Simplicius: On Aristotle On the Heavens 1.10-12

A translation of Simplicius' philosophical commentary on Aristotle's On the Heavens 1.10-12, with extensive commentary notes, introduction and indexes.

Here is a battle royal between the Neoplatonist Simplicius and the Aristotelian Alexander on the origins, if any, of the universe. A parallel battle had already been conducted by Philoponus and Proclus, arguing that Plato's "Timaeus" gives a beginning to the universe. Simplicius denies this.In the three chapters of On the Heavens dealt with in this volume, Aristotle argues that the universe is ungenerated and indestructible. In Simplicius' commentary, translated here, we see a battle royal between the Neoplatonist Simplicius and the Aristotelian Alexander, whose lost commentary on Aristotle's On the Heavens Simplicius partly preserves. Simplicius' rival, the Christian Philoponus, had conducted a parallel battle in his Against Proclus but had taken the side of Alexander against Proclus and other Platonists, arguing that Plato's Timaeus gives a beginning to the universe. Simplicius takes the Platonist side, denying that Plato intended a beginning. The origin to which Plato refers is, according to Simplicius, not a temporal origin, but the divine cause that produces the world without beginning.