Bristol Classical Press Philosophy and Exegesis in Simplicius: The Methodology of a Commentator

This is the first book-length study in English of the interpretative and philosophical approach of the commentaries of Simplicius of Cilicia (c. AD 530). Simplicius' work, marked by doctrinal complexity and scholarship, is unusually self-conscious, learned and rich in its sources, and he is therefore one of those rare authors who is of interest to ancient philosophers, historians and classicists alike. The book argues that our understanding of Simplicius' methodology will be greatly enhanced if we examine how his scholarly approach impacts on his philosophical exegesis. His commentaries are placed in their intellectual context and several case studies shed light on his critical treatment of earlier philosophers and his often polemical use of previous commentaries. 'Philosophy and Exegesis in Simplicius'; not only clarifies the objectives and pre-suppositions of Simplicius' work, but also illustrates how, as a competent philosopher explicating Aristotelian and Platonic ideas, he continues and develops a method that pursues philosophy by way of exegetical engagement with earlier thinkers and commentators. The investigation opens up connections with broader issues, such as the nature and purpose of Simplicius' commentaries, the reception of Pre-Socratic philosophy within the commentary tradition, and the demise of pagan philosophy. Review '...an important and wide-ranging study of Simplicius. This will be very useful to have' --Christian Wildberg, Princeton University About the Author Han Baltussen is Senior Lecturer in Classics at the University of Adelaide. He is the author of 'Theophrastus Against the Presocratics and Plato. Peripatetic Dialectic in the De sensibus' (Brill, 2000).