Commentum magnum super libro Phisicorum Aristotilis. Liber secundus

Translatio Michaeli Scoto adscripta

By (author) M. Perrone

Book cover: Commentum magnum super libro Phisicorum Aristotilis. Liber secundus

Extent: 236 pages

Publisher: Peeters Publishers

Subjects: Medieval Studies

Series: Averrois Opera Series B: Averroes Latinus

Language: English

Hardback (Forthcoming)

(December 2026)

ISBN: 9789042957671

Price: $132.00

PDF (Forthcoming)

(December 2026)

ISBN: 9789042957688

Price: $165.00

Ibn Rušd (1126-1198), commonly known in the Middle Ages as Averroes, commented on all the major works of Aristotle and profoundly influenced later Medieval and Renaissance philosophy. Notably, he wrote three works on the <i>Physics</i>: the Short, Middle, and Long Commentary. While only the Short Commentary survives in Arabic, the Middle and the Long Commentaries are preserved in Latin and Hebrew translations. Although Aristotle’s <i>Physics</i> had already been translated from Greek into Latin by James of Venice (12th century) and from Arabic by Gerard of Cremona (ca. 1114-1187), the new translation from Arabic accompanied by Averroes’s commentary gained wider circulation, as evidenced by the large number of manuscripts. This translation, which is generally attributed to Michael Scot (ca. 1175-1235), was likely produced at the court of Frederick II (1194-1250).

In his commentary on <i>Physics</i> II, Averroes explains Aristotle’s complex definition of nature and his fundamental theory of the four causes – material, formal, efficient, and final. Moreover, in discussing the concepts of necessity, contingency, and chance, Averroes criticises some of the basic assumptions of Avicenna’s metaphysics.

  • By (author) M. Perrone