Aristotelian Philosophy and Aristotelianism
More general subjects:
Filosofia e medicina in Italia fra medioevo e prima età moderna
Il volume raccoglie alcune delle relazioni presentate durante il 4° Colloquio Internazionale della Societas Artistarum. Svoltosi presso l’Università degli studi di Milano il 7-9 novembre 2019 esso si proponeva di approfondire da prospettive diverse come si sia configurato nell’Italia medievale e rinascimentale il rapporto fra medicina e filosofia. Alcuni contributi si soffermano sul contesto storico-istituzionale dell’insegnamento e della pratica della medicina sull’uso di dottrine etiche e di strumenti logici e retorici da parte dei medici. Altri contributi avvalendosi anche di documenti e testi inediti analizzano invece temi interdisciplinari come le teorie della generazione e la natura delle acque fluviali oppure mettono a fuoco il pensiero e l’opera di medici-filosofi come Bartolomeo da Salerno Taddeo Alderotti Antonio da Parma e Ludovico Boccadiferro.
De la Lune à la Terre
Les débats sur le premier livre des Météorologiques d’Aristote au Moyen Âge latin (la tradition parisienne, XIIIe-XVe siècles)
La météorologie ancienne et médiévale se distingue de son équivalent contemporain par un domaine d’études autrement plus vaste s’étendant bien au-delà des phénomènes atmosphériques. Le premier livre des Météorologiques d’Aristote aborde en effet des sujets aussi divers que l’action de la sphère céleste sur la région terrestre les liens entre mouvement lumière et production de chaleur les rapports quantitatifs entre les quatre éléments la formation des comètes et de la Voie lactée l’origine et le mouvement des fleuves les variations périodiques dans la répartition entre mers et terres sèches. Fondée sur l’analyse d’une grande quantité de textes inédits et prenant la forme d’un voyage de la Lune à la Terre la présente étude explore les débats que ces sujets ont suscités chez les maîtres scolastiques qui de la fin du XIIe au milieu du XVe siècle se sont confrontés au texte aristotélicien dans le cadre de leur enseignement à la Faculté des arts.
Themistius and Aristotle
Teaching Philosophy from Late Antiquity to the Middle Ages
This is the first book length examining closely Themistius’ philosophical thought and his understanding of Aristotelian philosophy. Themistius well known as an eloquent orator and political personality of Constantinople during the fourth century ad is an influential commentator on works of Aristotle. By assessing both of these aspects of Themistius’ intellectual accomplishments the present work explores and contextualizes his thought in both his paraphrases of the works of Aristotle and in his orations. Themistius’ interpretation of Aristotelian thought deeply influential in both the Arab and Latin worlds and his strategy for teaching Aristotle even outside the professional schools of philosophy are major foci of this study.
In particular this work explicates Themistius’ understanding of the nature and causality of the First Principle of the cosmic order and of the human soul and intellect. It argues that Themistius’ approach reflects not only the systematization imparted by Alexander of Aphrodisias to the doctrines of Aristotle but also the increasing though oftentimes silent influence of Plotinus. This is evident in the consideration of the three philosophical issues of God cosmos and soul analysed in Themistius which reveal the preponderance of Plotinus’ philosophy reflected in the Themistian orations. Concomitantly it explores how Themistius’ teachings proved decisive in the medieval understanding of Aristotle both among Arabic and Hebrew readers as well as in the universities of Latin Europe. As such this study challenges our understanding of philosophy in fourth-century Constantinople.
Nicolaus Viti Gozzius, Breve compendium in duo prima capita tertii De anima Aristotelis
A Critical Edition with Introduction and Indices
This is the first edition of Nikola Vitov Gučetić’s (1549–1610) compendium of philosophical and theological problems arising from Aristotle’s De anima Book 3 Chapter 4 where he begins his discussion of the thinking part of the soul that is the intellect (nous). With the interpretation of Averroes (1126–1198) this text has structured much of the debate on the immortality of the soul in the Middle Ages and the Renaissance. Gučetić’s Breve compendium is a testament to these debates interesting for its selection of issues for discussion in connection with Aristotle’s text and for its open defence of the Averroist position in the late decades of the sixteenth century. Although Gučetić had a preliminary arrangement with Aldo Manuzio the Younger to print this text around 1590 at some point he abandoned the plan to publish it.
