Timpler’s Semiramism

The logicians active in Germany during the Renaissance can be assigned to specific sects. Doxographically, terms such as peripatetici, philippistae, rami- stae, philipporamistae, and semiramistae are well documented. In the Logik der Neuzeit, Risse has dedicated extensive expositions to each of them (Risse 1964a: Chap. 4, 201–204 [Peripatetics]; Chap. 2, 79–80 [Philippists]; Chap. 3. 177–180 [Ramists]; Chap. 3, 181–182 [Philipporamists]; Chap. 6, 440–441 [Semiramists]). Returning to the question of sects: what does peripateticus mean in the Renaissance? In a broader sense, the term encompasses all logicians who refer to Aristotle – that is, except for Marsilio Ficino, all of them – includ- ing Melanchthon, of course, and even Ramus. In a narrower sense, peripa- teticus refers to those strands of reception that called for a return of ‘pure’ Aristotelianism, i.e., to the genuine text of Aristotle during the Renaissance and thus presented a new interpretation of the Corpus Aristotelicum in the sense of a newly founded orthodoxy. Risse distinguishes between two souls of modern Aristotelianism, according to its Averroist and Alexandrianist origins. The logicians of the Padua school continued the tradition of Averroism – in the sense of orthodoxy, as it were – while others critically examined the new edi- tion of Aristotle published by Aldo Manuzio (Cranz 1976) and privileged com- mentators from late antiquity such as Alexander of Aphrodisias, Ammonius, and Themistius (Risse 1964b; Müller 1981).