Showing papers on "Medieval philosophy published in 2001"

Thomas Aquinas on Human Nature: A Philosophical Study of Summa Theologiae, 1a 75-89

Abstract: This is a major new study of Thomas Aquinas, the most influential philosopher of the Middle Ages. The book offers a clear and accessible guide to the central project of Aquinas' philosophy: the understanding of human nature. Robert Pasnau sets the philosophy in the context of ancient and modern thought, and argues for some groundbreaking proposals for understanding some of the most difficult areas of Aquinas' thought: the relationship of soul to body, the workings of sense and intellect, the will and the passions, and personal identity. Structured around a close reading of the treatise on human nature from the Summa theologiae and deeply informed by a wide knowledge of the history of philosophy and contemporary philosophy, this study will offer specialists a series of novel and provocative interpretations, while providing students with a reference commentary on one of Aquinas' core texts.

Summulae de dialectica

Abstract: This volume is the first annotated translation in any language of the entire text of the Summulae de dialectica, by the Parisian master of arts John Buridan (1300-1358). One of the most influential works in the history of late medieval philosophy, the Summulae is Buridan's systematic exposition of his nominalist philosophy of logic. Buridan's doctrine spread rapidly and for some two hundred years was dominant at many European universities. His work is of increasing interest today not only to historians of medieval philosophy but also to modern philosophers, several of whom find in Buridan's ideas important clues to problems of contemporary philosophy. Gyula Klima provides a substantial introduction to Buridan's life and work and discusses his place in the history of logic. Through extensive notes Klima assists philosopher and medievalist alike to read Buridan with understanding and insight. Those with a philosophical interest in the relations among the structures of language, thought, and reality will find much to ponder in the Summulae.

The medieval concept of time : studies on the scholastic debate and its reception in early modern philosophy

Abstract: Foreword The Late Antique Legacy The Neoplatonic Doctrine of Time and Eternity and its Influence on Medieval Philosophy Carlos Steel Measuring in Accordance with dimensiones certae Augustine Hippo and the Question of Time Maria Bettetini The Scholastic Debate Averroes's Doctrine of Time and Its Reception in the Scholastic Debate Cecilia Trifogli Aeternitas - aevum - tempus. The Concept of Yime and the System of ALbert the Grea Angelic Measures:Aevum and Discrete Time Du temps cosmique a la duree ontologiqe? Duns Scot, le temps, l aevum et l'eternite Olivier Boulnois The Concept of Time in the First Scotistic School Guido Alliney Time and Temporality in the 'German Dominican School'.Outlines of a Philosophical Debate between Nicolaus of Strasbourg, Dietrich of Freiberg, Eckhart of Heoheim and Ioannes Tauler Niklaus Largier The Categories of Temporality in William Ockham and John Buridan Alessandro Ghisalberti Guiral Ot: de l'eternite au temps et retour. Conjectures a partir du De multiformi visione Dei Time and modi rerum in Nicole Oresme's Physics Commentary Stefano Caroti Late Scholasticism The Concept of Time According to the Coimbra Commentaries Mario S. de Carvalho The Concept of Time in the Metaphysics of Suarez Constantino Esposito Juan Caramel on the Year 2000: Time and Possible Worlds in Early Modern Scholasticism Jacob Schmutz Time and Medicine Conceptions of Time in Twelfth Century Salernitan Medicine Thomas Ricklin Time in Modern Medicine Mauro Di Giandomenico Early Modern Philosophy The Concept of Time in Giordano Bruno: Cosmic Times and Eternity Miguel Angel Granda Tempus, aevum, aeternitas in the Philosophy of Tommaso Campanella Paolo Ponzio The Time of Men and the Time of Objects: Galileo and His Contemporaries Maurizio Torrini Abiding Then: Eternity of God and Eternity of the World from Hobbes to the Encyclopedie Bibliography Index codicum Index nominum

Existence and Propositional Attitudes: A Fregean Analysis

Abstract: It is a commonly held view that Frege's doctrine of senses and references is not compatible with the idea that there are de re beliefs. The present paper is meant to challenge that view. Moreover, it seeks to show that, instead of forcing Frege's semantic framework to answer questions raised by twentiethcentury philosophy of language, we had better find those questions to which it might be a proper answer. It is argued that the proper treatment of Frege's views requires the acknowledgment of the central role of individualistic epistemology in his thought. Once that feature is recognized, Frege's doctrine of senses and references can be considered a theory, or at least a sketch of a theory, of cognition, which has interesting connections with Kant's and Husserl's views.

