The common title of the present three volumes, Forms of Representation, echoes the name of the research project that made them possible. Representation and Reality: Historical and Contemporary Perspectives on the Aristotelian Tradition was funded by Riksbankens jubileumsfond, Sweden, and hosted by the University of Gothenburg from 2013 to 2019. The project enabled a group of specialists on Greek, Latin, and Arabic Aristotelianism to join forces in a study of various processes and phenomena involving mental representation in late ancient, Byzantine, medieval Latin, and Arabic commentaries on the Parva naturalia until c.1400. Furthermore, the project concentrated on the three philosophical themes that are the topics of the three parts of the present collection: sense-perception, dreaming, and concept formation.
Two circumstances in particular have influenced the character of these volumes: the breadth of the project of which they are the outcome, and the fact that almost none of the relevant sources had been edited before the project started. An important aim of Representation and Reality was to make a number of unedited medieval commentaries on Aristotle’s De sensu et sensibilibus and the treatises on sleep and dreams (De somno et vigilia, De insomniis, De divinatione per somnum) available in modern critical editions. Several of the chapters aim at offering an analysis of the Aristotelian problems discussed in these texts, which were edited for the first time under the auspices of the project. Other chapters focus instead on one specific philosophical problem dealt with by more than one linguistic tradition and seek to map out the interactions between them. Some chapters highlight the fact that the study of the reception triggers new questions regarding Aristotle’s own account, and some chapters deal with the aftermath of Aristotle and his commentators long after the middle ages had come to an end. What links the chapters and the volumes together is the fact that they all in one way or another, directly or indirectly, demonstrate how Aristotle’s successors understood, explained, and further developed the idea that when we perceive, dream, think, or communicate about the external world, reality is somehow represented in our mind. Reality is present to us first and foremost through sense-perception (vol. 1), whereas dreams (vol. 2) and concepts (vol. 3) take us in opposite directions, one of representation in detachment from reality and the other of representation supposedly revealing the truth of reality.
We expect many of our readers, but not all, to be specialists in ancient and medieval philosophy. For those who are not familiar with a broader historical background, the general introduction in volume one offers an overview of the origin and development of Aristotelianism, its sources and literary genres. In addition, each of the three volumes contains an individual introduction that serves several purposes: to provide an overview of the works of Aristotle that are the starting point for the chapters in each respective volume, to present the main philosophical problems that form the core of the historical discussions, and to show how each chapter relates to Aristotle’s account and to the other chapters in the same volume. Each volume then proceeds chronologically, covering discussions from all three linguistic traditions, and occasionally pointing out connections to contemporary philosophical discussions.
The fundamental aim of the present volumes is to offer a broad range of interesting examples of how the late ancient and medieval commentary tradition on the Parva naturalia and related parts of Aristotle’s other writings contributed to the development of philosophical theories on mental representation. Our sincere hope is that these examples will spark the interest for further philological and philosophical research into this and the many other related, and still understudied, aspects of ancient and medieval philosophy.
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The generous funding of Riksbankens jubileumsfond made it possible to form an unusually large research group – especially for research within the humanities – that was able to work together for an exceptionally long period. The members of the research group would like to thank Riksbankens jubileumsfond for this extraordinary scholarly experience and for its competent and constant support throughout the project.
Over the seven years that the project ran, more than one hundred scholars from around the world visited the project and contributed to its results. For the present volumes, we are particularly grateful to the project’s advisory board for their advice and encouragement: Peter Adamson (Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München), Joël Biard (Université François-Rabelais, Tours), David Bloch (University of Copenhagen), Charles Burnett (The Warburg Institute), Victor Caston (University of Michigan), Paolo Crivelli (Université de Genève), Silvia Donati (Albertus-Magnus-Institut), Eyjólfur Kjalar Emilsson (University of Oslo), Henrik Lagerlund (University of Stockholm), John Magee (University of Toronto), Costantino Marmo (Università di Bologna), Robert Pasnau (University of Colorado), Dominik Perler (Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin), Pasquale Porro (Università degli Studi di Torino), Christof Rapp (Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München), and Jack Zupko (University of Alberta).
The members of the research group have continuously discussed and helped improving each other’s work. In addition, the chapters in the present volumes were presented and discussed at a series of workshops during 2018–2019, to which a number of specialists were invited as external readers. The authors would like to thank the following scholars for their invaluable suggestions for improvement: Silvia Donati, Thomas Kjeller Johansen (University of Oslo), Jari Kaukua (University of Jyväskylä), Simo Knuuttila (University of Helsinki), Costantino Marmo, Laurent Cesalli (Université de Genève), Henrik Lagerlund, Miira Tuominen (University of Stockholm), Stephen Menn (McGill University), Frans de Haas (Universiteit Leiden), Péter Lautner (Pázmány Péter Catholic University, Budapest), and David Sanson (Illinois State University). The volumes have further benefited considerably from the corrections and suggestions of the anonymous referees.
Our project assistant Andreas Ott has been an invaluable resource throughout the project; his skilled support has significantly contributed to its outcome. We are also grateful to David Bennett for assisting us in finalising the indices, and to Jarno Hietalahti for his assistance in formatting the volumes. Last but not least, Jordan Lavender (University of Notre Dame) has saved the authors and editors from many blunders; not only has he prepared the indices and the bibliography, he has also corrected our English and made many valuable suggestions for improvements on the basis of his profound knowledge of the history of philosophy and his talent for research in general.