Mediaevalia. Textos e estudos is a double peer review journal with printed and online editions. Journal of the Gabinete de Filosofia Medieval / Medieval & Early Modern Philosophy thematic line of the Instituto de Filosofia da Universidade do Porto. The journal was founded in 1992 by Professor Maria Cândida Pacheco with the support of the Fundação Eng. António de Almeida, and is published by the Faculdade de Letras da Universidade do Porto since 2000
Gabinete de Filosofia Medieval / MEMP-IF
Copyright (c) 2022 Vera Rodrigues https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0
Copyright (c) 2024 I F https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0
Copyright (c) 2022 I F https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0
De cognitione — VIIIº Congresso da SOFIME
Copyright (c) 2022 José Meirinhos https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0
Medieval Paradigms of Knowledge: Diversity of Perspectives
Theories of cognition differ according to assumptions and parameters that medieval philosophers adopt in their specific approaches to the subject and to the object of knowledge. Their analysis of cognitive processes in subjects of distinct natures (the human being, the angel, God), and in relation to a wide range of objects of knowledge (i.a. material, immaterial, fictional or conceptual entities), gave rise to a large diversity of views and epistemological perspectives. This contribution focus on three main paradigms that feed the various and often antagonist medieval theories of cognition: the emprirism, the innatism and the intentionalism. Keywords: Medieval Theories of Cognition (XIIIth and XIVth Century); Empirism; Innatism; Intentionalism.
Copyright (c) 2023 Tiziana Suárez-Nani https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0
Santo Anselmo. Elementos de uma Teoria do Conhecimento
A teoria do conhecimento é normalmente um factor condicionante da atitude dos filósofos face ao empreendimento especulativo das provas da existência de Deus. Isso é claro no caso de São Tomás de Aquino, que rejeitou a prova anselmiana, por negar um conhecimento intelectual directo da essência divina pelo ser humano. Santo Anselmo, porém, nunca afirmou tal conhecimento, e também não teorizou expressamente o processo do conhecimento humano. Há, no entanto, elementos dispersos de uma teoria implícita do conhecimento nos seus escritos. O propósito que anima este estudo é fazer o levantamento desses elementos de modo a traçar as linhas gerais da teoria do conhecimento, que é fundamentalmente solidária quer com as quatro vias do Monologion, quer, em especial, com o seu argumento único do Proslogion. Palavras-chave: Filosofia; conhecimento; pensamento; Santo Anselmo; argumento de Anselmo.
Copyright (c) 2023 Maria Leonor Xavier https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0
Medical Knowledge and Theological Knowledge in Arnald of Villanova
Arnald of Villanova, a medical doctor by training and a theologian by vocation, has gone down in history as one of the most outstanding physicians of the Latin Middle Ages; his theological works, however, were condemned a few years after his death, and the possibility of their being known and studied only emerged just over a century ago. According to Arnald, medicine is a scientia while simultaneously being an ars operativa, both of which facets are indissociable. The physician is akin to a “minister of nature” who performs his role by way of his ars. This manner of understanding medicine presumes an “instrumentalist” conception of medical theory, a conception which sets Arnald of Villanova apart from both pure theoretical speculation and anti-intellectual empiricism. The Catalan physician conceives theological knowledge by analogy with its medical counterpart. The Christendom of his day appears to present symptoms of disease and, in the face of such a situation, Arnald, the medicus theologizans, prescribes a plan for reform. Keywords: Arnald of Villanova; medical knowledge; theological knowledge; ars, scientia, medicus theologizans.
Copyright (c) 2023 Jaume Mensa i Valls https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0
Gramática, lógica e cognição: Magnus Hundt (1419-1519) e a noção de suposição material
Em numerosos tratados tardomedievais, levanta-se a questão de saber se a suposição material deveria ser tratada na lógica ou na gramática. Tradicionalmente, lidou-se com este tipo de suposição na lógica. Contudo, alguns autores tardomedievais argumentaram que devia ser antes tratada na gramática. À primeira vista, este debate pode parecer ser um exercício escolástico infrutífero. Através de uma inspeção mais próxima, porém, este problema constitui uma ajuda fundamental para o esclarecimento dos diferentes modos em que a escolástica medieval tardia compreendeu a relação entre pensamentos, termos e coisas. No meu artigo, focar-me-ei principalmente na posição de Magnus Hundt, professor de artes na Universidade de Leipzig perto do final do século XV. Ele não é uma menção frequente na literatura contemporânea. Contudo, a sua posição é bastante notável. Como se tornará claro, a o facto de Hundt rejeitar que a suposição material pertence ao campo da lógica ilustra a sua estratégia de separar a lógica da gramática, de modo a aproximá-la da ciência da metafísica. Palavras-chave: Gramática; lógica; metafísica; teoria da cognição; teoria da suposição; história do tomismo; Magnus Hundt.
