The 9th century Arabic work calledKalām fī maḥḍ al-khayr, known as theLiber de causisin its 12th century Latin translation, is often times considered in relation to its major Greek source,The Elements of Theologyof the great Neoplatonist Proclus, or in relation to its broad use by philosophers and theologians of the Latin tradition. In the Arabic tradition it was considered part of the “metaphysics file” (Zimmermann) of philosophical teachings from Aristotle, Plotinus, Proclus, Alexander and more. In this lecture, Professor Richard Taylor proposes to reconceptualise theKalām fī maḥḍ al-khayras a work conceived as a supplement to the (Plotinian) “Theology of Aristotle” in which portions of Proclus are used to explicate further the cosmological metaphysics of “Aristotle”.
Professor Richard C. Taylor (Ph.D. Medieval Studies and Philosophy, University of Toronto, 1981) has completed 35 years as Professor of Philosophy at Marquette University in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, where he has regularly taught graduate and undergraduate classes on ancient and medieval philosophy. He is also a member of the DeWulf-Mansion Center for Ancient, Medieval and Renaissance Philosophy at the Katholieke Universiteit Leuven in Belgium.