Nominalism and Late Medieval Thought
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FAITH and REASON in the THOUGHT of GREGORY of RIMINI (C
FAITH AND REASON IN THE THOUGHT OF GREGORY OF RIMINI (c. 1300-1358) BY GORDON LEFF, B.A., PH.D. LECTURER IN HISTORY IN THE UNIVERSITY OF MANCHESTER F any one trait may be said to characterize fourteenth- I century thought it is the progressive withdrawal of faith from the arena of philosophy and rational knowledge. Perhaps the greatest driving force in the development of medieval thought during the twelfth and thirteenth centuries had been the confidence that the truths of faith were accessible to human understanding and rational demonstration. It had nurtured a diversity of summae and systems, designed to incorporate the conclusions derived from the accumulating wealth of natural, mainly Aristotelian, knowledge into a Christian framework; it also led to some of the greatest works of Christian apologetics, including St. Thomas Aquinas's Summa contra gentiles, with the purpose of convincing the unbeliever and the infidel. With Henry of Ghent, Duns Scotus, and, even more with William of Ockham, however, the growing doubts over such a union were given full and lasting expression. Although not the first to do so, they reverted to a conception of theology as an indepen dent pursuit which was marked off from natural knowledge in the strict sense. Theology, they held, was a self-contained corpus with its own tenets and principles. It could not be regarded as just one more science governed by laws which were applicable to all knowledge, for, as founded on revealed truth, it was dependent on faith, not natural experience. These thinkers, moreover, were so obsessed by the contingent nature of all creation that they refused to countenance the possibility of arriving at a knowledge of God through creation. -
© in This Web Service Cambridge University
Cambridge University Press 978-0-521-89754-9 - An Introduction to Medieval Theology Rik Van Nieuwenhove Index More information Index Abelard, Peter, 82, 84, 99–111, 116, 120 beatific vision, 41, 62, 191 Alain of Lille, 71 beatitude, 172, 195–96 Albert the Great, 171, 264 Beatrijs van Nazareth, 170 Alexander of Hales, 147, 211, 227 beguine movement, 170 allegory, 15, 43, 45, 47, 177 Benedict XII, Pope, 265 Amaury of Bène, 71 Benedict, St., 28–29, 42 Ambrose, 7, 10, 149 Berengar of Tours, 60, 83, 129, 160, see also amor ipse notitia est 51, 117, see love and knowledge Eucharist anagogy, 47 Bernard of Clairvaux, 79, 82, 100, 104, 110, 112–15, analogy, see univocity 147, 251 analogy in Aquinas, 182–85, 234, 235 critique of Abelard, 110–11 Anselm of Canterbury, 16, 30, 71, 78, 81, 83–98, on loving God, 112–14 204, 236 Boccaccio, Giovanni, 251 Anselm of Laon, 72, 99 Boethius, 29–33, 125, 137 Anthony, St., 27 Bonaventure, 34, 47, 123, 141, 146, 148, 170, 173, apophaticism, 8, 34, 271 176, 179, 211–24, 227, 228, 230, 232, 242, 243, Aquinas, 182–83 245, 254 Aquinas, 22, 24, 34, 47, 51, 72, 87, 89, 90, 133, 146, Boniface, Pope, 249 148, 151, 154, 164, 169, 171–210, 214, 225, 227, 230, 235, 236, 237, 238, 240, 241, 244, 246, Calvin, 14 254, 255, 257, 266 Carabine, Deirdre, 65 Arianism, 20, 21 Carthusians, 79 Aristotle, 9, 20, 29, 78, 84, 179, 181, 192, 195, 212, Cassian, John, 27–29, 47 213, 216, 223, 225, 226, 227, 229, 237, 254, Cassidorius, 124 267, 268 cathedral schools, 82, 169 Arts, 124, 222 Catherine of Siena, 251 and pedagogy (Hugh), 124–28 -
“Politics and Beatitude”, Studies in Christian Ethics
SCE0010.1177/0953946816684448Studies in Christian EthicsGregory 684448research-article2016 Article Studies in Christian Ethics 2017, Vol. 30(2) 199 –206 Politics and Beatitude © The Author(s) 2017 Reprints and permissions: sagepub.co.uk/journalsPermissions.nav DOI: 10.1177/0953946816684448 journals.sagepub.com/home/sce Eric Gregory Princeton University, USA Abstract The limits and secularity of political life have been signature themes of modern Augustinianism, often couched in non-theological language of realism and the role of religion in public life. In dialogue with Gilbert Meilaender, this article inverts and theologizes that interest by asking how Augustinian pilgrims might characterize the positive relation of political history to saving history and the ways in which political action in time might teach us something about the nature of salvation that comes to us from beyond history. This relation of continuity and discontinuity eludes dogmatic formulation, but the goal of the present article is to see where a shared Augustinianism and a