Copyright (c) 2023 Maarten J. F. M. Hoenen https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0
Nihil sub sole novum? The Jesuit Criticism of the Thomistic Views on the Doctrine of Illumination
Based on the explanation given by three sixteenth-century Portuguese Jesuits to the question on how the agent intellect illuminates the phantasm we analyze the criticism that the three make to a set of opinions presented by the via Thomistica to the problem at issue. In this study, the answer to the question about the production of the intelligible by the agent intellect is framed in the context of the controversy which took place at the end of the fifteenth century about the possibility of rationally demonstrating the immortality of the soul. The study shows that, in criticizing the position of the Thomists, the Jesuits aim to elaborate an answer that not only clearly shows the superiority, autonomy and immateriality of the agent intellect in the production of the intelligible but also serves as a solid foundation for demonstrating the immortality of the soul. Keywords: Jesuit commentaries on Aristotle’s De anima III, 5 (Coimbra, 16th century); agent intellect; illumination of phantasm; intelligible species; immortality of the soul. Medieval and Early Modern Age Authors Studied: Thomas Aquinas, Durand of Saint-Pourçant; John Capreolus; Chrysostom Javelli; Francisco Sylvester of Ferrara; Thomas de Vio, Cajetan; Francisco of Toledo; Francisco Suárez; Marcos Jorge; Cristóvão Gil; Manuel de Góis.
Copyright (c) 2023 Paula Oliveira e Silva https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0
Avicenna: Holy Intellect and Prophetic Knowledge
My intention in this text is to briefly summarize the Avicennian theory on prophecy and the Holy Intellect, which belong to human nature and are rooted in his metaphysical conception of reality and in his position on human psychology, without pretending to offer a new vision or interpretation different from those already presented. Keywords: Avicenna; Prophecy; Holy Intellect.
Copyright (c) 2023 Rafael Ramón Guerrero https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0
Barhebraeus sobre os sentidos internos e a aperceção animal. Algumas notras sobre Furlani e Bakoš
Os sentidos internos de Avicena também são trabalhados por Barhebraeus (1226-1286), o famoso polímata siríaco ortodoxo do Renascimento Siríaco. O seu tratamento dos sentidos internos ao longo das suas ocorrências em diferentes obras vai ser tomado em atenção, bem como uma mudança de terminologia. Também se tomará em atenção a posição de Barhebraeus sobre se os animais têm algum tipo de racionalidade como os humanos, ou se têm pelo menos uma certa aperceção, seguido de uma breve consideração sobre a conexão desta questão com os sentidos internos. Far-se-ão notar possíveis influências árabes para além de Avicena. Através disto, o artigo procura acrescentar algo aos trabalhos iniciais de Furlani e Bakoš sobre a psicologia de Barhebraeus. Palavras-chave: sentidos internos; racionalidade animal; Siríaco; aperceção animal; al-Mulakhkhaṣ.
Copyright (c) 2023 Jens Ole Schmitt https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0
The theological and philosophical knowledge of the divine (al-ilāhīāt) between Jews, Christians, and Muslims according to Ibn Taymīyah
This article presents a brief introduction on the reception of Greek philosophy in Ibn Taymīyah’s Islamic epistemology and his critique of theological knowledge (al-ilāhīāt) both outside the Islamic culture (i.e., Jews, Christians and Greeks), and inside it, with the Muslim heterodox theological sects, philosophers (al-Fārābī, Ibn Sīnā and Ibn Rushd) and mystics (Ibn ’Arabī). It shows the objectives, methodologies, and results of the author in his epistemological critique of Greek and Muslim philosophy, carried out through his various works of religious polemics, theological apologetics, and philosophical criticism to present a proposal of Muslim philosophical rationality based on Islamic religious sources and Arabic terminology for the knowledge of the divine from philosophy, theology and mysticism within the Islamic culture. It also demonstrates the use of arguments and philosophical terminology by the author in his critique of it and the need to study his work to understand the response of Islamic theology to the "Greco-Muslim" philosophy from the viewpoint of Islamic orthodox theology, as a bridge of dialogue with other philosophical and religious traditions. Keywords: Muslim Philosophy; Islamic Theology; Islamic Theology; Religious Polemics; Epistemology; Religious Studies.
Copyright (c) 2023 Julio César Cárdenas Arenas https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0
The epistemology of the ‘Athenagoras’ of De Resurrectione and the role of truth in demonstration
In the dialogue between Christianity and Hellenism during the second and third centuries, apart from the confrontation of ideas itself, a set of arguments is elaborated that will mark the development and style of later apologetics. The treatise On the Resurrection of the Dead —traditionally attributed to Athenagoras of Athens—, in addition to bearing witness to these arguments, presents a justification for his own approach and a classification of arguments that depends on their relationship to the truth. He distinguishes between arguments “for the truth” (ὑπὲρ τῆς ἀληθείας) and arguments “concerning the truth” (περὶ τῆς ἀληθείας). The first are intended to refute what is not considered true; the latter seek to positively pursue knowledge. The former are considered superior in terms of utility; the others, in terms of demonstrative force. The author distributes his own arguments in this classification, proceeding in different ways depending on the content. In this presentation, we analyse how the premises assumed as truth are a condition for the treatment of each subject in this work; how that affects the burden of proof legitimizing scepticism regarding a claim when there are no guarantees of truth for that claim; and how these different types of reasoning operate in general. Keywords: “arguments for the truth”; “arguments concerning the truth”; demonstrative force, natural order; burden of proof.
