Are the Medieval Hebrew Translations of Averroes’ Commentaries on Aristotle Still of Value and Worth Editing?

Abstract

It is now almost eighty years since Harry A. Wolfson submitted his original Plan for the Publication of a Corpus commentariorum Averrois in Aristotelem to the Mediaeval Academy of America. In this Plan Wolfson argued for the importance of scholarly editions of all of Averroes commentaries, not only in the Arabic original, where available, but also in the medieval Hebrew and Latin translations, irrespective of whether or not the Arabic was still extant. This chapter considers to what extent it may be argued today that the medieval Hebrew translations of Averroes commentaries are still of value and worth editing. Among the Hebrew translations of the commentaries that are examined are those for which Averroes Arabic text is still extant, such as the Long Commentary on the Metaphysics , and those for which it is not, such as the Middle Commentary on the Nicomachean Ethics. . Keywords: Averroes commentaries; Long Commentary on the Metaphysics ; Mediaeval Academy of America; medieval Hebrew translations; Middle Commentary on the Nicomachean Ethics