The main purpose of this book is to provide a critical edition of the Latin text for scholars in the humanities especially historians of late Medieval and Renaissance philosophy. The edition is accompanied by an introductory study that places the author and his work in the historical and intellectual context describes the manuscript and gives a detailed synopsis of the work. This will make the book useful also to students of the humanities and those interested in the history and culture of Dubrovnik.
Aristotle’s De anima at the Faculties of Arts (13th-14th Centuries)
This book explores the intersection between the early development of medieval universities and the arrival of Aristotle's works in the Christian West especially De anima: one of his most famous and obscure writings straddling the fields of biology and psychology and devoted to the functions of living beings – including the human being.
The leading figures in this very special meeting of cultures also involving scientific writings from the Islamic world are the Masters of Faculties of Arts. From the first half of the 13th century they embarked on a theoretically very demanding enterprise namely to restore a complete understanding of De anima; and they accomplished this difficult task by establishing a close – and often polemical – relationship with their more famous colleagues: theologians such as Albert the Great and Thomas Aquinas.
By resorting to the research and teaching methods of their time the Masters of Arts addressed crucial topics such as the soul/body relationship sense perception intellectual knowledge and the special status of the human intellect mediating as far as possible between scientific requirements and those of the Christian faith.
Authors such as Adam of Buckfield Peter of Spain Siger of Brabant John of Jandun and John Buridan together with other less famous ones and a small crowd of completely anonymous – yet theoretically no less interesting – scholars gave rise to a choral narrative that disclosed new philosophical perspectives on man. It is in this intellectual context that the roots of Modern philosophical thought lie.
Pedro da Fonseca
Humanism and Metaphysics
Also known as the «Portuguese Aristotle» Pedro da Fonseca S. J. (1527-1599) was a leading figure in modern scholasticism and particularly in the history of the Society of Jesus. He laid the groundwork for the publication of the famous Cursus Conimbricensis (1592- 1606) and was the author of an influential textbook of logic and dialectic the Institutionum Dialecticarum Libri Octo (1564) officially recommended by the Ratio Studiorum. He was also one of the most important and recognized commentators on Aristotle’s Metaphysics in the 16th century (with his unfinished Commentaria 1577-1612).
This volume is the first collection of essays in English devoted to Fonseca his intellectual endeavour and thought. The book brings together some of today’s leading specialists in early modern scholasticism Portuguese Aristotelianism and the history of the Society of Jesus in order to present a reliable portrait of Fonseca’s institutional role to reconstruct his thought on many important aspects of scholastic metaphysics and to discuss the reception of his work in the early modern age.
Fallacies in the Arabic, Byzantine, Hebrew and Latin Traditions
Fallacy studies are a well established and fast expanding field of argumentation theory. Without notable exception however the evergrowing literature on argumentative failure suffers from a conspicuous lack of interest in medieval fallacy theory - arguably the most creative stage in the whole history of argumentation theories. The standard story is that after Aristotle got off to a tentative start the study of fallacies lay dormant until people at Port Royal and John Locke revived it in spectacular fashion. The volume will show that this picture is both inaccurate and misleading. By working its way from the inside out within each medieval world Fallacies in the Arabic Byzantine Hebrew and Latin Traditions will provide ample and unambiguous record of the exegetical proficiency technical expertise and argumentative savoir-faire typically displayed by medieval authors on issues about flawed arguments which are all too often our own.
Peter of Ireland, Writings on Natural Philosophy
Commentary on Aristotle’s On Length and Shortness of Life and the Determinatio Magistralis
Peter of Ireland (Petrus de Ybernia) was born sometime around the beginning of the thirteenth century in Ireland probably of a Norman family. He probably left Ireland aged around age 15 to pursue his studies abroad. His interest in medical and scientific questions would suggest a stay at Oxford whereas his approach to logic would suggest a Parisian influence. By the middle of the century he was Professor of Logic and Natural Philosophy at the University at Naples. Peter is perhaps one of the best known of medieval Irish thinkers on the continent owing to the fact that he was held to be the teacher of the young Thomas Aquinas at Naples University from 1239-44. As such it would be he who in all likelihood first introduced Thomas to the study of Aristotle and perhaps also to the commentaries of Avicenna and Averroes. The works presented here date from at least a decade later and relate to lectures given at Naples in the 1250s and 1260s. The extent to which he was held in respect by his contemporaries is to be seen in his solution (determinatio) to the disputed question on the origin of the design of an animal’s body which was held before King Manfred around 1260. It was perhaps the culmination of a famous scholarly career.
