Liber de causis


The Liber de causis is a philosophical work composed in Arabic in the 9th century. It was once attributed to Aristotle and became popular in West during the Middle Ages, after it was translated into Latin by Gerard of Cremona between 1167 and 1187. The original title was كتاب الإيضاح لأرسطوطاليس في الخير المحض, "The Book of Aristotle's Explanation of the Pure Good". Its Latin title, Liber de causis, came into use following its translation. The work was also translated into Armenian and Hebrew. Many Latin commentaries on the work are extant. Albertus Magnus attributed the Liber de causis to a certain David, a Jew, who in some sources appears as the author under the name of Avendauth, i.e. Ibn David.
The real authorship of the Liber remains a mystery, but most of the content is taken from the Elements of Theology of the Neoplatonic philosopher Proclus. This was first noticed by Thomas Aquinas, following William of Moerbeke's translation of Proclus' work into Latin. As such its author is now known as pseudo-Aristotle.

Text and translations

Arabic

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Latin

  • Pattin, Adriaan, Le Liber de Causis. Edition établie a l'aide de 90 manuscrits avec introduction et notes, in Tijdschrift voor Filosofie 28 pp. 90–203

Hebrew

  • Rothschild, Jean-Pierre: Les traductions hébraïques du Liber de causis latin. Dissertation Paris 1985, Bd. 1, S. 172–243

Translations in modern languages

  • Albayrak, Mehmet Barış: Nedenler Kitabı, Notos Yayınları, 2014.
  • Baumgarten, Alexander. Pseudo-Aristotel, Liber de causis, traducere, note şi comentariu de Alexander Baumgarten, Univers Enciclopedic, București, 2002
  • Brand, Dennis J., tr. The Book of Causes: Liber de Causis : 1st ed. 1984 Marquette University Press, 2nd ed. 2001 Niagara University Press
  • Magnard, Pierre; Boulnois, Olivier; Pinchard, Bruno; Solere, Jean-Luc. La demeure de l'être. Autour d'un anonyme. Etude et traduction du Liber de Causis, Paris 1990, Vrin
  • Schönfeld, Andreas. Liber de causis: Das Buch von den Ursachen, repr. 2005 Meiner Felix Verlag Gmbh : Latin text, German translation

Commentaries

Secondary literature

  • Alonso, Manuel Alonso. Las fuentes literarias del Liber de causis. Al-Andalus: revista de las escuelas de estudios árabes de Madrid y Granada,, 1945, pp. 345–382.
  • Bächli-Hinz, Andreas. Monotheismus und neuplatonische Philosophie: Eine Untersuchung zum pseudo-aristotelischen Liber de causis und dessen Rezeption durch Albert den Großen, Frankfurt, Academia Verlag, 2002.
  • D'Ancona, Cristina. Recherches sur le Liber de causis. Vrin, Paris 1995,
  • D'Ancona, Cristina; Taylor, Richard C. "Le Liber de causis", in: Richard Goulet and others : Dictionnaire des philosophes antiques, CNRS, Paris 2003,, S. 599–647
  • Megías, Paloma Llorente. Liber de Causis: Índice y Concordancia, Florence, Olschki 2004.
  • Ricklin, Thomas. Die 'Physica' und der 'Liber de causis' im 12. Jahrhundert. Zwei Studien. University press, Freiburg 1995,
  • Taylor, Richard C. "The Kalām fī maḥḍ al-khair in the Islamic Philosophical Milieu" in: Jill Kraye and others : Pseudo-Aristotle in the Middle Ages, Warburg Institute, London 1986,, S. 37–52