Today, a link to an article by “Simplicius.”
The piece goes into some detail concerning the (possibly) poor performance of the American Patriot anti-missile defense system against numerous Russian missiles of various types, including several very fast Russian “Kinzhal” hypersonic missiles, launched against Ukraine on the evening of Tuesday, May 16.
The piece explores the question of what this (possibly) poor performance could mean for the overall future security of Ukraine, and of the West in general (link).
There are also many comments at the end of the article.—RM
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Further background
“Simplicius,” the pseudonym of the author of this piece on the Patriot missile systems, is the comparative form of the Latin word for “simply,” so, “more simply” (“simpliciter (simply), simplicius (more simply), simplicissime (most simply)”].
It is a Christian Latin name deriving from the Latin “simplex” meaning “simple, consisting of only one part, single, unique, natural, not artificial, devoid of ornaments, elementary, easy, not complex, candid, frank, sincere, genuine, naive,” a word which in turn is composed of two elements: “semel” (once, a single time) plus “plicō” (fold, bend or flex, roll up). (link)
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St. Simplicius of Sardinia
St. Simplicius of Sardinia, also known as Simplicius of Fausania and Simplicius of Olbia, was first bishop of Gallura, Italy, born in the 3rd century AD. He was buried alive and died as a martyr in 304 AD in Sardinia, Italy. We celebrate his feast day on May 15 in the Catholic Church. (link)
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Simplius of Cilicia: Preserver of otherwise lost writings
“Simplicius has often preserved for us texts and information not extant elsewhere” (link)
Simplicius of Cilicia (ca. 480–560 CE), roughly a contemporary of John Philoponus, is without doubt the most important Neoplatonic commentator on Aristotle and one of the two most influential exegetes within the Aristotelian tradition, along with Alexander of Aphrodisias(around 200 CE).
Simplicius’ works are an unmatched source for the intellectual traditions that preceded him: Presocratic, Platonic, and especially the Peripatetic tradition. He is also an independent thinker in his own right, with a coherent philosophical agenda.
Best known for his tendency to harmonise Plato and Aristotle, he nevertheless criticised Aristotle on several occasions and considered himself a loyal follower of Plato.
Writing in an age when Christianity was the dominant religious and political view, Simplicius aimed to show that the Hellenic tradition is not only much older, but also more venerable and more coherent than the Christian tradition.
Unimpressed by charges of alleged contradictions among Greek philosophers, Simplicius repeatedly proclaimed that “the ancient wisdom (palaia philosophia) remains unrefuted” (In Phys. 77.11).
It is also noteworthy that, like Proclus and other Neoplatonists, Simplicius presents himself as a thinker for whom philosophy and theology form a complete unity. As has frequently been observed, Simplicius’ works, despite their scholarly outlook, have an important spiritual dimension (see §5).
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1. Life and Works
Not much is known about Simplicius’ life.
In Histories II, 30.1 [Keydell], Agathias informs us that Simplicius was born in Cilicia (south coastal region of Asia Minor; today southern Turkey, north to northeast of the island Cyprus). According to Simplicius’ own commentaries, he was educated in Alexandria by Ammonius, son of Hermias (In Cael. 271.19), and in Athens by Damascius (In Phys. 601.19). Hence, he refers to Proclus as “teacher of my teachers” (In Phys. 611.11–12; 795.4–5) and “successor of Plato (diadochos, i.e., head of the school) who lived shortly before me” (In Cael. 640.24–25).
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In 529, a year that some historians have considered the end of Antiquity,emperor Justinian ordered that “no one was any longer allowed to teach philosophy and astronomy” (this is often referred to as the closure of the Platonic Academy; for details and further literature see Goulet & Coda 2016: 344).
It is assumed that this edict mainly targeted non-Christian philosophers such as Neoplatonists and Manichaeans.
Following this prohibition, but not immediately, Simplicius travelled with six other Neoplatonic philosophers under the lead of Damascius to the court of the Persian King Chosroes, who had only come to power in Ctesiphon in 531.
Disappointed by their experience in Persia—the historian Agathiassuggests that the philosophers at first considered Chosroes a kind of ideal Platonic philosopher king—and protected by a peace treaty between Persia and Rome in 532, the philosophers left the country, apparently several months after their arrival. Where the seven went after that is still a matter of debate. The treaty says, inter alia, that “these men should be allowed to return to their own country and live there henceforth in safety, without being forced to adopt opinions which they did not hold, or to change their own faith.” (translated by A. Cameron 1969/1970: 169)
Damascius recorded that he returned in 538 to his home country of Syria (Hoffmann 1994: 590–591).
Did the others follow him, or did they return to Athens, Syria, or Harran (ancient Carrhae, in the north of Mesopotamia, close to the Syrian border)?
This question has not been satisfactorily answered (for the ongoing discussion, see Goulet & Coda 2016: 343–346; Watts 2005: 290–298).
However, it seems clear that, in order to write his commentaries—which, as most scholars assume, were composed after returning from Chosroes’ court (I. Hadot 2014: 135)—Simplicius needed quite an extensive library.
Therefore, he could only have returned to a place that provided such a library.
Simplicius wrote four commentaries that survive today (on Epictetus’ Handbook and Aristotle’s Categories, Physics, and De Caelo). It is debatable whether, as univocally attested by the all manuscripts, Simplicius is also the author of a fifth commentary, on Aristotle’s De anima. (…) Simplicius’ commentaries constitute a rich source for Platonic philosophy, and he is well known for his tendency to harmonise Plato and Aristotle (see §6).
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What makes Simplicius’ commentaries a unique source for the history of philosophy before him is the fact that he preserved so much material from his predecessors, often in verbatim quotations:
“[…] Simplicius, clearly aware of the fact that the works of many philosophers earlier, contemporary with, and later than Aristotle were in danger of disappearing made a point of quoting from them at length. And so he has often preserved for us texts and information not extant elsewhere. Suffice it to mention, by way of example, the fragments of Anaximander, Parmenides, Zeno, Melissus, Empedocles, Anaxagoras, Theophrastus (especially his History of Philosophy or Physikôn Doxai), Eudemus (especially his History of Geometry), Xenocrates, Epicurus, The Stoics, Porphyry, etc. It is noteworthy that, in the case of the Presocratics, Simplicius alone has preserved at least two thirds of all the verbatim quotations. (Tarán 1987b: 247).” (link)
—RM
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