shared commitment to aspects of the liberal political tradition might find illuminating disagreement. Keywords Meilaender, Augustine, Augustinianism, politics, eschatology, salvation I remember the anxiety in seeing Gilbert Meilaender raise his hand to ask the final ques- tion. It was one of my first conference presentations many years ago at the Society of Christian Ethics. I was a graduate student ruminating on the nature of desire and the relation of the love commands. Like the Israelites exploring Canaan, I felt like a grass- hopper among giants in the land. Meilaender’s frank question about my reconstruction of Augustine characteristically revealed basic issues about Christian tradition and human experience. -
Malebranche's Augustinianism and the Mind's Perfection
University of Pennsylvania ScholarlyCommons Publicly Accessible Penn Dissertations Spring 2010 Malebranche's Augustinianism and the Mind's Perfection Jason Skirry University of Pennsylvania, [email protected] Follow this and additional works at: https://repository.upenn.edu/edissertations Part of the History of Philosophy Commons Recommended Citation Skirry, Jason, "Malebranche's Augustinianism and the Mind's Perfection" (2010). Publicly Accessible Penn Dissertations. 179. https://repository.upenn.edu/edissertations/179 This paper is posted at ScholarlyCommons. https://repository.upenn.edu/edissertations/179 For more information, please contact [email protected]. Malebranche's Augustinianism and the Mind's Perfection Abstract This dissertation presents a unified interpretation of Malebranche’s philosophical system that is based on his Augustinian theory of the mind’s perfection, which consists in maximizing the mind’s ability to successfully access, comprehend, and follow God’s Order through practices that purify and cognitively enhance the mind’s attention. I argue that the mind’s perfection figures centrally in Malebranche’s philosophy and is the main hub that connects and reconciles the three fundamental principles of his system, namely, his occasionalism, divine illumination, and freedom. To demonstrate this, I first present, in chapter one, Malebranche’s philosophy within the historical and intellectual context of his membership in the French Oratory, arguing that the Oratory’s particular brand of Augustinianism, initiated by Cardinal Bérulle and propagated by Oratorians such as Andre Martin, is at the core of his philosophy and informs his theory of perfection. Next, in chapter two, I explicate Augustine’s own theory of perfection in order to provide an outline, and a basis of comparison, for Malebranche’s own theory of perfection. -
Augustinian Motifs in Mandeville's Theory of Society
Journal of Markets & Morality Volume 19, Number 2 (Fall 2016): 317–338 Copyright © 2016 Augustinian Motifs Joost W. Hengstmengel in Mandeville’s Faculty of Philosophy Erasmus Institute for Philosophy Theory of Society and Economics In the eighteenth century, the Dutch-born satirist Bernard Mandeville was generally associated with deism and atheism. Nowadays scholarly opinions about his theo- logical outlook are strongly divided. Instead of reassessing what Mandeville really believed, this article focuses on three theological motifs that recur in Mandeville’s Fable of the Bees. These typically Augustinian ideas concerning the fall of man, the two faces of evil, and the distinction between worldly and real happiness deserves more attention than they have hitherto received. Even if E. G. Hundert is right that Mandeville “abandoned the Augustinian premises” of the Calvinists and the Jansenists, he clearly did not forsake all of them. I argue that the three motifs are part of a framework within which Mandeville develops his theory of man and society. Interestingly, Mandeville’s well-known thesis “private vices, public benefits” also seems to build on these Augustinian ideas. Introduction1 The physician and philosopher Bernard Mandeville (1660–1733) was undoubtedly one of the most controversial writers of the eighteenth century. His is one of only a few names that were mentioned in one and the same breath with Machiavelli, Spinoza, and Hobbes; in the early modern period, this certainly was no compli- ment. In the eyes of his contemporaries, Mandeville, like these other radical writers, had dared to undermine sacred religion, true virtue, and good order. The Anglo-Dutch writer proposed a plan for the establishment of public houses of prostitution, authored a book with liberal thoughts on religion and theology, and produced erotic dialogues and poems. -
Can This Bird Fly?