Copyright (c) 2023 Rúben Acuña Fernández https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0
“I had heard by the hearing of the ear, but now my eye sees you” (Job 42,5). En-counter with God, experiential knowledge and the problem of suffering in medieval thought through the exegesis of Job: a few insights
The final chapters of the book of Job are equally important and difficult to understand. After the dramatic dialogues between Job and his friends —who stubbornly maintain that Job's sufferings are the punishment for some sin— in chapter 38 comes the long-awaited divine intervention, which, however, does not seem to answer Job’s question. Nevertheless, the troubled character seems to find peace of mind after the intervention of the Lord, as his final words reveal: “I had heard by the hearing of the ear, but now my eye sees you. Therefore I despise myself and repent in dust and ashes” (Job 42:5-6). According to various contemporary interpreters, these words reveal a progression in Job’s cognitio Dei, and it is precisely this cognitive consolidation of God that restores his serenity and calms the previously troubled waters of his spirit. But how was the episode interpreted during the Middle Ages? What kind of experience did the medieval exegetes understand to be expressed by these words? What is the relationship between Job’s experience, the cognitio Dei and the problem of suffering? These are the questions we intend to answer by means of a thorough analysis of the medieval exegesis of the passage Job 42,5. Keywords: Book of Job; medieval exegesis; medieval thought; encounter with God; knowledge; experience; problem of suffering.
Copyright (c) 2023 Ignacio Cabello Llano https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0
El conocimiento del otro. Tras la huella de Marcos de Toledo
En períodos históricos y contextos como el que aquí nos ocupan, el conocimiento del otro resulta esencial para acceder con cierta seguridad a los dogmas y convicciones que motivan sus actitudes. El Prólogo y la traducción del Corán realizada por Marcos de Toledo, así como su Prefacio y traducción del conjunto de textos atribuidos al mahdī almohade Ibn Tūmart, contribuyó a un conocimiento más preciso y matizado que el transmitido por el polemismo imperante en su tiempo. Palabras-clave: Marcos de Toledo; Rodrigo Jiménez de Rada; Corán; Libellus Habentometi; Chronica Latina Regum Castellae. DOI: https://doi.org/10.21747/21836884/med41a10pm
Copyright (c) 2024 Pedro Mantas-España https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0
Constanter igitur et fideliter. Peter Damian’s Theological Paradigm in the Prologue of De divina omnipotentia
The studies on Peter Damian’s De divina omnipotentia generally approached it from the first chapter, where the issue of the divine capacity to restore the lost virginity of a maiden is introduced. The brief prologue, instead, has received little attention. Aim of this paper is: 1) to focus on this prologue, showing how it contains in nuce (together with his epilogue in the XVI chapter) the foundations of the theological paradigm by which Peter Damian discusses the temporal dilemma and his relationship with the divine omnipotence; 2) to explain how this paradigm is to be understood as the horizon of meaning that supports and explains the Peter Damian’s conception of the eternity as a divine cognitive mode, so resolving, from an epistemic point of view, the problems about the necessity of the past in relation to God’s omnipotence. Keywords: Omnipotence; Monastic Theology; Eternity; Benedictine Rule; Dialectics.
Copyright (c) 2023 Roberto Limonta https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0
Três momentos na tradição de comentário aos Tractatus de Pedro Hispano
Pedro Hispano's Tractatus (or Summulae logicales), often accompanied by his Syncategoreumata, experienced na extraordinary textual transmission from the 13th century to the 16th century and the beginning of modern times. Whether in their entirety or, more often than not, with different clippings, the Tractatus have been the subject of a commentary tradition of which a large hundred commentaries have been identified. We propose here an outline of this tradition, centred on three major moments: 1. The first diffusion; 2. The Italian diffusion, in the convergence of British and Parisian logical-philosophical influences(namely Buridan and the nominalist tradition); 3. The long 15th century (14th-16th) and the commentaries of the newly founded universities of central Europe. Key words: Peter of Spain/Petrus Hispanus,Tractatus, Summulae logicales, logical commentaries.
Copyright (c) 2023 Vera Rodrigues https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0
The Esse Similitudinale of Species in Roger Bacon’s Liber de sensu et sensato
A teoria da perceção de Roger Bacon, fundamentada na sua conceção original das species e da sua multiplicação e receção, foi sempre objeto de uma considerável atenção da parte dos estudiosos. Contudo, os estudos contemporâneos focaram-se tradicionalmente nos textos de maturidade de Bacon. Nestas obras, especialmente em De multiplicatione specierum, Bacon advoga uma posição “materialista” forte no que diz respeito ao tipo de ser que as species têm no medium e nos sentidos. Neste artigo, mostro que uma conceção alternativa da ontologia das species é apresentada por Bacon no seu comentário ao De sensu et sensato de Aristóteles. Está obra está situada numa conjuntura crítica no percurso intelectual de Bacon, posto que é o último dos seus comentários aristotélicos e ao mesmo tempo precede todos os seus trabalhos de maturidade. Como argumentarei neste artigo, nestas obras, Bacon atribui às species um esse similitudinale, o qual ele explicitamente define como a composição entre esse materiale e esse formale. Resulta disto que Bacon nem sempre considerou que as species são meramente compostas por esse materiale. Finalizo sugerindo que este achado pode ter algumas implicações na interpretação da ontologia das espécies madura tal como ela é detalhada no De multiplicatione specierum. Palavras-chave: Roger Bacon; Liber de sensu et sensato; species; perceção; esse similitudinale.
