ABSTRACT
This chapter outlines the Alexander's theory of intellect, followed by Philoponus' theory. It shows how the fact that each of them tried to get maximum support for his own view from the text of Aristotle's De anima led to a strong disagreement of Philoponus with Alexander. The chapter presents the Aristotelian texts that play a role in each commentator since Theophrastus. Alexander of Aphrodisias was the main teacher of Peripatetic philosophy in the Athens of his day. He held the chair of Aristotelianism, one of the four chairs established by Marcus Aurelius in Athens in 176 AD. John Philoponus has left us, in the Latin of William van Moerbeke, a commentary on De anima 3.4–8, here referred to as De Intellectu (DI). It will be clear that Philoponus' reading of Aristotle is heavily influenced by Neoplatonic metaphysics and tends to be equally creative as Alexander's reading in making individual phrases in Aristotle's text support his overall view.
