From Polemic to Exegesis

The Ancient Philosophical Commentary

Bibliographic Data

ID7350232
AuthorsHan Baltussen (0000-0002-8262-1833, The University of Adelaide, corresponding author)
Year2007
Volume28
Issue2
Pages247-281
Publication date2007-05-14
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessNo
TypeARTICLE
VenuePoetics Today (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0333-5372 • E-ISSN: 1527-5507
PublisherDuke University Press (PUBLISHER • US)
DOI10.1215/03335372-2006-022
OpenAlexW2098909997
LanguageEN
Citations received9
References cited61

Commentary was an important vehicle for philosophical debate in late antiquity. Its antecedents lie in the rise of rational argumentation, polemical rivalry, literacy, and the canonization of texts. This essay aims to give a historical and typological outline of philosophical exegesis in antiquity, from the earliest allegorizing readings of Homer to the full-blown “running commentary” in the Platonic tradition (fourth to sixth centuries CE). Running commentaries are mostly on authoritative thinkers such as Plato and Aristotle. Yet they are never mere scholarly enterprises but, rather, springboards for syncretistic clarification, elaboration, and creative interpretation. Two case studies (Galen 129-219 CE, Simplicius ca. 530 CE) will illustrate the range of exegetical tools available at the end of a long tradition in medical science and in reading Aristotle through Neoplatonic eyes, respectively

Argumentation theory · Art · Epistemology · Exegesis · Interpretation (philosophy · Late Antiquity · Linguistics · Literature · Reading (process · Rivalry · Classical Antiquity Studies · Classical Philosophy and Thought · Classics · Historical, Religious, and Philosophical Studies · History · Philosophy

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