Copyright (c) 2023 Roberto Zambiazi https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0
The Intelective Process of Moral Knowledge in Thomas Aquinas: notes on Synderesis and Consciousness
We find in the moral philosophy of Thomas Aquinas the description of a cognitive process in conformity with the will, with a view to the realization of moral actions. The intellective power of human beings operates in many ways in this process, and when it comes to the practical part, that is, the part that deals with action, we have, for example, the exercise of synderesis, the apprehension of the intellect, the reasoning of reason, and the judgment of conscience. The objective of this text is to present, even if synthetically, each of the modes by which human intellection can operate. However, our intention is not to characterize them individually, on the contrary, our intention is to understand the relationship they establish between themselves as they form an epistemological apparatus that aims at the same object, in this case, the formulation of moral knowledge for the ordering of human action in the world. Keywords: synderesis; intellect; reason; conscience; natural law.
Copyright (c) 2023 Camilia Ezídio https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0
I limiti della conoscenza razionale in Teodorico di Freiberg
Il contributo affronta il problema dei limiti costitutivi del processo conoscitivo in Teodorico di Freiberg, con specifico riferimento alla cognitio rationalis e ai caratteri del suo oggetto. In termini generali la conoscenza razionale implica una differenza tra soggetto, attività conoscitiva e oggetto conosciuto, dunque una alterità (quale identità nella differenza) nell’intelletto. Questa si traduce in una composizione noetica intrinseca, interpretabile alla luce della categoria ontologica di accidente. Secondo Teodorico l’oggetto dell’intelletto agente coincide con l’atto della sua intellezione, rimanendo in sé stesso e abbracciando così l’universalità dell’intelligibile in una nozione univoca onnicomprensiva (ens). L’utilizzo di principi formali da parte dell’intelletto possibile per conoscere il medesimo essere nel modo della definizione implica, di contro, una dinamica di allontanamento dell’attività razionale dal proprio centro sostanziale (la semplice autoidentità noetica) e l’impossibilità di conoscere la realtà nella sua modalità compiutamente semplice e universale. Parole-chiave: Teodorico di Freiberg, intelletto agente, intelletto possibile, teoria della conoscenza.
Copyright (c) 2023 Giuseppe Donnarumma https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0
The axiomatic method of Ramon Lull’s Libre de coneixença de Déu
This article investigates how Ramon Lull (1232-1316) reworked the axiomatic method of knowing God at the beginning of the 14th century, after his second departure from the University of Paris, where Lull masterfully taught the doctrine of the universal principles of his ternary Art, in order to necessarily reduce both theology and philosophy to the state of demonstrative disciplines. It is more the question of general principles that suits Lull’s strong interest in these two general disciplines. The implacable deployment of Lull’s reasoning must conclude that neither theology nor philosophy lends itself well to demonstrative elaboration except by means of the universal principles of ternary Art which make true philosophy concordant with theology. However, Lull particularly reappropriates the tradition of axioms, in order to know God better than Aristotle, Plato or even Muhammad whom Lull accuses of spreading most of the doctrinal errors which contribute to the ignorance of their medieval followers. Thus Lull intends to respond to the general challenge of his ternary Art. He proposes to perfect a universal axiomatic method which is suitable for all humans beyond the authorities of their respective beliefs, so that it generally applies to the human intellect which can know God, since it is turns out to be worthy of it. Keywords: Cognition; Method; Axioms; Theology; Philosophy.
Copyright (c) 2023 Constantin Teleanu https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0
The ‘Production’ of the esse intelligibile in the Divine Mind according to Duns Scotus
A common criticism, which Duns Scotus’s doctrine on divine ideas has received, is the supposed contradiction that it maintains when stating, on the one hand, that we find the origin of its intelligibility in the divine essence and, on the other hand, that it is given in the divine intellect by ‘producing’ their esse intelligibile. In the present paper we seek to argue that this putative second position does not indicate the origin of intelligibility of divine ideas, instead with the expression producit lapidem in esse intelligibili, Duns Scotus refers to the intellection of the thing in its specificity, that is, insofar as it differs from the divine essence, in other words, the grasp that the intellect makes of the possible concrete essences that it can create. Keywords: esse intelligibile; Intellection; Divine Ideas; Intelligibility; Duns Scotus.
Copyright (c) 2023 Enrique Santiago Mayocchi https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0
Scotist Metaphysics: Notes on the Subject of the Metaphysics in Antonius Andreae and Duns Scotus
Antonius Andreae, by reworking Duns Scotus’s works, tried to elucidate the complexity of his master’s philosophical doctrine thus stating some of the fundamental theses of Scotist metaphysics. An example of this operation takes place in the delimitation of the subject of metaphysics that Andreae proposed in his commentary on Aristotle’s Metaphysics, which achieved a huge editorial and academic success during the 15th and 16th centuries. Scotus’s treatment of this question is highly ambiguous and contradictory if we consider the conclusions of his logical and metaphysical works and the differences that these present with his theological texts. Against this background, Andrés determined in his work the position that would become part of the later Scotist doctrine: the first subject of metaphysics is the being qua being, universal, common, univocal, neutral and transcendental. With this proposal, metaphysics took a new ontological direction during the Late Middle Ages, broking with the earlier Scholastic tradition, and was finally conceived as a scientia transcendens. Keywords: Antonius Andreae; Duns Scotus; Scotism; Subject of Metaphysics; Univocity.
