athulujiya Aristu) is a paraphrase inArabic of parts ofPlotinus'Six Enneads along withPorphyry's commentary. It was traditionally attributed toAristotle, but as this attribution is certainly untrue it is conventional to describe the author as "Pseudo-Aristotle". It had a significant effect onearly Islamic philosophy, due toIslamic interest inAristotle.Al-Kindi (Alkindus) andAvicenna, for example, were influenced by Plotinus' works as mediated through the Theology and similar works. The translator attempted to integrate Aristotle's ideas with those of Plotinus — while trying to make Plotinus compatible withChristianity andIslam, thus yielding a unique synthesis.
The Theology of Aristotle, withThe Letter on Divine Science andThe Sayings of the Greek Sage, a collection of fragments, together form thePlotiniana Arabica. They seem to have been adapted byIbn Na'ima al-Himsi, a Christian, and edited byal-Kindi, a Muslim (both writers were active in the ninth century).[1]
There is also a longer version of theTheology, the authorship of which is uncertain. According toShlomo Pines, it may have been written byIsma'ilis. Paul Fenton, on the other hand, thought it may have been derived fromEgyptian Jews.
Just as there is an Arabic paraphrase of Plotinus' Six Enneads, blending it with Aristotle's thought, so also there is an Arabic paraphrase of Aristotle'sDe Anima, blending it with Plotinus' thought. Thus laterIslamic philosophy, andEuropean philosophy which built on the Islamic philosophical texts, were based on thisNeoplatonic synthesis.
Badawi, Abdurrahman,Aflutin Ind Al’Arab. Plotinus apud Arabes: Theologia Aristotelis et Fragmenta Quae Supersunt, Cairo 1955 (repr. Kuwait, 1977 and 1995): Arabic original
A critical edition, following the order of the Arabic, is due to be published by the European Research Council project "Ideas, Advanced Grant 249431", under the supervision of Cristina d'Ancona.[2]
Franciscus Patricius,Mystica Aegyptiorum et Chaldaeorum: a Platone voce tradita, et ab Aristotele excepta et conscripta philosophia edente Francisco Patricio, Ferrara 1591: Latin translation
H.-R. Schwyzer (ed.),Plotini Opera - Tomus II: Enneades IV-V . Plotiniana Arabica ad codicum fidem anglice vertit Geoffrey Lewis, Paris 1959: English translation, following the order of the text of Plotinus
Peter Adamson,Arabic Plotinus: A Philosophical Study of the 'Theology of Aristotle', Gerald Duckworth & Co, London, 2002.ISBN0-7156-3163-2
M. Aouad,La Théologie d'Aristote et autres textes du Plotinus arabus, in R. Goudet (ed.)Dictionnaire des Philosophes Antiques, Éditions du CNRS, Paris, 1989, pp. 541-90.
F. W. Zimmermann,The Origins of the so-called Theology of Aristotle, in J. Kraye, W. F. Ryan and C. B. Schmitt (eds)Pseudo-Aristotle in the Middle Ages. The Theology and other Texts, The Warburg Institute, London, 1986, pp. 110-240.
C. D'Ancona,The Greek Sage, the pseudo-Theology of Aristotle and the Arabic Plotinus in R. Arnzen and J. Thielmann (eds),Words, texts and concepts cruising the Mediterranean Sea, Peeters, Leuven, 2004, pp. 159–76.
C. D'Ancona,Pseudo-Theology of Aristotle, Chapter I: Structure and Composition in Oriens, Brill, Leiden, 2001, pp. 78–112.
Paul Fenton,The Arabic and Hebrew Versions of the Theology of Aristotle, in J. Kraye, W. F. Ryan and C. B. Schmitt (eds)Pseudo-Aristotle in the Middle Ages. The Theology and other Texts, The Warburg Institute, London, 1986, pp. 241–264.
Dimitri Gutas,Greek thought, Arabic culture : the Graeco-Arabic translation movement in Baghdad and early ʻAbbāsid society (2nd-4th/8th-10th centuries) (1998: London, Routledge)ISBN0-415-06132-6
Shlomo Pines,La longue récension de la Théologie d'Aristote dans ses rapports avec la doctrine ismaélienne, inRevue des études Islamiques 22, 1954, pp. 7-20.
E. K. Rowson,The Theology of Aristotle and Some Other Pseudo-Aristotelian Texts Reconsidered, inJournal of the American Oriental Society 112, 1992, pp. 478–84.
Georges Vajda,Les Notes D'Avicenne Sur La 'Théologie D'Aristote', inRevue Thomiste 51, 1951, pp. 346-406. (Translation ofAvicenna's commentary on the Theology).
Georges Anawati,Le néoplatonisme dans la pensée musulmane: état actuel des recherches, inPlotino e il neoplatonismo in Oriente e Occidente, Rome, 1974. (Contains text and translation of the "Letter on Divine Science").
Rüdiger Arnzen,Aristoteles' De anima : eine verlorene spätantike Paraphrase in arabischer und persischer Überlieferung, Brill, Leiden, 1998.ISBN90-04-10699-5
Philosophy portal