From Antiquity to the Middle Ages. Philosophy, Truth, and Demonstration

Abstract

A common saying of medieval Aristotelianism, both in Arabic and in Latin, labels Aristotle the “First Teacher”. This label implies not only that Aristotle established the system of sciences, but also that he created the demonstrative method. Against the background of the contemporary debates about demonstration and inquiry on natural phenomena in Aristotle, this article contends that the medieval pattern of the “First Teacher” is grounded in late Antiquity, and inherits from the vision of science elaborated first by Alexander of Aphrodisias, and then in the Neoplatonic school of Alexandria.