Copyright (c) 2023 Maria Cabré Duran https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0
A composição da linguagem mental na evolução da noção de conceito em Guilherme de Ockham
A teoria da linguagem mental de Guilherme de Ockham é entendida na literatura secundária como a crença de que as nossas representações mentais são estruturadas de forma linguística. Os elementos da linguagem mental podem ser combinados e formar complexos maiores, assim como na linguagem ordinária as palavras podem se combinar entre si para formar frases complexas. A dinâmica desses elementos da linguagem mental é dada através da formação e sucessão de atos cognitivos. As unidades fundamentais da linguagem mental são os conceitos que recebem funções linguísticas e referenciais e, ao mesmo tempo, são os próprios atos cognitivos através dos quais a cognição objetos extramentais ocorre. Neste trabalho propomos investigar os elementos que compõem a linguagem mental de Ockham considerando a evolução da sua noção de conceito ao longo de sua obra. Como é bem sabido, inicialmente os conceitos eram concebidos como fictum e tomados como puramente objetivos. Já na sua teoria madura, os conceitos eram considerados como os próprios atos intelectivos. A principal motivação para a adoção da teoria do ato em detrimento do ficta foi a de economia ontológica. Ockham acreditava que não era necessário postular uma terceira unidade para uma operação intelectual que podia ser realizada com menos elementos. Por sua vez, o conceito como ato mental cumpre todas as funções necessárias para explicar a cognição sem que seja necessário postular um intermediário entre o agente cognoscente e o objeto conhecido, um objetivo caro para o nominalismo ockhamiano. Assim, nosso objetivo é analisar como os elementos da linguagem mental se transformam para acomodar a transição do conceito como fictum para o conceito como ato intelectivo. Palavras-chave: conceitos; linguagem mental; fictum; atos mentais; Ockham. DOI: https://doi.org/10.21747/21836884/med41a19
Copyright (c) 2024 Laiza Rodrigues de Souza https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0
El conocimiento en la Divina Comedia de Dante Alighieri: un viaje extraordinario hacia la visión divina
La Divina Comedia de Dante Alighieri puede ser leída como viaje del conocimiento humano desde la oscuridad del mal a la luminosa visión de Dios. En este sentido se trata de un viaje que culmina con una contemplación divina a la que el alma ha de prepararse alejándose del mal y limpiándose de toda imperfección causada por el pecado. Por esta razón, antes de contemplar a Dios en el Paraíso, Dante ha de conocer el mal en el Infierno y purificarse de él en el Purgatorio. Se trata de un viaje que es a la vez conocimiento de uno mismo, es decir de los propios límites y posibilidades, conocimiento moral, es decir del bien y del mal, y conocimiento de Dios, es decir de la luz y armonía divinas. Para atravesar el Infierno y el Purgatorio Dante necesita la razón, representada en el poema por el poeta latino Virgilio. Sin embargo, para recorrer el Paraíso hasta acercarse a Dios, Dante va a necesitar a Beatriz, mientras que a la visión divina llega de la mano de Bernardo de Claraval. Palabras-clave: Divina Comedia; Dante Alighieri; Aristóteles; Tomás de Aquino; Bernardo de Claraval. DOI: https://doi.org/10.21747/21836884/med41a20
Copyright (c) 2024 Maria Cristina Pascerini https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0
Cognitio de Deo. Philosophy and Theology in Nicholas of Lyra’s Principium
Nicholas of Lyra incepted as a Master of Theology at Paris in 1308. Following the tradition of other inception speeches, his principium, which has been transmitted to us as the first prologue to the Postilla litteralis super totam Bibliam, sets out to establish the preeminence of Holy Scripture over all other forms of knowledge. Basing himself on a quotation from the beginning of Aristotle’s De anima, Nicholas argues that Scripture and theology clearly surpass philosophy, albeit that the latter is indeed capable of attaining knowledge of God. While his arguments draw principally upon Thomas Aquinas and his epistemology, they also include Franciscan elements which are difficult to reconcile with the interpretation of De anima I, 1 then prevailing. The resulting tensions are indicative of the broader systematic challenges theologians were facing as regards the epistemological foundations of their discipline. Keywords: Inception speeches; Relationship between philosophy and theology; De anima; Thomas Aquinas; Practical vs. Theoretical sciences. DOI: https://doi.org/10.21747/21836884/med41a21
Copyright (c) 2024 Alexander Fidora https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0
El diálogo como forma de conocimiento en Pedro Compostelano
Pedro Compostelano fue uno de los autores medievales más relevantes de Santiago de Compostela. Al igual que lo hicieron autores de la filosofía antigua, Pedro Compostelano va optar por el dialogo como método de conocimiento en su obra Consolación de la razón. Esta obra es un tratado ético mediante el cual las doncellas Mundo, Carne y Razón dialogan con un joven para aconsejarle a cerca de que camino de la vida debe tomar. Lo que se pretende con el siguiente trabajo es mostrar que detrás el dialogo, a veces dramático, de los distintos personajes la obra tiene un carácter totalmente pedagógico de guiar a los jóvenes por el buen camino, iluminar el sendero de la recta razón que conduce al ser humano a la gloria eterna. Palabras-clave: Mundo; Carne; Razón; Virtud; Vicio. DOI: https://doi.org/10.21747/21836884/med41a22
