Pseudo-Aristotle: De Mundo (On the Cosmos)

De mundo is a protreptic to philosophy in the form of a letter to Alexander the Great and is traditionally ascribed to Aristotle. It offers a unique view of the cosmos, God and their relationship, which was inspired by Aristotle but written by a later author. The author provides an outline of cosmology, geography and meteorology, only to argue that a full understanding of the cosmos cannot be achieved without a proper grasp of God as its ultimate cause. To ensure such a grasp, the author provides a series of twelve carefully chosen interlocking analogies, building a complex picture in the reader's mind. The work develops a distinctly Aristotelian picture of God and the cosmos while paying tribute to pre-Aristotelian philosophers and avoiding open criticism of rival schools of philosophy. De mundo exercised considerable influence in late antiquity and then in the Renaissance and Early Modern times.

• One of the first extended studies of De mundo to focus on its philosophical content rather than issues of authorship, dating and style
• Argues that the work provides an interpretation of Aristotle's position about God and his relation to the universe which is at once philosophically compelling and methodologically interesting for the author's use of analogy
• Offers a glimpse into the philosophical debates in the Hellenistic period and late antiquity, but also into the genre of popular philosophy characteristic of the time