A Philosophy Reader from the Circle of Miskawayh
Text, Translation and Commentary

An anthology of metaphysics, physiology and ethics compiled anonymously in the Islamic world in the eleventh century.

Elvira Wakelnig (Edited and translated by)

9780521193610, Cambridge University Press

Hardback, published 30 January 2014

524 pages
25.3 x 18.1 x 3 cm, 1.2 kg

This volume presents the first complete edition of Oxford, MS Marsh 539, a hitherto unpublished philosophy reader compiled anonymously in the eastern Islamic world in the eleventh century. The compilation consists of texts on metaphysics, physiology and ethics, providing excerpts from Arabic versions of Greek philosophical works (Aristotle, Plotinus, Galen) and works by Arabic authors (Qusta ibn Luqa, Farabi, Miskawayh). It preserves fragments of Greek-Arabic translations lost today, including Galen's On My Own Opinions, the Summa Alexandrinorum, and Themistius on Aristotle's Book Lambda. The philosophy reader provides a unique insight into philosophical activity of the place and time of the well-known philosopher Miskawayh, showing us which works had entered the mainstream and were considered necessary for philosophers to know. Elvira Wakelnig's volume includes a new facing-page English translation and a rich commentary which identifies the source texts and examines the historical and philosophical context of each passage.

Preface
Introduction
1. Marsh 539: a philosophy reader (PR)
2. The author: a student of Miskawayh?
3. The contents: a fusion of the Late Antique curriculum and Neoplatonism?
4. The individual passages: a detailed table of contents
5. The sources of the PR: an overview of what was read in the tenth and eleventh century in the Islamic East
6. Some parallel and similar texts to the PR: Greek legacy in Arabic
7. Marsh 539: its physical appearance
8. The manuscript: an autograph?
9. The edition: some remarks
Arabic text and English translation
Commentary
Appendices
Bibliography
Indices.

Subject Areas: Philosophy [HP], Ancient history: to c 500 CE [HBLA]