Pseudo-Aristotle
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Pseudo-Aristotle is a general
cognomen A ''cognomen'' (; plural ''cognomina''; from ''con-'' "together with" and ''(g)nomen'' "name") was the third name of a citizen of ancient Rome, under Roman naming conventions. Initially, it was a nickname, but lost that purpose when it became here ...
for authors of
philosophical Philosophy (from , ) is the systematized study of general and fundamental questions, such as those about existence, reason, knowledge, values, mind, and language. Such questions are often posed as problems to be studied or resolved. Some ...
or
medical Medicine is the science and practice of caring for a patient, managing the diagnosis, prognosis, prevention, treatment, palliation of their injury or disease, and promoting their health. Medicine encompasses a variety of health care practic ...
treatises who attributed their work to the
Greek philosopher Ancient Greek philosophy arose in the 6th century BC, marking the end of the Greek Dark Ages. Greek philosophy continued throughout the Hellenistic period and the period in which Greece and most Greek-inhabited lands were part of the Roman Empire ...
Aristotle Aristotle (; grc-gre, Ἀριστοτέλης ''Aristotélēs'', ; 384–322 BC) was a Greek philosopher and polymath during the Classical period in Ancient Greece. Taught by Plato, he was the founder of the Peripatetic school of phil ...
, or whose work was later attributed to him by others. Such falsely attributed works are known as
pseudepigrapha Pseudepigrapha (also anglicized as "pseudepigraph" or "pseudepigraphs") are falsely attributed works, texts whose claimed author is not the true author, or a work whose real author attributed it to a figure of the past.Bauckham, Richard; "Pseu ...
. The term Corpus Aristotelicum covers both the authentic and spurious works of Aristotle.


History

The first Pseudo-Aristotelian works were produced by the members of the
Peripatetic school The Peripatetic school was a school of philosophy in Ancient Greece. Its teachings derived from its founder, Aristotle (384–322 BC), and ''peripatetic'' is an adjective ascribed to his followers. The school dates from around 335 BC when Aristo ...
, which was founded by Aristotle. However, many more works were written much later, during the
Middle Ages In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the late 5th to the late 15th centuries, similar to the post-classical period of global history. It began with the fall of the Western Roman Empire a ...
. Because Aristotle had produced so many works on such a variety of subjects, it was possible for writers in many different contexts—notably medieval Europeans,
North Africa North Africa, or Northern Africa is a region encompassing the northern portion of the African continent. There is no singularly accepted scope for the region, and it is sometimes defined as stretching from the Atlantic shores of Mauritania in ...
ns and
Arabs The Arabs (singular: Arab; singular ar, عَرَبِيٌّ, DIN 31635: , , plural ar, عَرَب, DIN 31635, DIN 31635: , Arabic pronunciation: ), also known as the Arab people, are an ethnic group mainly inhabiting the Arab world in Wester ...
—to write a work and ascribe it to Aristotle. Attaching his name to such a work guaranteed it a certain amount of respect and acceptance, since Aristotle was regarded as one of the most authoritative ancient writers for the learned men of both
Christian Europe Christendom historically refers to the Christian states, Christian-majority countries and the countries in which Christianity dominates, prevails,SeMerriam-Webster.com : dictionary, "Christendom"/ref> or is culturally or historically intertwine ...
and the Muslim Arab lands. It is generally not clear whether the attribution to Aristotle of a later work was done by its own author or by others who sought to popularize such works by using his name. In the
Middle Ages In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the late 5th to the late 15th centuries, similar to the post-classical period of global history. It began with the fall of the Western Roman Empire a ...
, more than a hundred Pseudo-Aristotelian works were in circulation. These can be separated into three groups based on the original language used for the work, namely
Latin Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally a dialect spoken in the lower Tiber area (then known as Latium) around present-day Rome, but through the power of the ...
,
Greek Greek may refer to: Greece Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe: *Greeks, an ethnic group. *Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family. **Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor ...
or
Arabic Arabic (, ' ; , ' or ) is a Semitic languages, Semitic language spoken primarily across the Arab world.Semitic languages: an international handbook / edited by Stefan Weninger; in collaboration with Geoffrey Khan, Michael P. Streck, Janet C ...
. The category of Latin works is the smallest,Charles B. Schmitt, Dilwyn Knox (Eds.): ''Pseudo-Aristoteles Latinus. A Guide to Latin works falsely attributed to Aristotle before 1500''. London: The Warburg Institute, 1985, (Warburg Institute Surveys and Texts 12). while the Arabic works are most numerous. Many Arabic works were translated to Latin in the Middle Ages. The majority of these cover occult subjects, such as
alchemy Alchemy (from Arabic: ''al-kīmiyā''; from Ancient Greek: χυμεία, ''khumeía'') is an ancient branch of natural philosophy, a philosophical and protoscientific tradition that was historically practiced in China, India, the Muslim world, ...
,
astrology Astrology is a range of Divination, divinatory practices, recognized as pseudoscientific since the 18th century, that claim to discern information about human affairs and terrestrial events by studying the apparent positions of Celestial o ...
,
chiromancy Palmistry is the pseudoscientific practice of fortune-telling through the study of the palm. Also known as palm reading, chiromancy, chirology or cheirology, the practice is found all over the world, with numerous cultural variations. Those who ...
and
physiognomy Physiognomy (from the Greek , , meaning "nature", and , meaning "judge" or "interpreter") is the practice of assessing a person's character or personality from their outer appearance—especially the face. The term can also refer to the general ...
. Others treated Greek philosophical subjects, more often the
Platonic Plato's influence on Western culture was so profound that several different concepts are linked by being called Platonic or Platonist, for accepting some assumptions of Platonism, but which do not imply acceptance of that philosophy as a whole. It ...
and
neoplatonic Neoplatonism is a strand of Platonic philosophy that emerged in the 3rd century AD against the background of Hellenistic philosophy and religion. The term does not encapsulate a set of ideas as much as a chain of thinkers. But there are some id ...
schools rather than the thought of Aristotle. The Arabic
Secretum Secretorum The or (from Latin: "The Secret of Secrets"), also known as the ( ar, كتاب سر الأسرار, lit=The Secret Book of Secrets), is a pseudo-Aristotelian treatise which purports to be a letter from Aristotle to his student Alexander the ...
was by far the most popular Pseudo-Aristotelian work and was even more widely diffused than any of the authentic works of Aristotle. The release of Pseudo-Aristotelian works continued for long after the Middle Ages. Aristotle's Masterpiece was a sex manual which published first in 1684 and became very popular in
England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...
. It was still being sold in the early twentieth century and was probably the most widely reprinted book on a medical subject in the eighteenth and early nineteenth century.


