Arabic and Latin Readers of Themistius in the Middle Ages: the intellect and its objects

This article examines one of the fundamental theses of Themistius in his paraphrase of Aristotle's De anima, namely, the relationship between the intellect and its objects, as it appears in the reception of two readers of Themistius in the Middle Ages: Averroes and Thomas Aquinas. The comparison between these two philosophers suggests that the (neo)Platonic heritage present in the Themistian interpretation of the relation between the intellect and its objects was influential to a certain extent, but it produced in the two philosophers different considerations. A third reader, anonymous, is mentioned : a small treatise known as the Anonymous of Basel, written between 1308 and 1323, provides interesting testimony to the respective influence of the Themistian readings of Averroes and Thomas.