Chapter 3 Irreducible Texts: The Implications for an Edition of the Aëtian Placita
In: Received Opinions: Doxography in Antiquity and the Islamic WorldSearch for other papers by David T. Runia in
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Abstract
A key innovation of the new edition of the Placita of Aëtius by Jaap Mansfeld and myself is that it presents the text in a single column, as opposed to the two columns of the Dielsian edition of 1879. But this gives rise to the problem of “irreducible” texts, i.e. texts which “cannot be led back” to a secure text verified by a plurality of witnesses. Analysis shows that these are of two kinds. The first are “singular” because they are derived from just a single witness among the three primary witnesses. The second do have two or more witnesses, but they contain irreconcilable variants. The paper discusses both kinds, looking first at the macro-context (books, chapters, lemmata), then at the micro-context (the text of individual headings and lemmata), with various examples treated in detail. The paper then examines what kind of text the compendium is from an editorial point of view, comparing it with other works that require reconstruction. It is in fact a unique text because about six-sevenths is preserved. What kind of status, then, can be claimed for the edition? It differs from a fully critical edition of an ancient work. Because of the irreducible texts that it contains, it necessarily has a greater element of uncertainty. But this can be countered through a full critical apparatus. It is above all a text for practical use. Its greatest benefit is that it makes the Aëtian doxographical tradition and its context much more accessible than ever before.