The Longer Theology of Aristotle, Book X.14–17a: a Critical Edition and Translation

Abstract The Longer Theology of Aristotle ( LThA ) is an interpolated version of the Theology of Aristotle (the latter being an Arabic adaptation of Plotinus’ Enneads IV – VI ). LThA is preserved mainly in Judeo-Arabic manuscripts and a sixteenth-century Latin translation. Its importance lies in the fact that some non-Plotinian interpolations contained therein may be witnesses to lost Arabic philosophical sources (such as “Ibn Ḥasdāy’s Neoplatonist” postulated by Stern). The present study offers a critical edition and translation of LThA , Book X .14–17a. This passage contains several significant non-Plotinian interpolations. In particular, it exhibits a unique “Logos theology,” i.e., the idea that the divine “Logos” or “Word” (in Arabic: al-Kalima ) constitutes an intermediary hypostasis between the Creator and His first creation, the Intellect. LThA shares this Logos theology with several Ismāʿīlī thinkers, notably the tenth-century Ismāʿīlī theologian Abū Yaʿqūb al-Sijistānī; in fact, the passage edited and translated herein (as well as the immediately preceding section: LThA , X .6–13) contains nearly-verbatim parallels to al-Sijistānī’s Kitāb al-Maqālīd . These parallels are presented in the Appendix.