The So-Called Eighth Stromateus by Clement of Alexandria

The so-called eighth Stromateus (‘liber logicus’) by Clement of Alexandria (d. before 221 C.E.) is an understudied source for ancient philosophy, particularly the tradition of the Aristotelian methodology of science, scepticism, and the theories of causation. A series of capitula dealing with inquiry and demonstration, it bears but few traces of Christian interests.

In this volume, Matyáš Havrda provides a new edition, translation, and lemmatic commentary of the text. The vexing question of the origin of this material and its place within Clement’s oeuvre is also addressed. Defending the view of ‘liber logicus’ as a collection of excerpts made or adopted by Clement for his own (apologetic and exegetical) use, Havrda argues that its source could be Galen’s lost treatise On Demonstration.

Matyáš Havrda, Ph.D. (2000), Charles University Prague, is a senior researcher at the Institute of Philosophy of the Czech Academy of Sciences. He has published studies on Clement of Alexandria and Galen and edited the collection of essays The Seventh Book of The Stromateis (Brill, 2012).

“this is a truly excellent monograph, which should bring an obscure text to the greater readership it deserves. Havrda’s important work shows how vital it is for those interested in ancient medicine to examine Christian texts as well, which often contain testimony of philosophical and scientific theory otherwise lost.” - Dawn LaValle Norman, Magdalen College, University of Oxford, in: Bryn Mawr Classical Review 2017.09.38
"Havrda's study is a work of consummate erudition, published at an apposite moment for patristics, ancient philosophy, and potentially early imperial literary scholarship---though his own weight of attention and interest is clearly pointed toward the philosophical tradition." - Jane Heath, University of Durham, in: The Expository Times 129(10)
"Matyáš Havrda [...] hat ein gehaltvolles Buch vorgelegt, das nicht nur für Studien zu Clemens von Alexandrien wichtig sein wird, sondern darüber hinaus für die Erforschung der Philosophie- und Wissenschaftsgeschichte des 2. und 3. Jh.s insgesamt von Belang ist. [...] Der V[erfasser] hat damit ein sehr wertvolles Arbeitsintrument bereitgestellt, das allen, die mit dieser Materie zu tun haben, hoch willkommen sein wird." - Dietmar Wyrwa, Berlin-Brandenburgische Akademie der Wissenschaften, in: Theologische Literaturzeitung 145 (2020) 1/2