'''Alexander of Aphrodisias''' was the most celebrated of the Greek commentators on the writings of [[Aristotle]]. He was styled, by way of pre-eminence, "the expositor" ({{polytonic|ὁ ἐξηγητής}}).

==Life and career==
Alexander was a native of [[Aphrodisias]] in [[Caria]] and came to [[Athens]] towards the end of the [[2nd century|second century]]. He was a student of the two [[Stoic]],<ref>J.P. Lynch, ''Aristotle's School'', Berkeley, 1972, p. 215. See [[Sosigenes the Peripatetic]].</ref> or possibly [[Peripatetic]], philosophers [[Sosigenes the Peripatetic|Sosigenes]]<ref>See Alexander's Comm. in Arist. ''Meteor.'', p. 143.13 Hayduck ({{polytonic|ὁ διδάσκαλος ἡμῶν Σωσιγένης}}), [[Themistius]], Paraphr. in Arist. ''de Anima'', p. 61.23 Heinze, Ps.-Ammonius, Comm. in Arist. ''Anal. Pr.'' p. 39.24 Wallies, and [[Philoponus]], Comm. in Arist. ''Anal. Pr.'', p. 126.20-23 Wallies.</ref> and Herminus,<ref>[[Simplicius of Cilicia|Simplicius]], Comm. in Arist. ''de Caelo'', p. 430.32 Heiberg, quoting Alexander: {{polytonic|Ἑρμίνου δέ...ἤκουσα, καθὰ ἦν καὶ ἐν τοῖς Ἀσπασίου φερόμενον}}, "I heard from Herminus, as was said among Aspasius' students..."</ref> and perhaps of Aristotle of Mytilene.<ref>Pierre Thillet, in his 1984 [[Collection Budé|Budé]] edition of ''On Fate'', has argued against Moraux's identification (''Der Aristotelismus im I. und II. Jahrhundert n. Chr.'', vol. 2, 1984) of Aristotle of Mytilene as Alexander's teacher, pointing out that the text that has been taken to mean this (''On Fate'', ''mantissa'', [http://books.google.com/books?id=bKYNAAAAIAAJ&pg=PA110 p. 110.4 Bruns], {{polytonic|Ἤκουσα...παρὰ Ἀριστοτέλους}}) could refer instead to Alexander's learning from the texts of Aristotle the Stagirite. See R.W. Sharples, ''Classical Review'', n.s., 36 (1986), [http://links.jstor.org/sici?sici=0009-840X%281986%292%3A36%3A1%3C33%3AAOAOF%3E2.0.CO%3B2-W p. 33]. [[Cyril of Alexandria]], ''Against Julian'' 2.38, may name [[Aristocles of Messene]], but the text edited by Burguière and Évieux (''[[Sources Chrétiennes]]'' 322, 1985) reads {{polytonic|Ἀλέξανδρος ὁ Ἀριστοτέλους μαθητὴς}}.</ref> At Athens he became head of the [[Lyceum]] and lectured on Peripatetic philosophy. Alexander's dedication of ''On Fate'' to [[Septimius Severus]] and [[Caracalla]], in gratitude for his position at Athens, indicates a date between [[198]] and [[209]].

==Works==
===Commentaries===
Alexander composed several commentaries on the works of Aristotle, in which he sought to escape a [[syncretism|syncretistic]] tendency and to recover the pure doctrines of Aristotle. His commentaries are still extant on ''[[Prior Analytics]]'' (Book 1), ''[[Topics (Aristotle)|Topics]]'', ''[[Meteorology (Aristotle)|Meteorology]]'', ''[[Sense and Sensibilia (Aristotle)|Sense and Sensibilia]]'', and ''[[Metaphysics (Aristotle)|Metaphysics]]'' (Books 1-5, together with an abridgment of his commentary on the remaining books).

In April 2007, it was reported that imaging analysis had discovered an early commentary on Aristotle's ''[[Categories (Aristotle)|Categories]]'' in the [[Archimedes Palimpsest]], and Professor Robert Sharples suggested Alexander as the most likely author.<ref>[http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/technology/6591221.stm BBC News]</ref>

===Original treatises===
There are also several original writings by Alexander still extant. The most important of these are a work ''On Fate'', in which he argues against the [[Stoic]] doctrine of necessity; and one ''On the Soul'', in which he contends that the undeveloped reason in man is material (''nous hulikos'') and inseparable from the body. He argued strongly against the doctrine of the soul's immortality. He identified the active intellect (''nous poietikos''), through whose agency the potential intellect in man becomes actual, with God.

==Influence==
His commentaries were greatly esteemed among the [[Arab]]s, who translated many of them.

In [[1210]], the Church Council of Paris issued [[Condemnations (University of Paris)#Condemnation_of_1210|a condemnation]], which probably targeted the writings of Alexander among others.<ref>G. Théry, ''Autour du décret de 1210: II, Alexandre d'Aphrodise. Aperçu sur l'influence de sa noétique'', Kain, Belgium, 1926, pp. 7 ff.</ref>

In the early [[Renaissance]] his doctrine of the soul's mortality was adopted by [[Pietro Pomponazzi]] (against the [[Thomists]] and the [[Averroists]]), and by his successor [[Cesare Cremonini (philosopher)|Cesare Cremonini]]. This school is known as [[Alexandrists]].

[[Alexander's band]], an [[optical phenomenon]], is named after him.

==Modern editions==
Several of Alexander's works were published in the [[Aldine Press|Aldine]] edition of Aristotle, Venice, 1495-1498; his ''De Fato'' and ''De Anima'' were printed along with the works of [[Themistius]] at Venice (1534); the former work, which has been translated into [[Latin]] by [[Grotius]] and also by [[Schulthess]], was edited by [[J. C. Orelli]], [[Zürich]], [[1824]]; and his commentaries on the Metaphysica by [[H. Bonitz]], [[Berlin]], [[1847]].

==Notes==
<references/>

==References==
*{{1911|article=Alexander of Aphrodisias|url=http://www.1911encyclopedia.org/Alexander_of_Aphrodisias}}

==Further reading==
* {{cite encyclopedia
| last = Merlan
| first = Philip
| title = Alexander of Aphrodisias
| encyclopedia = [[Dictionary of Scientific Biography]]
| volume = 1
| pages = 117-120
| publisher = Charles Scribner's Sons
| location = New York
| date = 1970
| isbn = 0684101149
}}

==External links==
* [http://plato.stanford.edu/entries/alexander-aphrodisias/ Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy entry]
* Online Greek texts: ''[http://books.google.com/books?id=bKYNAAAAIAAJ Scripta minora]'', ed. Bruns; ''[http://books.google.com/books?id=eYcOAAAAIAAJ Commentary on Aristotle's Sense and Sensibilia]'', ed. Wendland

[[Category:2nd century philosophers]]
[[Category:Peripatetic philosophers]]
[[Category:Roman-era Greeks]]
[[Category:Roman era philosophers]]

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