Ammonius Hermiae - Writings

Writings

Of his reputedly numerous writings, only his commentary on Aristotle's De Interpretatione survives intact. A commentary on Porphyry's Isagoge may also be his, but it is somewhat corrupt and contains later interpolations.

In De Interpretatione, Ammonius contends that divine foreknowledge makes void the contingent. Like Boethius in his second Commentary and The Consolation of Philosophy, this argument maintains the effectiveness of prayer. Ammonius cites Iamblichus who said knowledge is intermediate between the knower and the known, since it is the activity of the knower concerning the known.

In addition, there are some notes of Ammonius' lectures written by various students which also survive:

  • On Aristotle's Categories (anonymous writer)
  • On Aristotle's Prior Analytics I (anonymous writer)
  • On Aristotle's Metaphysics 1-7 (written by Asclepius)
  • On Nicomachus' Introduction to Arithmetic (written by Asclepius)
  • On Aristotle's Prior Analytics (written by John Philoponus)
  • On Aristotle's Posterior Analytics (written by John Philoponus)
  • On Aristotle's On Generation and Corruption (written by John Philoponus)
  • On Aristotle's On the Soul (written by John Philoponus)

He was also an accomplished astronomer; he lectured on Ptolemy and is known to have written a treatise on the astrolabe.

Read more about this topic:  Ammonius Hermiae

Famous quotes containing the word writings:

    Even in my own writings I cannot always recover the meaning of my former ideas; I know not what I meant to say, and often get into a regular heat, correcting and putting a new sense into it, having lost the first and better one. I do nothing but come and go. My judgement does not always forge straight ahead; it strays and wanders.
    Michel de Montaigne (1533–1592)

    If someday I make a dictionary of definitions wanting single words to head them, a cherished entry will be “To abridge, expand, or otherwise alter or cause to be altered for the sake of belated improvement, one’s own writings in translation.”
    Vladimir Nabokov (1899–1977)

    In this part of the world it is considered a ground for complaint if a man’s writings admit of more than one interpretation.
    Henry David Thoreau (1817–1862)