文章基本信息

标题：ALEXANDER'S METAPHYSICS COMMENTARY AND SOME SCHOLASTIC UNDERSTANDINGS OF AUTOMATA
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作者：GEOFFREY S. BOWE
期刊名称：SCHOLE
印刷版ISSN：1995-4328
电子版ISSN：1995-4336
出版年度：2020
卷号：14
期号：1
DOI：10.25205/1995-4328-2020-14-1-7-25
语种：English
出版社：Novosibirsk State University Press
摘要：In this article,I argue that Albertus Magnus and Thomas Aquinas read a certain passage of Aristotle's Metaphysics on the nature of metaphysical curiosity in a way that is inconsistent with the earlier reading of the same passage by Alexander of Aphro?disias. The passage has to do with Aristotle's use of mechanical automata as a metaphor for kinetic mimesis in his metaphysics. The result of the variant reading of the passage in question is that these Scholastic readings emphasize universal causality as a vehicle of “wonder banishment” in metaphysics at the expense of recognizing the key metaphysical principle that Aristotle is suggesting. Such readings actually turn out to be difficult to maintain with the example of mechanical automata that Aristotle employs. I argue that the absence of the availability of Alexander's commentary to Albert and Aquinas contributes to their variant and inconsistent reading. There are three main parts and a con?clusion. Part I discusses the passage from Aristotle's Metaphysics in question,which I call the thaumata passage,as well as Alexander's commentary on it. Part II discusses the unavailability of Alexander's commentary to Albert,Aquinas and their predecessors. Part III discusses the variant scholastic readings of the thaumata passage and how these read?ings,which take Aristotle's mechanical automata as chance occurrences result in an em?phasis on wonder banishment through universal causal reasoning that is inconsistent with the example Aristotle uses in the thaumata passage. By way of conclusion I suggest that even had Alexander's commentary been available to Aquinas,he would have under?stood the passage as more akin to remarks on magic than to metaphysics.
关键词：Aristotle;Alexander of Aphrodisias;Aquinas;Albertus Magnus;Metaphysics; Automata;Wonder.