Categoriae decem

The "Categoriae decem" [Ten Categories.] , known also as the "Paraphrasis Themistiana" [The Themistian paraphrase, an attribution to Themistius; other scholars play safe with Pseudo-Augustinus.] , was a Latin summary of the "Categories" of Aristotle. It is thought to date to the fourth century. Once and traditionally attributed to St. Augustine, it is now no longer thought to be his work. [ [http://www.seop.leeds.ac.uk/archives/fall2005/entries/aristotle-commentators/] : "An anonymous paraphrase of the Categories falsely attributed to Augustine and traditionally known as Categoriae Decem has survived only because it was widely read and used in the early Middle Ages."] [See, for example, [http://wyclif.wz.cz/text/thoughts1_1a.pdf this PDF] , p.34.]

It was one of the major sources of logical teaching in medieval Europe [ [http://www.ohiolink.edu/etd/send-pdf.cgi?osu1110209537 This PDF] , note p.34, describes its popularity in the ninth and tenth centuries.] [It was glossed by Heiric, [http://209.85.135.104/search?q=cache:CB8or_qywbsJ:www.unicaen.fr/mrsh/crahm/revue/tabularia/pdf/lecouteuxfreculf.pdf this PDF] , note p.30.] [ [http://www.seop.leeds.ac.uk/archives/sum2006/entries/medieval-categories/] describes the work as ‘neoplatonic’; the "Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy" also states "In the early Middle Ages, Neoplatonic works such as the Categoriae decem were very important" [http://plato.stanford.edu/entries/medieval-categories/] .] , where it was taken at times as a full translation of Aristotle's work, rather than a compression. Those influenced included Johannes Scotus Eriugena ["Eriugena's synthesis began with Dionysius' two branches of theology: apophatic and cataphatic. Apophasis was then considered from the perspective of the ten categories of Aristotle, interpreted through Augustine and the ps.-Augustinian Categoriae decem." ( [http://www.chass.utoronto.ca/complit/transverse1.pdf] p.23) ] [ [http://209.85.135.104/search?q=cache:Sn-ZDXwkIQgJ:www.ucc.ie/celt/eriugenabibl.html+%22Categoriae+Decem%22&hl=en&gl=uk&ct=clnk&cd=24] , reference to John Marenbon, ‘John Scottus and the “Categoriae decem”’, in Werner Beierwaltes (ed.), Eriugena: Studien zu seinen Quellen, Vorträge des III. Internationalen Eriugena-Colloquiums, Freiburg im Breisgau, 27.–30. August 1979] , Alcuin ["It seems to have been Alcuin who introduced both Boethius' discussions of logic and the " Categoriae Decem "into general circulation in the Frankish kingdom, ar at least, it is in his writings that the earliest extant evidence of these works being read is to be seen". Rosamond McKitterick, "The Frankish Kingdoms under the Carolingians" (1983), p.287. On p.286 she includes Ratramnus of Corbie with those knowing Aristotle through the work.] , Fredegisus. [ [http://209.85.135.104/search?q=cache:7Zd0Zf7rLCYJ:igitur-archive.library.uu.nl/student-theses/2006-0524-200331/laatsteversie.doc+%22Categoriae+Decem%22&hl=en&gl=uk&ct=clnk&cd=31] .]

From around the eleventh century the influence of the "Categoriae decem" waned, as the original work of Aristotle gained currency in Western Europe.

References

*Edition in the "Aristoteles Latinus", editor Lorenzo Minio-Paluello": Categoriae vel Praedicamenta. Translatio Boethii, Editio Composite, Translatio Guillelmi de Moerbeka, Lemmata e Simplicii commentario decerpta, Pseudo-Augustini Paraphrasis Themistiana - Desclée De Brouwer, Bruges-Paris 1961

Notes