Notable works

* '' Aristotle's Masterpiece'' (1684) * ''
De Proprietatibus Elementorum ''De Proprietatibus Elementorum'' (English: On the Properties of the Elements) is a Medieval Arabic treatise on geology. It is also known as ''De Causis Proprietatum Elementorum'', ''De Proprietatibus Elementorum et Planetarum'' or simply ''De Elem ...
'' (9th or 10th century) * ''
Liber de Causis The ("Book of Causes") is a philosophical work composed in the 9th century that was once attributed to Aristotle and that became popular in the Middle Ages, first in Arabic and Islamic countries and later in the Latin West. The real authorship r ...
'' * ''
On Marvellous Things Heard ''On Marvellous Things Heard'' ( grc-gre, Περὶ θαυμασίων ἀκουσμάτων; Latin: ''De mirabilibus auscultationibus'') is a collection of thematically arranged anecdotes traditionally attributed to Aristotle but written by a Pse ...
'' * ''
On the Universe ''On the Universe'' ( el, Περὶ Κόσμου; la, De Mundo) is a theological and scientific treatise included in the Corpus Aristotelicum but usually regarded as spurious. It was likely published between and the . The work discusses cosmol ...
'' (''De Mundo'', 4th or 3rd century BC) * '' Rhetoric to Alexander'' * ''
Secretum Secretorum The or (from Latin: "The Secret of Secrets"), also known as the ( ar, كتاب سر الأسرار, lit=The Secret Book of Secrets), is a pseudo-Aristotelian treatise which purports to be a letter from Aristotle to his student Alexander the ...
'' * ''
The Theology of Aristotle ''The Theology of Aristotle'', also called ''Theologia Aristotelis'' ( ar, أثولوجيا أرسطو, Athulujiya Aristu) is a paraphrase in Arabic of parts of Plotinus' '' Six Enneads'' along with Porphyry's commentary. It was traditionally at ...
'' * ''
Physiognomonics ''Physiognomonics'' ( el, Φυσιογνωμονικά; la, Physiognomonica) is an Ancient Greek pseudo-Aristotelian treatise on physiognomy attributed to Aristotle (and part of the Corpus Aristotelicum). Ancient physiognomy before the ''Physi ...
'' (circa 300 BCE) * '' On Melissus, Xenophanes, and Gorgias''


References


Sources

* Alwishah, Ahmed; Hayes, Josh (2015).
Aristotle and the Arabic Tradition
'. . Cambridge University Press. * * * * Charles B. Schmitt, Dilwyn Knox (Eds.): ''Pseudo-Aristoteles Latinus. A Guide to Latin works falsely attributed to Aristotle before 1500''. London: The Warburg Institute, 1985, (Warburg Institute Surveys and Texts 12)


External links

* {{Authority control * Ancient alchemists Ancient Greek pseudepigrapha Neoplatonism