Liber de Causis (The Book of Causes)

meeting the research and teaching needs of English-speaking medievalists.

Translation, of course, is only the point of departure for the reflection and assimilation of a text. Its primary merit is to initiate discussion regarding the deeper meaning of a treatise. We must not forget that all translation is already a form of interpretation. The truly interpretive (hermeneutical) dimension, therefore, begins with the translation and continues as a fruitful dialogue between philosophers, historians, and philologists. For this reason, Mr. Brand has chosen to remain as close to the text as the spirit of the English language allows. He offers us a faithful and intelligent translation of the Latin text edited by Fr. A. Pattin. This work is, therefore, a translation of a translation. It holds a twofold interest, as it testifies both to the difficulties the Latin scholars faced in translating the Arabic and to the contemporary challenges of expressing the full richness of Neo-Platonic metaphysical intuition in a modern idiom. Mr. Brand’s contribution will undoubtedly be warmly welcomed by historians of Latin and Arabic thought, for he has successfully overcome the difficulties of his task while retaining the flavor (and the rigor) of the medieval version.