Can This Bird Fly? Repositioning the Genesis of the Reformation on Martin Luther’s Early Polemic against Gabriel Biel’s Covenantal, Voluntarist Doctrine of Justification Matthew Barrett Matthew Barrett is Associate Professor of Christian Theology at Midwestern Baptist Theological Seminary, Kansas City, Missouri. He earned his PhD in systematic theology from The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary. He is the author of several books, including 40 Questions About Salvation (Kregel, 2018); God’s Word Alone: The Authority of Scripture (Zondervan, 2016); Owen on the Christian Life (with Michael Haykin, Crossway, 2015), and Salvation by Grace: The Case for Effectual Calling and Regeneration (P&R, 2013). He is also the editor of Reformation Theology: A Systematic Summary (Crossway, 2017). Dr. Barrett is the founder and executive editor ofCredo Magazine and the series editor of The Five Solas series. Turning the turning point History is a series of turning points that hinge on decisions inherently theolog- ical in nature. The publication and posting of the ninety-five theses by Martin Luther in 1517 is, in the opinion of many historians, that turning point on which the entire modern era depends. Historical inquiries into those theses naturally focus on Luther’s growing discontent with the indulgence system. As Luther himself would increasingly discover, his own desire for reform would be pastorally motivated, troubled as he was by the way indulgences had swayed the average late medieval Christian to use what little money he had to secure the removal of temporal punishment for sins in purgatory. Tetzel’s dramatic sermon pressuring the purchase of an indulgence only confirms that Luther’s fears were warranted.1 Nevertheless, contemporary histories pay little tribute to the complicated SBJT 21.4 (2017): 61-101 61 The Southern Baptist Journal of Theology 21.4 (2017) medieval soteriology behind Luther’s early outrage over indulgences in 1516 and 1517. -
The Patristic Legacy in the Middle Ages (II) 16:00 - 18:30 Wednesday, 21St August, 2019 Room 8 Presentation Type Workshop
Politics and Society: The Patristic Legacy in the Middle Ages (II) 16:00 - 18:30 Wednesday, 21st August, 2019 Room 8 Presentation type Workshop 499 Side by Side: Augustine's supporting role in William of St. Thierry's attacks on Peter Abaelard Delphine Conzelmann University of Basel, Basel, Switzerland Abstract How far can a theologian go? What can, and more importantly, what can't he say? It was not merely a personal rivalry, but this very question, that drove William of St. Thierry (1080-1148) to consider the theology of Peter Abaelard (1079-1142) as a problem that needed to be dealt with. For him, the limits of the theological task as such were at stake. In William's eyes, Abaelard approached the Bible in a way too speculative and philosophical manner. In contrast, he understood his own theology as Biblical and true to the opinions of the Fathers, a sentiment he strongly expressed in his Expositio super Epistolam ad Romanos. In this paper I am going to discuss William's reception of Augustine, in order to present his own reading of Romans as firmly grounded in ecclesial tradition. Not only does he take up Augustine's thought, but he uses Augustine's biographical background – mainly his anti-Pelagian fervor – to support his own fight against heretical ideas, such as Peter Abaelard's or William of Conches'. This paper will explore how William introduced Augustine as a third player into his rising conflict with the school of Abaelard, both as authority in matters of theological content and methodology, and as a role model for his concrete political actions in the matter. -
Henry of Langenstein, His Fellow Parisian Bachelors of the Sentences, and the Academic Year 1371-1372 Monica Brinzei, Christopher Schabel
