Michael Ewbank

Particularly interesting among those concerning religion is Fernand Van Steenberghen's criticism of Etienne Gilson's occasional assertion that the existence of God may be the object of supernatural faith, since it is possible to believe and know in distinct ways. Van Steenberghen insists this is contradictory, since to believe God's existence on His testimony implies that one does not "know" this, and if one "knows" God's testimony one knows that God exists. Related to this issue is Georges Van Riet's clarification of the notions of nature, supernature, religion, and culture. The last notion, taken subjectively and speaking loosely, refers commonly to the development of human powers according to virtue and is mediated by culture taken objectively. In turn, religion both as natural and supernatural can equally be termed cultural. As such, they constitute the superior level of subjective culture and permeate enculturation attained through education and traditions.

Utilizing the 1894 edition of Simplicius's commentary by J. L. Heiberg in the Commentaria in Aristotelem Graeca, and P. Moraux's 1965 edition of Aristotle's De Caelo, this translation continues a valuable project under the general editorship of R. Sorabji that offers English readers access to works by ancient commentators on Aristotle. By comparing pertinent printed editions and manuscripts, Mueller has maintained the highest standards in weighing variant readings. This is evidenced in the 500 notes, which include not only clarifications of and justifications for particular readings of troublesome passages, but also Simplicius's likely sources along with corrections to misinterpretations of the author by later scholars.

The first two chapters examine Aristotle’s notion of existence and the allegation that he understood is to intrinsically involve ambiguity. Hintikka insists “that Aristotle may have been the only early philosopher who consciously considered the ambiguity thesis,” yet “he, too, rejected it”. Moreover, uncritical acceptance of the Frege-Russell view, which emphasizes inherent ambiguity in the is of predication, identity, existence, and class-inclusion in natural and most philosophical discourse, not only was unanticipated in any interesting manner by Kant, but has led prominent scholars toward unhistorical interpretations of Plato and Aristotle. Hintikka’s engagement with analytic approaches lends authority to his judgment that “there is no simple way of expressing Aristotelian existential assumptions in a modern logical notation,” and that “ambiguity is relative to a semantical framework”.

The reflections of Jean-Luc Marion on Aquinas’s notion of esse not only confirm the continued importance of the latter’s doctrines in the history of metaphysical speculation, but also reveal intriguing convergences of concern between Aquinas and this significant postmodern thinker. Marion’s embrace of phenomenological reflection tinted with Barthean and Heideggerian themes in order to retrieve Neoplatonic ‘theo-ontology’ ironically finds unsuspected corroborations along with important clarifications in Aquinas’s subtle assimilation of Neoplatonic sources and his rigorous causal analyses of the metaphysical constitution of things and knowledge.

Aristotle and Other Platonists is a remarkable work in terms of what is established and how its arguments are developed. Gerson’s meticulous and sensitive examinations of original texts of Plato and Ar-istotle, along with their central commentary traditions and more recent interpretations, offer nuanced insights into the intended meanings of each relevant text. Gerson attempts “ in part to achieve a richer understanding of Platonism by showing why Neoplatonists took Aristotle to be an authentic collaborator in its development and explication”. He also endeavors to confirm that Aristotle was often “ actually analyzing the Platonic position and making it more precise, not refuting it,” and “ criticizing philosophers other than Plato or deviant versions of Platonism”.

This work by a Reader in Philosophy at the Australian National University is an effort to offer a scholarly examination of the history of the concept of truth. Inspired by Hegel's insight concerning philosophy as "nachdenken", Campbell seeks to elucidate the meaning of truth through the mediation of major figures intensely concerned with the issue from the Greeks until the present. The aim is a "deeper self-understanding with respect to the themes of truth and historicity" accessible to a wider audience than academic philosophers.