Chapter 9 Doxography as Textbook: An Arabic Excerpt of Ps.-Plutarch’s Placita philosophorum
In: Received Opinions: Doxography in Antiquity and the Islamic WorldSearch for other papers by Ute Pietruschka in
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Abstract
During the ʿAbbāsid Graeco-Arabic translation movement, Greek doxographies found their way into Arabic. In the ninth century, the Melkite physician, philosopher, and astronomer Qusṭā ibn Lūqā translated Ps.-Plutarch’s Placita philosophorum into Arabic. This translation found an interested Muslim audience and was used repeatedly by authors dealing with the history of Greek philosophy and geographical, astronomical or meteorological issues. Besides this translation, the Gotha Ms. orient. A 1161 preserves an interesting excerpt of the Placita philosophorum that goes back to another Arabic translation. This paper presents some observations on the method of compilation and the Sitz im Leben of this manuscript.