Copyright (c) 2024 Rocío Carolo Tosar https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0
Per beryllum intueamur. La metafora del berillo in Nicola Cusano e nella scuola di Colonia del XIII e XIV secolo
Nicola Cusano nel De beryllo (1458) ha proposto una particolare modalità di conoscenza del mondo, realizzata guardando attraverso un berillo, ovvero una lente al contempo concava e convessa. L’intelletto di colui che vi guarda attraverso può così raggiungere, per tramite del berillo, una visione secondo la coincidenza degli opposti. Tale dottrina contiene e porta a compimento la riflessione sviluppata da Cusano in altre opere, come il De visione Dei, concepito nel 1453 nel contesto del dibattito sulla visione beatifica. Cusano in quel medesimo anno aveva inoltre acquistato una copia del commento di Alberto Magno al De divinis nominibus di Dionigi Areopagita, testo da lui più volte richiamato nel De beryllo allo scopo di definire la cognitio umana. Nel presente contributo viene definito l’impiego della metafora del berillo da parte di Cusano e viene in seguito confrontato con l’analogo utilizzo della medesima metafora in Alberto Magno, Meister Eckhart, Teodorico di Freiberg e nel sermone del carmelitano Hane raccolto nel Paradisus animae intelligentis. Infine viene formulata un’ipotesi interpretativa in merito all’origine della svolta procliana presente nel De beryllo. Parole chiave: Nicola Cusano; Alberto Magno; gnoseologia; visione beatifica. DOI: https://doi.org/10.21747/21836884/med41a23
Copyright (c) 2024 Andrea Fiamma https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0
Nicholas of Cusa and the mens ipsa. Notes on a long-standing debate
A long scholarship (Koch, Senger, Peroli, Fiamma) recognized the peculiarity of Nicholas of Cusa’s theory of mens ipsa, exposed in De coniecturis I, 4. On the other hand, there are several alternative readings of that ambiguous theory: indeed, it is not clear whether that theory appears only in De coniecturis or also in other later works; in addition, it has been described variously as an ontological doctrine, concerning the being of the universe, and as a gnoseological one, concerning the human faculties of knowledge. Some scholars, like Flasch, even saw in the mens ipsa a forerunning of a theory of spirit. With this paper I want to take a position on this long-standing debate: the theory of mens ipsa remains over the De coniecturis and it is developed both in ontological (De dato patris luminum) and in gnoseological (De mente II) direction. Keywords: mens ipsa; categories; ontology; human mind; spirit. DOI: https://doi.org/10.21747/21836884/med41a24
Copyright (c) 2024 Luca Burzelli https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0
«cum cognitio sit assimilatio». Conoscenza, assimilazione e intelletto nel De venatione sapientiae di Cusano
Redatto tra il 1462 e il 1463, il De venatione sapientiae rappresenta una delle testimonianze più significative della fase matura del pensiero di Cusano. Scopo del saggio è mettere in luce il retroterra e la fisionomia teorica assunta nell’opera dalla categoria di cognitio, facendone emergere lo stretto intreccio con una serie di concetti e immagini cruciali della riflessione di Cusano, come quelli di intellectus, imago, speculum e, soprattutto, di assimilatio. Parole-chiave: Assimilazione; Cusano; intelletto; De venatione sapientiae; sapienza. DOI: https://doi.org/10.21747/21836884/med41a25
Copyright (c) 2024 Salvatore Carannante https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0
De venatione sapientiæ: Nicolás de Cusa y el legado escéptico
Impacto de la traducción de Ambroglio Traversari (1386-1439), De vitiis et sententiæ philosophorum (1433), de Diógenes Laercio, en el De venatione sapientiæ (1462) de Nicolás de Cusa, en relación a la tradición escéptica. Palabras-clave: legado escéptico; A. Traversari; De vitiis et sententiæ philosophorum (1433); De venatione sapientiæ (1462); Nicolás de Cusa. DOI: https://doi.org/10.21747/21836884/med41a26
Copyright (c) 2024 Martín González Fernández https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0
Knowing as Interpretation in Nicholas of Cusa
This paper presents some initial theses of a wider study on Nicolas of Cusa’s metaphysics of knowledge. It begins by quoting a text of maturity of the Cusan in which: a) the intellect is characterized as the first; b) knowledge is paired with the notion of manifestation; and c) it is noticed that self-knowledge leads to the knowledge of the Absolute creator. The quotation will lead us, then, to a notion of knowledge as interpretation of things, insofar as they acquire meaning in the human mind. Keywords: Nicholas of Cusa; knowledge; interpretation; manifestation. DOI: https://doi.org/10.21747/21836884/med41a27
Copyright (c) 2024 María Jesús Soto-Bruna https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0
«ad cognitionem signorum descendamus». L’arte della cognitio nel Compendium di Nicola Cusano
Nel trattato del Compendium (1463-1464), Nicola Cusano affronta il tema della cognitio alla luce della propria teoria dei segni. Presentata e discussa qui per la prima volta, questa nuova teoria spiega la natura e la funzione della conoscenza nei termini della ricezione empirica di segni sensibili e della produzione mentale di segni. Quest’ultimi sono segni dei segni percepiti (signa signorum) assimilati dalla mente che, grazie al proprio potere nozionale (vis notionalis), crea congetture sulla realtà. Successivamente, la cognitio così acquisita come conoscenza congetturale prova la propria validità nel mondo esterno. Ciò presuppone l’ineliminabile connessione delle congetture con il proprio fondamento naturale ed implica la conseguente apertura alla dimensione dialogica entro cui ogni congettura viene provata, discussa e superata, contribuendo in tal modo al benessere di una comunità (ut melius vivant). Keywords: conoscenza; teoria dei segni; ars coniecturalis; homo cosmographus. DOI: https://doi.org/10.21747/21836884/med41a28