Pseudo-Aristotelian Texts in Medieval Thought
Acts of the XXII Annual Colloquium of the Société Internationale pour l’Étude de la Philosophie Médiévale, Cluj-Napoca, 28–30 September 2016
The Philosopher the Master of Those Who Know was the dominant pagan authority in all four of the main traditions of medieval philosophy: Arabic Greek Hebrew and Latin. Yet we now know that a number of works attributed to Aristotle were in fact spurious authored by others who claimed to be or whom others claimed to be the Stagirite for example the Secretum secretorum the Liber de causis De mundo De proprietatibus elementorum De pomo and De plantis. These writings strongly impacted medieval thought in various and fascinating ways both in the original language be it Arabic Greek Hebrew or Latin and in translation. The mechanisms of their production dissemination and translation are themselves worthy of attention. Many of these works spawned commentary traditions of their own parallel to those involving the classic texts of Peripatetic philosophy. Apparent contradictions between ideas expressed in these treatises and those found in what we consider to be authentic works for instance ideas that appeared to derive more from the Academy than from the Lyceum provoked questions about authenticity and about the possible evolution of Aristotle’s thought. Finally these texts were employed in one way or another in many genres of philosophical literature in the Middle Ages including metaphysics natural and moral philosophy theology and even more exotic disciplines like chiromancy and alchemy. This volume aims to shed new light on various aspects of the history of Pseudo-Aristotelian texts in the Middle Ages.
A Question of Life and Death. Living and Dying in Medieval Philosophy
Acts of the XXIII Annual Colloquium of the Société Internationale pour l’Étude de la Philosophie Médiévale, Leuven, 11–12 October 2018
Living and dying are essential concepts in Aristotelian natural philosophy and psychology. It is then no surprise that when the libri naturales were translated into Latin from the twelfth century onwards this gave birth to an extensive interpretative tradition in the Latin West in which life and death as conceived by Aristotle were theorized and reflected upon for example in the numerous commentaries of the De Anima but also of the Parva Naturalia. Yet the medieval inquiry into living and dying is not limited to natural philosophy nor the Aristotelian tradition but can also be found in ethics metaphysics theology medicine and others domains. Many topics are addressed in the volume: radical moisture and the possibility of increasing lifespan suicide essence of life contrast between life of the body and life of the soul future life and so on. The volume is also a hommage to Pieter De Leemans an eminent specialist of the Latin translations of Aristotle’s books on natural philosophy who was the intitiator of this scientific project.
Memory and Recollection in the Aristotelian Tradition
Essays on the Reception of Aristotle’s De memoria et reminiscentia
Aristotle’s De memoria et reminiscentia (‘On Memory and Recollection’) is the oldest surviving systematic study of the nature of human memory. Forming part of Aristotle’s other minor writings on psychology that were intended as a supplement to his De anima (‘On the Soul’) and known under the collective title Parva naturalia Aristotle’s De memoria et reminiscentia gave rise to a vast number of commentaries in the Middle Ages. The present volume offers new knowledge on the ancient and medieval understanding of Aristotle’s theories on memory and recollection across the linguistic borders and philosophical traditions in the Byzantine Greek Latin and Arabic reception.
Alexander of Aphrodisias in the Middle Ages and the Renaissance
The greatest ancient interpreter of Aristotle Alexander of Aphrodisias (fl. 200 AD) exerted a profound and enduring influence upon philosophy from Boethius until the modern era. Alexander’s interpretations laid the foundation for multiple philosophical views which were promoted as quintessentially Aristotelian by both Islamic and Latin thinkers throughout the Middle Ages. In the Renaissance the University of Padua a leading center of philosophical education and thought established a scholarly tradition named “Alexandrinism” after him.
