Nature, Fate, and Causality in the Peripatetic Tradition: The Case of Alexander of Aphrodisias

The aim of this work is to present the Peripatetic doctrine of fate (heimarmene) according to Alexander of Aphrodisias in his treatise Peri heimarmenes or De fato. The central thesis of this Alexandrian work is that everything that occurs kata ten physin (in accordance with nature) occurs kath’ heimarmenen (in accordance with fate). In order to reconstruct the doctrine underlying this claim, I alternate between an exposition of the Aristotelian concepts addressed in Alexander’s writings and his own theoretical elaborations. The paper begins by outlining the terms of the debate on fate as presented by Alexander. It then reconstructs the Alexandrian account of the causality of fate, along with the Aristotelian presuppositions that support it. Finally, it examines specific aspects and limits of Alexander’s notion of fate, particularly in relation to other key concepts in his philosophy, such as what occurs katà symbebekos, human proairesis, and divine pronoia. De fato is the main reference for this paper, but other relevant works, including the Quaestiones and De Providentia, are also considered.