Henry of Langenstein, His Fellow Parisian Bachelors of the Sentences, and the Academic Year 1371-1372 Monica Brinzei, Christopher Schabel To cite this version: Monica Brinzei, Christopher Schabel. Henry of Langenstein, His Fellow Parisian Bachelors of the Sentences, and the Academic Year 1371-1372. Vivarium, Brill Academic Publishers, 2020. hal- 03175418 HAL Id: hal-03175418 https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-03175418 Submitted on 22 Mar 2021 HAL is a multi-disciplinary open access L’archive ouverte pluridisciplinaire HAL, est archive for the deposit and dissemination of sci- destinée au dépôt et à la diffusion de documents entific research documents, whether they are pub- scientifiques de niveau recherche, publiés ou non, lished or not. The documents may come from émanant des établissements d’enseignement et de teaching and research institutions in France or recherche français ou étrangers, des laboratoires abroad, or from public or private research centers. publics ou privés. ERC-DEBATE n° 771589 Monica BRINZEI Christopher SCHABEL Henry of Langenstein, His Fellow Parisian Bachelors of the Sentences, and the Academic Year 1371-1372 Henry of Langenstein was one of most significant intellectual figures of the last third of the fourteenth century, yet a crucial date in his career is ignored in most of the specialist literature on his life and works, that of his lectures on the Sentences at Paris.1 In the scholarship that is tangential to Langenstein, the solid date of 1371-1372 has been proposed on the basis of two pieces of information: the fact that in his principia the Augustinian Denis of Modena cites Henricus de Assia as a socius, i.e., a fellow bachelor of the Sentences, and Adolar Zumkeller’s argument that Denis lectured on the Sentences at Paris in the 1371-1372 academic year. -
"Augustinianism": Studies in the Process of Spiritual Transvaluation (Review)
"Augustinianism": Studies in the Process of Spiritual Transvaluation (review) Andrew Louth The Catholic Historical Review, Volume 96, Number 1, January 2010, p. 85 (Review) Published by The Catholic University of America Press DOI: https://doi.org/10.1353/cat.0.0620 For additional information about this article https://muse.jhu.edu/article/369489 [ This content has been declared free to read by the pubisher during the COVID-19 pandemic. ] BOOK REVIEWS _______ General and Miscellaneous “Augustinianism”: Studies in the Process of Spiritual Transvaluation. By J. D. Green. [Studies in Spirituality, Supplement 14.] (Leuven: Peeters. 2007. Distrib. in the U.S. by David Brown Book Co., Oakville, CT. Pp. viii, 113. $70.00 paperback. ISBN 978-9-042-91976-1.) Augustinianism is a term that arouses a range of expectations, from a form of Christian Platonism to Jansenism. This book is not at all about Augustinianism in such a sense. Rather, J. D. Green sees the heart of St. Augustine’s thought as a capacity for transformation, or as he puts it,“trans- valuation.”In the case of Augustine himself, this is the transvaluation of late- antique philosophy by the Gospel that is found in Augustine’s own spiritual journey and in the way he introduces his congregation in Hippo to this jour- ney of transformation—essentially, the reformation of the image of God in their lives as a result of grace. He focuses on the Confessions and the De Trinitate for his exposition of the return of the triune image of God found in the soul and of the transformation achieved as the mind comes to remember, understand,and love God,and then briefly explores how this pattern is found in the Discourses on the Psalms.The following three chapters of the book take as examples of this “Augustinianism” Pope and Saint Gregory the Great, William of St.Thierry,and Walter Hilton—all thinkers and even mystics whose thought was deeply influenced by their reading of Augustine. -
Good Positive Reasons" for an Ethics of Divine Commands: a Catalogue of Arguments
View metadata, citation and similar papers at core.ac.uk brought to you by CORE provided by Asbury Theological Seminary Faith and Philosophy: Journal of the Society of Christian Philosophers Volume 6 Issue 1 Article 4 1-1-1989 In Search of "Good Positive Reasons" for an Ethics of Divine Commands: A Catalogue of Arguments Janine Marie Idziak Follow this and additional works at: https://place.asburyseminary.edu/faithandphilosophy Recommended Citation Idziak, Janine Marie (1989) "In Search of "Good Positive Reasons" for an Ethics of Divine Commands: A Catalogue of Arguments," Faith and Philosophy: Journal of the Society of Christian Philosophers: Vol. 6 : Iss. 1 , Article 4. Available at: https://place.asburyseminary.edu/faithandphilosophy/vol6/iss1/4 This Article is brought to you for free and open access by the Journals at ePLACE: preserving, learning, and creative exchange. It has been accepted for inclusion in Faith and