Abstract

In his treatise de anima Alexander outlined a theory of soul which does not have an exact analogue in the writings of Aristotle. Particularly unusual is his treatment of the four elements of traditional cosmology as substances composed of form and matter and the notion that formal principle in all the natural substances is somehow dependent on the forms of the ingredient elements. ;P. Moraux claimed in his doctoral thesis in the early forties that this theory contradicts Aristotle's metaphysics of form-substance. The opinions of scholars about this theory have been divided ever since: those who regard Alexander as a materialist have cited it as an evidence of his materialism, those who treat him as an Aristotelian have tended to explain its unusual tenor by the goals of anti-Platonist polemic. ;No attempt has been made to study the main argument of the theory in full and for its own sake, although such a study seems to be indicated by the controversial status of the theory. The present thesis fills this lacuna, offering an analytical exposition of the theory, with a study of the sources. It is shown that the unusual doctrinal points are parts of his system in which he tries to reconcile the internal tensions of Aristotle's ontology. ;In the first chapter I review the state of the question. In the second chapter I deal with the problem of Aristotelian sources for Alexander's theory of form. In the third chapter I present the de anima theory of soul as form, showing that the concepts that lack 'Aristotelian' history are parts of Alexander's systematic exegesis in the course of which he uses conceptual tools of later schools . The fourth chapter is devoted to the question, whether Alexander was committed to the Aristotelian notion of form-substance. I answer in the affirmative, showing that the notion of 'enmattered form' presupposes specific criteria of substantiality. In the fifth chapter I analyse Alexander's presentation of the attributes of the soul and his critique of the 'harmony' theory in relation to the problem of 'compatibility' of the two concepts of form . I argue that Alexander amounts for compatibility with the help of a version of 'emergentist thesis'. ;The Appendices contain translations of eight school treatises from the Greek , four treatises from the Arabic and a study of the use of the terms u &d12;par xiv and u&d12;p o&d12;stas iv in the extant works of Alexander