Copyright (c) 2024 Greta Venturelli https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0
A lei natural no De rege et regis institutione de Juan de Mariana (1536-1624)
O presente estudo é um primeiro approach ao tema da lei natural na obra De rege et regis institutione (1598) do jesuíta espanhol Juan de Mariana. Tentaremos evidenciar e entender o papel da lei natural, sobretudo no livro I, onde o autor trabalha as suas principais ideias políticas. Desta feita, duas perguntas se colocam como ponto de partida: (a) o que o autor entende como lei e, por conseguinte, por lei natural; e (b) como ela aparece na obra, isto é, como está associada com outros elementos teóricos ao longo do De rege. Por fim, procuraremos ressaltar o seu papel moral dentro da obra de Juan de Mariana. Palavras-chave: Lei Natural; De rege; Juan de Mariana. DOI: https://doi.org/10.21747/21836884/med41a29
Copyright (c) 2024 Lucas Duarte Silva https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0
Recta ratio, affectivity, and the good. Integration and ethics of reason in Francisco Suárez
I propose to examine the approach to reason in the Jesuit tradition, in particular in the thinking of Francisco Suárez, as well as its intrinsic connection with other basic dimensions of human subjectivity, such as affectivity or the different affections or modes of love that modulate and condition the exercise of reason, especially in the determination of its moral realization. I consider this examination pertinent, as this tradition involves both a care for the intellectual faculty of the person and a certain suspicion that “higher powers,” such as reason and will, do not act merely as “masters” or directors of human action but rather that their right use must have undergone a purification of the passions of the soul, in particular of its affections, for the right exercise of reason, or recta ratio. Hence, a critical examination of disordered affections ordered in their correct orientation is presented as a propaedeutic way to exercise recta ratio. However, reason must not only be well-organized but must also enable the subject to pursue the good. The ethics of reason is therefore a constitutive dimension of reason. This ethics, in the Jesuit tradition and in Francisco Suárez, has not only a personal but also social component. Accordingly, the pursuit of the good applies not only to the good of the person but also strictly to the common good as the horizon of the ethics of reason. Keywords: recta ratio; affectus; common good; Francisco Suárez SJ; Jesuit tradition. DOI: https://doi.org/10.21747/21836884/med41a30
Copyright (c) 2024 Juan Antonio Senent-De Frutos https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0
Alfonso Briceño O.F.M. (1587–1668) e a sua Controvérsia sobre a visão de Deus: notas sobre a renovação do debate acerca da cognição intuitiva e da cognição abstrativa no scotismo do século XVII
Alfonso Briceño O.F.M. (1587–1668), nascido em Santiago do Chile, foi um dos grandes autores da escolástica colonial latino-americana. Dentre as suas doze Controversiae (publicadas em Madri, em 1639-1642, em dois volumes), a Controversia 9 se destaca por sua extensão e por seu enfoque em assuntos epistemológicos – de resto, Briceño em sua obra discute, acima de tudo, os fundamentos metafísicos da doutrina de Deus e da Trindade. Tem-se na Controversia 9 um tipo de Tractatus de visione Dei. O seu propósito é explicitar a possibilidade cognitiva e a natureza da cognição de Deus, e essa é, com efeito, entendida como “visio Dei”. Justamente aqui, Briceño recupera e propõe a sua própria versão do debate central no scotismo acerca da diferença entre notitia intuitiva e notitia abstractiva. Neste breve estudo, pretende-se caracterizar o “tratado” sobre a visão de Deus, os termos da distinção entre cognição intuitiva e cognição abstrativa e, em especial, a forma como Briceño discorre sobre um ponto central: a perfeição e a imediaticidade da cognição intuitiva, que só podem ser entendidas a partir do debate sobre a(s) species que parecem compor os atos cognitivos humanos. Palavras-chave: João Duns Scotus; Alfonso Briceño; cognição intuitiva; cognição abstrativa; visão de Deus. DOI: https://doi.org/10.21747/21836884/med41a31
Copyright (c) 2024 Roberto Hofmeister Pich https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0
Rodrigo de Arriaga (1592–1667) and Bartolomeo Mastri (1602–1673)/Bonaventura Belluto (1600–1676) on Animal Perception of Negations
This study presents Rodrigo de Arriaga’s “exotic” theory of the animal perception of negations, such as shadows and holes, as presented in the De anima part of his Cursus philosophicus (first edition 1632). According to Arriaga, God supplies these creatures with sensible species representing these negative items. Against the background of what can be called the standard view on this subject, the paper shows how this theory was criticized by two foremost Italian Baroque Scotists, the Franciscans Bartolomeo Mastri and Bonaventura Belluto, in their In De anima (first edition 1643) of their Philosophiae ad mentem Scoti cursus integer. Keywords: perception; negations; sensible species; agent sense; Arriaga; Mastri; Belluto. DOI: https://doi.org/10.21747/21836884/med41a32
