Description
Book SynopsisThe Introduction to philosophy written by Porphyry at the end of the second century AD is the most successful work of its kind ever to have been published. It was translated into most respectable languages, and for a millennium and a half every student of philosophy read it as his first text in the subject. Porphyry''s aim was modest: he intended to explain the meaning of five terms, ''genus'', ''species'', ''difference'', ''property'', and ''accident'' - terms which he took to be important to Aristotelian logic and metaphysics, and hence to philosophy in general. Thus in principle the Introduction is simple and elementary. In fact, there are sometimes difficulties and doubts on the surface of the text - and beneath the surface there are frequent depths or profundities. The work raises, directly or indirectly, a number of perennial philosophical questions. In addition, the Introduction became, in Boethius''s Latin translation, the point of reference for one of the longest-lasting of ph
Trade Review...it should soon become essential reading for every scholar in medieval and renaissance studies. * Alan R. Perreiah, Transcendent Philosophy *
... notable contribution to the scholarship on post-classical philosophy ... shed[s] valuable light on what philosophy would have meant to the church fathers ... a fundamental text in logic from the ancient world. * Sobornost *
Jonathan Barnes has done us a considerable service in his translation of Porphyry's brief but enormously important overview of the basic categories of philosophy, the Introduction ... in this book Barnes has produced a masterful commentary that elucidates the text in terms of philosophy, history and philology. * Sobornost *
The commentary achieves much more than mere elucidation of Porphyry's words. It analyses his arguments, tracks down their (mostly Aristotelian) origins, and vigorously pursues their logical and metaphysical implications. Barnes' mastery of the field is breathtaking. * RHIZAI *
A full-scale English commentary has been long overdue on this text of immense historical importance. What Barnes provides us with is more than that - it is the most complete and authoritative modern work on Porphyry's Introduction to date. * RHIZAI *
All through, Barnes gives a refreshing sense of cleaning off the layers of varnish on a cherished heirloom. * Michael Trapp, Times Literary Supplement *
... an excellent piece of work. * Michael Trapp, Times Literary Supplement *
Table of ContentsINTRODUCTION ; TRANSLATION ; COMMENTARY
