Michael of Ephesus: On Aristotle's Nicomachean Ethics 10 with Themistius: On Virtue

Description

The two texts translated in this volume of the Ancient Commentators on Aristotle series both compare the happiness of the practical life, which is subject to the hazards of fortune, with the happiness of the life of philosophical contemplation, which is subject to fewer needs. The first is Michael of Ephesus' 12th-century commentary on Book 10 of Aristotle's Nicomachean Ethics, written (alongside his commentaries on Books 5 and 9) to fill gaps in the Neoplatonists' commentaries from the 6th century. He recognizes that lives of practicality and philosophy may be combined, and gives his own account of the superiority of the contemplative. The second is Themistius' text On Virtue, written in the 4th century AD. He was an important teacher and commentator on Aristotle, an orator and leading civil servant in Constantinople. His philosophical oration is here argued to be written in support of the Emperor Julian's insistence against the misuse of free speech by a Cynic Heraclius, who had satirised him. Julian had previously criticised Themistius but here he combines his political and philosophical roles in seeking to mend relations with his former pupil.

James Wilberding is Professor of Philosophy at the Humboldt-Universitat zu Berlin, Germany. He has published widely on ancient philosophy, including two previous volumes in the Ancient Commentators on Aristotle series: Philoponus Against Proclus on the Eternity of the World 12-18 (Bloomsbury Academic, 2006) and Porphyry To Gaurus on How Embryos are Ensouled and On What is in Our Power (Bloomsbury Academic, 2011). Julia Trompeter is a Postdoctoral Researcher in Ancient Philosophy at Utrecht University, the Netherlands. She has published articles on ancient philosophy, and is currently writing a book on Galen's moral psychology and editing (with Sean Couglin) a collection of scholarly essays on Michael of Ephesus. Alberto Rigolio is a Postdoctoral Fellow in the Society of Fellows in the Liberal Arts, Princeton University, USA. He is writing a book on the transformations of literate education in the Eastern Mediterranean world during Late Antiquity, arguing that Syriac literature provides crucial insights into this field.