Copyright (c) 2024 Daniel Heider https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0
La cognoscibilidad de Dios según Mateo de Mimbela SJ
El Jesuita Mateo de Mimbela, español de nacimiento y profesor en Nueva España a fines del siglo XVII, representa la última versión relevante de la escolástica jesuita antes de la Expulsión de 1767, conforme lo expone en su tratado De Divina Essentia et Attributis, cuya Disputación 1 trata la cognoscibilidad de Dios. Si bien sigue la estructura tradicional propuesta en la Summa Theologiae de Tomás de Aquino, avanza considerablemente en algunos aspectos epistemológicos, en consonancia con su época. El interés de este texto radica en que pasa revista a todas las posiciones habidas en la Compañía, que había desarrollado con mayor énfasis las discusiones internas, y no sólo con las Escuelas opuestas, resultando un panorama acertado del status quaestionis de los temas que incluye, tal como lo he mostrado en mi participación en el anterior Congreso de SOFIME, con una ponencia sobre las relaciones divinas. Me centro especialmente en los siguientes puntos que considero novedosos: 1. El estatuto epistémico de la proposición «Dios existe»; 2. La discusión sobre la posibilidad de la ignorancia invencible de esa proposición; 3. Si acerca de dicha proposición es posible un acto real de fe. Palabras-clave: teología sistemática; tratado de Dios; existencia de Dios; cognoscibilidad de Dios; Mateo de Mimbela SJ. DOI: https://doi.org/10.21747/21836884/med41a33
Copyright (c) 2024 Celina A. Lértora Mendoza https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0
Evagations Diagrams in Medieval Computus
Evagations diagrams are visualisations of patterns of cyclical movements of celestial objects (that could be measured by observation and calculated using different methods, but which were difficult to grasp purely from texts), that developed as a medieval visual tradition. Its design was intended to assist the reader in making sense of complex information (presented in circulating manuscripts) through an imagetic translation of those phenomena – that are otherwise only visible through long-term sky observations. Their frequent presence in computus turned them into graphical receptacles (or templates) for different concepts related to the paths of planets, such as elongations, altitudes, latitudes and longitudes, which were key to understanding how the world worked, and to determining the usefulness of that knowledge. Starting with manuscript Bern Cod. 347, a composite manuscript produced in the second half of the ninth century in the region of Auxerre, this article will provide an overview on the transmission of diagrams of latitudes (planetary wanderings in relation to the ecliptic of the sun through the course of the zodiac) in manuscripts assembled and copied mainly for Benedictine schools, in the Carolingian and post-Carolingian periods; exploring them as pictorial representations of an established visual concept, made up of a mixture of real and imaginary data, and will inquire about the ways in which these compositions were used to convey cosmographical knowledge. Keywords: Visual Representation; Natural Philosophy; Computus; Cosmography; Latitudes. DOI: https://doi.org/10.21747/21836884/med41a34
Celeste Maria Lourenço da Silva de Oliveira Pedro
Copyright (c) 2024 Celeste Maria Lourenço da Silva de Oliveira Pedro https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0
Mujeres medievales, su aporte al conocimiento
En el presente artículo intento compartir algunos aportes realizados en el ámbito filosófico-gnoseológico, en los siglos X-XII en al-Andalus, por mujeres que, en su discurrir, nos heredaron una preciada construcción de cultura. Hemos observado que muchas de ellas han sido una fuente de subversión contra enérgicos modos de dominio jerarquizados históricamente, sin fundamento alguno de necesidad, menoscabando la heterogeneidad que se intenta uniformar con el control sobre el pensamiento, la sexualidad, el cuerpo, los deseos y la inteligencia humanos para, de este modo, arrastrar a la aniquilación el proceso de construcción de una sociedad y culturas diferentes. Ejemplifico con mujeres judías, cristianas y musulmanas que generaron concepciones religiosas, teológicas, filosóficas que fueron transmitiendo a través de su medio familiar y/o académico. Mujeres como ‘Ā’iša (s. I/VII); Dhuoda (s. IX); Hansa de Guadalajara (s. X); Maryam bint Abī Ya’qūb al-Fayṣūlī al-Anṣārī (s. X-XI); Nazhun Bint al-Qalai (s.xii); Quasmuna Bint Ismail (s.xii); ʿĀʾisha bint Aḥmad al-Qurṭubiyya (s. X); Ende (s. X); Hroswita de Gandersheim (s. X); Wallada bint al-Mustakfi (s. X); Trotula de Salerno (s. XII). Palabras-clave: conocimiento; mujeres; varones; construcción cultural; locus domesticus. DOI: https://doi.org/10.21747/21836884/med41a35
Copyright (c) 2024 Susana Beatriz Violante https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0
El pesimismo de Schopenhauer y la influencia del Periphyseon
En este trabajo se analiza la influencia del Periphyseon de Escoto Erígena en relación a la modulación del pesimismo de Arthur Schopenhauer. En la primera parte se aborda su interpretación del periodo medieval y las referencias directas a Erígena. En la segunda y tercera por qué habría que considerar la obra de Erígena como una clave importante para caracterizar el pesimismo de Schopenhauer. Palabras-clave: filosofía del siglo XIX; Erígena; pesimismo; Schopenhauer. DOI: https://doi.org/10.21747/21836884/med41a36
Copyright (c) 2024 Encarnación Ruiz Callejón https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0