Philosophy: Journal of the Society of Christian Philosophers by an authorized editor of ePLACE: preserving, learning, and creative exchange. IN SEARCH OF "GOOD POSITIVE REASONS" FOR AN ETHICS OF DIVINE COMMANDS: A CATALOGUE OF ARGUMENTS J anine Marie Idziak Recent proponents of a divine command ethics have chiefly defended the theory by refuting objections rather than by offering "positive reasons" to support it. We here offer a cata logue of such positive arguments drawn from historical discussions of the theory. We pre sent arguments which focus on various properties of the divine nature and on the unique status of God, as well as arguments which are analogical in character. Finally, we describe a particularform of the theory to which these arguments point, and indicate how they counter act a standard criticism of it. -
Book Viii of De Pauperie Salvatoris by Richard Fitzralph, and William Woodford's Defensorium
CHRIST'S POVERTY IN ANTIMENDICANT DEBATE: BOOK VIII OF DE PAUPERIE SALVATORIS BY RICHARD FITZRALPH, AND WILLIAM WOODFORD'S DEFENSORIUM Thesis presented for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy Department of History Bridget Riley Submitted July 2019 ABSTRACT This thesis comprises a study of two fourteenth-century texts, written as part of the mendicant controversy, book VIII of De pauperie Salvatoris by Richard FitzRalph, Archbishop of Armagh, (c. 1300-1360) and its response, Defensorium Fratrum Mendicantium contra Ricardum Armachanum in Octavo Libello de Pauperie Christi, by the English Franciscan friar, William Woodford (c. 1330-c. 1397). It introduces each theologian, speculating why such significant fourteenth-century thinkers are not more widely known to scholars of this period. It briefly explores how contemporary understandings of the practice of mendicancy have become obscured within a historiography which seems reluctant to turn to the works of the critics of the mendicant friars for information. Based on a close-reading of each text, the thesis examines FitzRalph's declaration that Christ did not beg, and Woodford's assertion that he did, noting how each theologian uses scripture, the writings of the Church fathers, those of mendicant theologians, and mobilizes arguments from the classical philosopher, Aristotle, to construct their opposing viewpoints. Focussing especially on discussions about poverty, and about the life and activities of Christ, it suggests that information valuable to social historians is located in these texts, where each theologian constructs their own worldview, and rationalizes their position. Of particular interest is FitzRalph's radical fashioning of Christ as a labouring carpenter, and Woodford's construction of a socio-economic and an anti-semitic argument to disprove it. -
Sauterdivineansamplepages (Pdf)
The Decline of Space: Euclid between the Ancient and Medieval Worlds Michael J. Sauter División de Historia Centro de Investigación y Docencia Económicas, A.C. Carretera México-Toluca 3655 Colonia Lomas de Santa Fe 01210 México, Distrito Federal Tel: (+52) 55-5727-9800 x2150 Table of Contents List of Illustrations ............................................................................................................. iv Acknowledgments .............................................................................................................. v Preface ............................................................................................................................... vi Introduction: The divine and the decline of space .............................................................. 1 Chapter 1: Divinus absconditus .......................................................................................... 2 Chapter 2: The problem of continuity ............................................................................... 19 Chapter 3: The space of hierarchy .................................................................................... 21 Chapter 4: Euclid in Purgatory ......................................................................................... 40 Chapter 5: The ladder of reason ........................................................................................ 63 Chapter 6: The harvest of homogeneity ............................................................................ 98 Conclusion: The