Censure and Heresy at the University of Paris, 1200–1400 (review)

Abstract: Censure and Heresy at the University of Paris, 1200-1400. By J. M. M. H. Thijssen. (Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press. 1998. Pp. xiii, 187. $35.00.) In the preface to this work Thijssen mentions the early thirteenth-century case of Amalric of Bene as the first documented instance of academic censure in the history of the newly founded University of Paris. But it was by no means the last. By the end of the thirteenth century various lists of censured propositions had been assembled in a work known as the Collectio errorum in anglia et parisius condempnatorum, and during the fourteenth century this collection would increase so as to include some thirteen cases of censured teaching. Four of these have received considerable attention from historians of medieval philosophy, i.e., the condemnation of 219 propositions by Bishop Stephen Tempier of March 7,1277; the prohibition of Ockhamist errors of 1340; the censure of Nicholas of Autrecourt's opinions of 1346; and the censure of John of Mirecourt's views in 1347. Accordingly, Thijssen devotes chapters 2, 3, and 4 of this very interesting book to these. But first he suggests that historians of medieval philosophy have so heavily concentrated on the doctrinal content and impact of these censures that they have permitted their "larger historical and institutional framework" to become obscured. He proposes therefore to concentrate on the judicial procedures involved, together with the authority that monitored teaching at the University, and the effects the condemnations had on those accused. In chapter 1 he discusses certain more general aspects of academic censures that were initiated within the University itself. Because the procedural sources for these are extremely limited, he also turns for additional evidence to censures involving university-trained scholars which were initiated outside the University. His assumption is that the way of proceeding against academics charged with disseminating false teachings was basically the same in all cases. In seeking to determine who possessed the necessary authority and knowledge to levy academic censures, Thijssen finds that proceedings against medieval academics could involve four possible tribunals: (1) a consistory or commission of the chancellor and masters of theology at the University; (2) the local episcopal court; (3) the papal court; (4) the forum of the minister general of a religious order and his advisers. He also concludes that such cases might include the following stages: (1) initiation or commencement of the action; (2) preliminary inquiry; (3) citation and defense offered by the accused; (4) a decision or sentence; and (5) a possible appeal to a higher tribunal. Especially interesting is his discussion of the different strategies employed by accused academics in their own defense. Thijssen devotes the whole of chapter 2 to the massive condemnation of March 7, 1277. He recognizes that the doctrinal significance of this event has been evaluated quite differently by various twentieth-century scholars. From the procedural standpoint, it stands out because it was pronounced not by a panel of the chancellor and his theologians, but by the bishop, and because it leaves its targets unnamed. Thijssen revises some generally accepted views concerning this condemnation. Rather than conclude that Tempier was moved to act by the letter written to him by Pope John XXI on January 18, 1277, he suggests that the bishop was already acting independently before he received this letter. He thinks that Tempier's action should rather be connected with a citation issued on November 23, 1276, by Simon du Val, Inquisitor of France, commanding Siger of Brabant and two of his colleagues from the Faculty of Arts to appear before his court. Unfortunately, Thijssen can offer no decisive documentary evidence to support this new interpretation or, for that matter, to support the revisionist account he also proposes for Siger's final years. …

The Courage of Conviction An Essay in Honor of Philotheus Böhner, O.F.M.

Abstract: his death as a "wise and good philosopher."2 Bohner's published writings made him one of the great names in philosophical research in the twentieth century. That he was wise and good was the judgment of those who sought his counsel. Most who paid tribute to Bohner at the time of his passing looked at him with North American eyes. But something more can be said. When we view the American years together with the German years thirty-eight of them we see clearly that another adjective must be added to Merton's description. This great philosopher was indeed wise and good, but he was also courageous. His was a courage forged in a pugnacious boyhood, honed in a battle against tuberculosis, tested in opposition to Nazism, and brandished in an intellectual battle to rehabilitate William of Ockham, one of the greatest names in medieval philosophy.

Bulgarian Interpretations of Ancient and Medieval Philosophy

Abstract: What is unique about the interpretation of the history of ancient and medieval philosophy in a small country like Bulgaria? In trying to grasp the essence of the intellectual tendencies that have evolved here over the past century, we could of course conduct a general retrospective analysis of several prominent scholars who have contributed greatly to the intellectual development of the Bulgarian nation. However, most of their works are not translated in any of the major European languages. Instead, I will therefore attempt to explain the underlying causes of differing Bulgarian interpretations of ancient and medieval philosophy by describing the social background, sketching the personal and existential motivations of Bulgarian historians of ancient and medieval philosophy, and assess their undeniable achievements and inevitable limits. In this way, I hope to portray not only the interpretation of the history of ancient and medieval philosophy in Bulgaria but also actual developments in the history of Bulgarian philosophy.