Alexander of Aphrodisias Quotes
Alexander of Aphrodisias was a Peripatetic philosopher of the late second and early third centuries AD, head of the Aristotelian school in Athens at the end of the second century, and the most influential ancient commentator on Aristotle. His commentaries on the Prior Analytics, the Topics, the Metaphysics, and the De anima, together with his independent treatises on the soul, on fate, and on mixture, fixed the technical vocabulary of later Greek, Arabic, and Latin Aristotelianism. The quotes below are attributed to Alexander of Aphrodisias, organized by topic.
Alexander of Aphrodisias on Knowledge
-
Attributed to Alexander of Aphrodisias:
“Aristotle is best read in the order he himself prescribed: from logic, through physics, to first philosophy.”
-
Attributed to Alexander of Aphrodisias:
“A commentary is not a substitute for the master; it is a guide for the master's pupils.”
Alexander of Aphrodisias on Mind
-
Attributed to Alexander of Aphrodisias:
“The active intellect makes possible the act of thinking, as light makes possible the act of seeing.”
-
Attributed to Alexander of Aphrodisias:
“Soul is the form of a body equipped to live; nothing in the body is the soul, and nothing in the soul is bodily.”
Alexander of Aphrodisias on Nature
-
Attributed to Alexander of Aphrodisias:
“Fate operates within the natural order; it does not abolish the contingency of action.”