Heavenly Matter in Alexander of Aphrodisias

Abstract

In this paper, we argue that Alexander made an original contribution to the history of metaphysics in the Aristotelian tradition, when he argued that both heavenly and sublunary bodies are composed by the same type of indeterminate matter. Aristotle, on the other hand, has not been unanimously interpreted as subscribing to the idea that there only a type of indeterminate matter. There is a controversial text in Metaphysics, Λ that is preserved in two versions : while the reading attested by the direct tradition seems to make room to a distinction between two types of matter, Alexander states that he could also read a copy with a reading allowing for a single type of merely indeterminate matter. He consistently maintained that this second reading better corresponded to Aristotle’s thought. In doing this choice, he could develop an original version of Aristotelianism.