Fluidity in the Medieval Aristotle. Readers and Readings of the Greek-Latin Translations

Introduction

Aristotle’s impact on philosophy, science, and theology has been overwhelming, especially in the late medieval and early modern periods. Hundreds of Aristotelian manuscripts survive to attest how strongly his works belong to the written culture of the pre-modern intellectual world.

Latin Translations

The understanding of Aristotle’s thought was decisively shaped by Latin translations from the 12th and 13th centuries. Translators’ efforts to preserve the exact phrasing of the texts and readers’ struggles to determine the disturbingly novel meaning lie hidden in modifications and notes in the manuscripts.

Knowledge Gap

These have, however, not received the attention they deserve, leading to a significant gap in our knowledge of the medieval reception of Aristotle.

Project Aim

FitMA aims to fill this gap through a comprehensive investigation into the new ways to read the Latin Aristotle, with a ground-breaking focus on the textual variance in the handwritten books that preserve the translations.

Goals and Methodology

To realize that goal, FitMA will produce state-of-the-art critical editions of Greek-Latin translations of three of Aristotle’s most influential treatises on natural philosophy:

1. De anima
2. De generatione et corruptione
3. De caelo

Critical editions are the established scholarly means to document the variant readings in all manuscript witnesses of an ancient or medieval text.

Study of Variance

The study of that variance across versions or textual fluidity provides first-hand evidence of how readers were exposed to the recently available translations, which are fundamentally different from their Greek originals.

Manuscript Importance

Because every manuscript copy of the Latin Aristotle generates a different state for its medieval reception, which cannot be adequately studied from the Greek text or a modern translation, FitMA will advance the state of the art by uncovering the importance of textual fluidity in the manuscripts of these translations.

Innovative Model

Additionally, FitMA will develop an innovative model of interpretation applicable to other medieval translations of philosophy and science.