Porphyry: On Aristotle Categories

Porphyry (AD 232/3 - C.305) is of crucial importance for the history of Aristotelian studies. Born in Tyre and a student of Plotinus in Rome he later defended Aristotle''s Categories against Plotinus arguing that they were entirely compatible with Platonism. His intervention was decisive: the Categories became a basic textbook of logic for all subsequent Neoplatonist teaching and influenced both the Arabic and Western Traditions. Boethius drew heavily on Porphyry''s treatment. The full commentary is lost but a shorter version survives and is translated here.