Benjamin C. Driver (Brown University)
Theoria and Practical Philosophy in Pseudo-Aristotle’s De Mundo
The De Mundo is purportedly a theory of the celestial bodies. I contend, however, that the astronomical assertions present moral, political, practical advice. Nightingale’s 2004 work on θεωρία shows that the philosophical tradition, starting with Plato, adapted civic θεωρία as a metaphor (5, 34). The steps the civic θεωρὸς takes to gain knowledge, namely a journey followed by intense vision and then an encounter with something sacred that reveals the truth, become the metaphorical steps of the philosophical θεωρός (2004: 68, 78, 82, etc.).
I argue that the author of the De Mundo follows precisely the steps for a philosophical θεωρία in its first chapter. The author writes: ἡ γοῦν ψυχὴ διὰ φιλοσοφίας, λαβοῦσα ἡγεμόνα τὸν νοῦν, ἐπεραιώθη καὶ ἐξεδήμησεν, ἀκοπίατόν τινα ὁδὸν εὑροῦσα (391a). Words and phrases like ἐξεδήμησεν and ὁδὸν εὑροῦσα create the metaphor of a journey. Elsewhere, the idea of viewing is shown with words like θέαν and phrases like θείῳ ψυχῆς ὄμματι τὰ θεῖα καταλαβοῦσα (391a), which Furley (1955: 345) highlights as a Platonic expression. Indeed, in that same phrase we see the importance of understanding divinity (τὰ θεῖα καταλαβοῦσα). Furthermore, the preface emphasizes that ἡ φιλοσοφία… ἐσπούδασε γνῶναι τὴν ἐν αὐτοῖς ἀλήθειαν (391a), where we can see the element of truth. This essentially explicit θεωρία opens the possibility for a moral reading of the De Mundo.
Therefrom, important astronomical terms in chapter two can be seen in all their polysemy. The second sentence of chapter two begins: λέγεται δὲ καὶ ἑτέρως κόσμος ἡ τῶν ὅλων τάξις τε καὶ διακόσμησις, ὑπὸ θεοῦ τε καὶ διὰ θεὸν φυλαττομένη (391b). The term ἡ διακόσμησις is used morally and practically by both Plato (Symposium 209A-B) and Plutarch (On Moral Virtue 444D). This initial overlap in terms is followed by a plethora of other examples.
Betegh and Gregoric in a 2014 article discuss how the accretion of analogies in the sixth chapter of De Mundo explain the inadequacies of previous analogies. Given the θεωρία and terms from moral philosophy, these analogies should be read as moral advice. The order and scale of the Great King’s empire (398a) is not only meant to show how the heavens too are orderly, but also that a leader should maintain order. The term ἡ διακόσμησις returns in verbal form to show this connection.
Kraye (2014: 192) brings out that “Heinsius [a 17th century Dutch humanist]...maintained that it would have been inappropriate for Aristotle to dedicate a work of cosmology and theology such as De mundo to Alexander, who was much more interested in practical philosophy.” By understanding the metaphorical θεωρία in the De Mundo we can see how relevant the dedicatee is. The author of the De Mundo, then, presents a conception of θεωρία similar to the one Feke (2018) argues that Ptolemy’s eclectic philosophy has, whereby the soul is practically improved by θεωρία of the divine.