THE COMMENTATORIAL SPIRIT. 289 



century, is of this class ; " sometimes useful," as one 

 of the recent editors of Aristotle says 6 ; " but by the 

 prolixity of his interpretation, by his perverse itch 

 for himself discussing the argument expounded by 

 Aristotle, for defending his opinions, and for refuting 

 or reconciling those of others, he rather obscures 

 than enlightens." At various times, also, some of 

 the commentators, and especially those of the Alex- 

 andrian school, endeavoured to reconcile, or com- 

 bined without reconciling, opposing doctrines of the 

 great philosophers of the earlier times. Simplicius, 

 for instance, and, indeed, a great number of the 

 Alexandrian philosophers 7 , as Alexander, Ammo- 

 nius, and others, employed themselves in the futile 

 task of reconciling the doctrines of the Pythagoreans, 

 of the Eleatics, of Plato, and of the Stoics, with 

 those of Aristotle. Boethius 8 entertained the design 

 of translating into Latin the whole of Aristotle's 

 and Plato's works, and of showing their agreement ; 

 a gigantic plan, which he never executed. Others 

 employed themselves in disentangling the confusion 

 which such attempts produced, as John the Gram- 

 marian, surnamed Philoponus, "the Labour-loving ;" 

 who, towards the end of the seventh century, main- 

 tained that Aristotle was entirely misunderstood by 

 Porphyry and Proclus 9 , who had pretended to in- 

 corporate his doctrines into those of the New Pla- 

 tonic school, or even to reconcile him with Plato 



9 Buhle, i. 288. 7 Buhle, i. 311. 



* Degerando, Hist, des Syst. iv. 100. 9 Ib. iv. 155. 



VOL. I. U 



