The Elements of Theology (Greek: Στοιχείωσις θεολογική, translit.Stoicheiōses Theologikē) is a work on Neoplatonic philosophy written by Proclus (c. 412–485).[1] Conceived of as a systematic summary of Neoplatonic metaphysics, it has often served as a general introduction to this subject.[2]
It was widely influential during the Middle Ages, especially through its 9th-century Arabic adaptation Kitāb al-Īḍāḥ fī al-khayr al-maḥḍ ("The Book on the Explanation of the Pure Good"), known in LatinasLiber de causis or "Book of Causes", which was falsely attributed to Aristotle. Proclus' work itself was first translated into Latin in 1268 by William of MoerbekeasElementatio Theologica.
AnArabic adaptation of the Elements of Theology was made in the 9th century, called the Kitāb al-Īḍāḥ fī al-khayr al-maḥḍ ("The Book on the Explanation of the Pure Good").[4]Falsely attributed to Aristotle, this work was in turn translated into Latin in the 12th century by Gerhard of Cremona under the name Liber de causis. Translations of the Kitāb al-Īḍāḥ fī al-khayr al-maḥḍ into Armenian and Hebrew also exist.[5] Another way in which the Elements of Theology found its way into medieval Aristotelian philosophy is through the portions of the book that were interspersed in Arabic translations of works by the Peripatetic philosopher Alexander of Aphrodisias.[6]
More widely influential, however, was the Liber de causis (the Latin version of the Kitāb al-Īḍāḥ fī al-khayr al-maḥḍ), which due to its attribution to Aristotle was regarded by medieval philosophers as a kind of appendix to Aristotle's Aristotle's Metaphysics. As such, it had also become a standard part of the university curriculum in the 13th century. This ended only when Thomas Aquinas, with the help of William of Moerbeke's 1268 translation of the Elements of Theology (Latin: Elementatio Theologica),[7] was able to show that the Liber de causis was not a work written by Aristotle, but was actually based upon Proclus' work.[2]
William of Moerbeke's Latin translations of Proclus' works were not widely read in the Middle Ages, though in the 14th century a Latin commentary on the Elements of Theology was written by Berthold of Moosburg.[8] The Liber de causis was also still used by Dante (c. 1265–1321), who probably drew upon this work for the Neoplatonic ideas in his Divine Comedy.[9]
^Helmig & Steel 2015. Editions (some of them partial) of other Latin commentaries on the Elements of Theology, as well as on the Liber de causis, may be found in Calma 2016.
Boese, Helmut (1987). Elementatio Theologica. Translata a Guillelmo de Morbecca. Leuven: Leuven University Press. ISBN9789061862444.
Dodds, E. R. (1963). Proclus: The Elements of Theology. A Revised Text with Translation, Introduction, and Commentary (2nd ed.). London: Oxford University Press. ISBN0-19-814097-5.
Calma, Dragos, ed. (2016). Neoplatonism in the Middle Ages: New Commentaries on 'Liber de Causis' and 'Elementatio Theologica'. Studia Artistarum. Vol. 42. Turnhout: Brepols. doi:10.1484/M.SA-EB.5.111556. ISBN978-2-503-55474-7. (in 2 volumes)
Calma, Dragos, ed. (2019). Reading Proclus and the Book of Causes, Volume 1: Western Scholarly Networks and Debates. Studies in Platonism, Neoplatonism, and the Platonic Tradition. Vol. 22. Leiden: Brill. doi:10.1163/9789004395114. ISBN978-90-04-34510-2.
Calma, Dragos, ed. (2020). Reading Proclus and the Book of Causes, Volume 2: Translations and Acculturations. Studies in Platonism, Neoplatonism, and the Platonic Tradition. Vol. 26. Leiden: Brill. doi:10.1163/9789004440685. ISBN978-90-04-34511-9.
Calma, Dragos, ed. (2022). Reading Proclus and the Book of Causes, Volume 3: On Causes and the Noetic Triad. Studies in Platonism, Neoplatonism, and the Platonic Tradition. Vol. 28. Leiden: Brill. doi:10.1163/9789004501331. ISBN978-90-04-50132-4.
Endress, Gerhard (1973). Proclus Arabus. Zwanzig Abschnitte aus der Institutio Theologica in arabischer Übersetzung. Beiruter Texte und Studien. Vol. 10. Wiesbaden and Beirut: Steiner and Orient-Institut der Deutschen Morgenländischen Gesellschaft. OCLC841196.
Helmig, Christoph; Steel, Carlos (2015). "Proclus". In Zalta, Edward N. (ed.). The Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy.
Zimmermann, Fritz (1994). "Proclus Arabus Rides Again". Arabic Sciences and Philosophy. 4: 9–51. doi:10.1017/S0957423900001855.