Philosophy for Beginners: A Historical and Philological Study of the Ancient Syriac Translations of Aristotle’s "Categories"

The present project will for the first time comprehensively examine the extant Syriac translations of Aristotle’s “Categories” and Porphyry’s “Isagoge”, which since ca. 5th century were copied and studied together as the first parts of Aristotle’s “Organon”. A close examination of the Syriac versions of these treatises will not only contribute to our knowledge of the transmission of their Greek texts, but also allow to better understand the process of reception of Greek philosophy in Christian Oriental schools.