Vicissitudes of a commentary: the problem of the genesis of 'Index' to Francisco Suárez’s 'Metaphysical disputations'

Abstract

The aim of the present article is to examine the circumstances which led to the appearance of the Index to Francisco Suárez’s treatise Metaphysical disputations. Far from being simply a reference supplement to the treatise, the Index is an exegetical instrument in its own right and no doubt bears mark of Suarez's attitude toward Aristotle and the commentating tradition to which he himself also belongs. In the work of commentators of Aristotle's writings, the emergence of the genre of index and its specific functions was gradual. The indices compiled by Averroist scholars like Marcantonio Zimara and Giulio Palamede were designed as a proof of semantic and terminological unity between Aristotle's original and his Arab commentators; such indices were often intended as a weapon against the humanists who professed to follow the 'genuine' Aristotle and denied the authority of the scholastic exegesis. A good example of a different kind of reference work is Index locupletissimus by Francisco Ruiz, which takes advantage of both the scholastic and the humanist studies of Aristotle and represents a step forward from a committed commentary toward the higher criticism of texts. Suárez’s Index can thus be regarded as a product of the process of reappraisal of the corpus Aristotelicum which took place in 16th century and presented what may be called an 'endurance test' for the scholastic interpretation. It embodies the experience of systematic thinking that goes beyond the unconditional appeal to authority. Seeing as metaphysics, from the viewpoint of the tradition to which Suárez belongs, incorporates nearly the entire contents of philosophy, it will hardly be an exaggeration to say that Aristotle's text, which is the foundation of the Jesuit philosopher's work, becomes itself a part of reality and subject to metaphysical interpretation.