Paolo Accattino (1950-2015) a distinguished scholar of Alexander made many noteworthy advancements to the field. With the aim of honoring Accattino’s memory lifelong colleagues and associates P. Donini and L. Bertelli discuss his contributions. They are joined by a cohort of scholars (A. Bertolacci M. Di Giovanni J. Biard A. Corbini E. Rubino L. Silvano B. Bartocci P.D. Omodeo F. Iurlaro) who explore various key elements of Alexander’s legacy from Ibn Sīnā to Hugo de Groot. The volume presents new understandings concerning the reception of Alexander offers new lines of inquiry and opens potential avenues of research regarding his medieval and Renaissance afterlife.
Moïse b. Sabbataï, lecteur juif du Livre des causes et adversaire de la kabbale, en Italie, vers 1340
This previously unknown Hebrew writer is a unique witness of the blend of Aristotelianism and Neoplatonism as well as of Jewish and Christian sources in Jewish philosophy in Italy (first half of the 14th century).
Les Auctoritates Aristotelis, leur utilisation et leur influence chez les auteurs médiévaux
État de la question 40 ans après la publication
En 1974 à l'époque de la publication du texte des Auctoritates Aristotelis les chercheurs n'avaient pas encore mesuré l'influence que ce florilège avait pu avoir dans bon nombre d'œuvres médiévales. Nombreux étaient ceux qui ne connaissaient même pas ce recueil et qui préféraient se référer directement à l'œuvre même du Stagirite pour identifier des citations. Mais la réalité médiévale était bien différente. En effet les recherches menées après la parution de l'édition ont modifié considérablement notre conception de l'usage qu'en firent les intellectuels du 13e au 17e siècle. Beaucoup de progrès ont été faits depuis surtout dans le domaine des éditions critiques de textes philosophiques encore inédits à l'époque. Il suffit de consulter les apparats critiques des sources utilisées par ces auteurs pour constater qu'ils furent nombreux à citer des « auctoritates » d'Aristote extraites de ce florilège. D'autre part les recherches réalisées progressivement montrent que ce recueil a aussi une histoire.
Les études réunis dans ce volume se proposent de présenter un nouvel état de la question et de montrer à l'aide d'exemples pertinents l'usage qui fut fait des citations contenues dans le recueil par divers auteurs de l'époque. D'autre part les informations glanées dans les divers exposés illustrent parfaitement des moments de son histoire. Ils ne rendent pas stériles les recherches ultérieures mais proposent diverses voies d'accès à la reconstitution de son élaboration sans épuiser pour autant le sujet. Ces études permettent déjà de constater le succès énorme que connut le recueil non seulement pendant l'époque scolastique mais aussi jusqu'à la fin du 17e siècle ce qui peut paraître étrange à première vue.
Raison et démonstration
Les commentaires médiévaux sur les Seconds Analytiques
Durant au moins deux millénaires les Seconds Analytiques d’Aristote ont joué un rôle de premier plan dans la réflexion sur la science ses objets et ses procédures. On a souvent retenu la structure syllogistique comme élément essentiel de cette conception. Mais le traité examine aussi de nombreuses autres questions relevant de la philosophie des sciences : statut des principes nature des prémisses fonction du moyen terme rapport entre causalité réelle et causalité épistémique diversité des types de démonstration rôle des définitions confrontation du modèle ainsi élaboré avec les mathématiques. Chaque fois c’est toute une série de nouveaux problèmes qui surgit à partir ou à l’occasion du texte aristotélicien amplifiés par la suite des exégèses auxquelles celui-ci a donné lieu.
L’objet de cet ouvrage collectif est d’étudier quelques moments majeurs des interprétations et usages des Seconds Analytiques. Il n’entre pas dans les débats contemporains concernant le texte même d’Aristote et n’examine que de façon marginale les premiers commentaires grecs ; il a pour objet premier leur transmission ultérieure jusque dans l’occident médiéval. Dans ce parcours il prend en compte le monde byzantin et le monde arabe. Une grande partie de l’ouvrage est ensuite consacrée aux XIIIe et XIVe siècles en Occident médiéval mais on trouvera aussi quelques études examinant la place des Seconds Analytiques chez quelques humanistes italiens ou dans le nominalisme du début du XVIe siècle.
Ce volume propose ainsi une histoire de la transmission et de l’interprétation de ce texte tout en visant à éclairer quelques questions importantes pour la nature de la démonstration et de la connaissance scientifique.