The Cambridge History of Later Medieval Philosophy From the Rediscovery of Aristotle to the Disintegration of Scholasticism, 1100–1600
Book contents
- Frontmatter
- Introduction
- I Medieval philosophical literature
- II Aristotle in the middle ages
- III The old logic
- IV Logic in the high middle ages: semantic theory
- V Logic in the high middle ages: propositions and modalities
- VI Metaphysics and epistemology
- 19 Essence and existence
- 20 Universals in the early fourteenth century
- 21 Faith, ideas, illumination, and experience
- 22 Intuitive and abstractive cognition
- 23 Intentions and impositions
- 24 Demonstrative science
- VII Natural philosophy
- VIII Philosophy of mind and action
- IX Ethics
- X Politics
- XI The defeat, neglect, and revival of scholasticism
- Index nominum
- Index rerum
- References
19 - Essence and existence
from VI - Metaphysics and epistemology
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 28 March 2008
Book contents
- Frontmatter
- Introduction
- I Medieval philosophical literature
- II Aristotle in the middle ages
- III The old logic
- IV Logic in the high middle ages: semantic theory
- V Logic in the high middle ages: propositions and modalities
- VI Metaphysics and epistemology
- 19 Essence and existence
- 20 Universals in the early fourteenth century
- 21 Faith, ideas, illumination, and experience
- 22 Intuitive and abstractive cognition
- 23 Intentions and impositions
- 24 Demonstrative science
- VII Natural philosophy
- VIII Philosophy of mind and action
- IX Ethics
- X Politics
- XI The defeat, neglect, and revival of scholasticism
- Index nominum
- Index rerum
- References
Summary
First philosophy, divine science, and the science of ‘being as being’
The recovery of Aristotle's Metaphysics by medieval Western thinkers prepared the way for them to concentrate on the science of ‘being as being’ in the high Middle Ages. This work was enhanced by the translation into Latin of Avicenna's Metaphysics in the twelfth century and of Averroes' Commentary on Aristotle's Metaphysics in the early thirteenth century. But as medieval Latin thinkers began to examine Aristotle's text more closely, they encountered a problem of interpretation relating to the very nature of metaphysics.
In Metaphysics IV, c. 1 (1003a21–32), Aristotle speaks of a science which studies being as being and contrasts it with more particular sciences which restrict themselves to investigating the attributes of a portion of being. But in Metaphysics VI, c. 1 (1026a23–32), after referring to his investigation of ‘beings as beings’ and presumably, therefore, to his science of being as being, Aristotle distinguishes three theoretical sciences – physics, mathematics, and first philosophy or ‘divine science’ – and then seems to justify the viability of the last-mentioned one only insofar as it concerns itself with separate and immobile entities. One might wonder whether this first philosophy or divine science can be identified with Aristotle's general science of being as being, a difficulty which he himself recognises. He concludes the discussion by asserting that if there were no separate and immobile entity, then physics would be the first science.
- Type
- Chapter
- Information
- The Cambridge History of Later Medieval PhilosophyFrom the Rediscovery of Aristotle to the Disintegration of Scholasticism, 1100–1600, pp. 383 - 410Publisher: Cambridge University PressPrint publication year: 1982
References
(1965). ‘Demonstrability and Demonstration of the Existence of God’, in and (eds.) John Duns Scotus 1263–1065, Catholic University of AmericaGoogle Scholar
, and (1975). John Duns Scotus. God and Creatures: The Quodlibetal Questions, Princeton University PressGoogle Scholar
(1562–74C). Media expositio Topicorum Aristotelis (Aristotelis opera cum Averrois commentariis, 1.3), VeniceGoogle Scholar
(1562–74d). Commentary on the Physics (Aristotelis opera cum Averrois commentariis, IV), VeniceGoogle Scholar
(1562–74f). Commentary on the Metaphysics (Aristotelis opera cum Averrois commentariis, VIII), VeniceGoogle Scholar
(1953). ‘De univocationis entis scotisticae intentione principali necnon valore critico’, Antonianum 28:.Google Scholar
(1958). Collected Articles on Ockham, ed. (Franciscan Institute Publications, Philosophy Series, 12), The Franciscan InstituteGoogle Scholar
(1882-1902a). Commentarius in quattuor libros Sententiarum Petri Lomhardi (Operaomnia, I-IV),Collegium S. BonaventuraeGoogle Scholar
(1931). Der Seinsbegriff bei Boethius, mit besonderer Berücksichtigung der Beziehung von Sosein und Dasein (Philosophie und Grenzwissenschaften 4, pt. 1: RauchGoogle Scholar
(1966a). ‘Idea and Concept: A Key to Epistemology’ in (ed.) The Quest for the Absolute (Boston College Studies in Philosophy, No. 1), Boston College and Martinus NijhoffGoogle Scholar
(1932). ‘L'Averroisme de saint Thomas. Notes sur la distinction d'essence et d'existence à la fin du XIIIe siecle’, Archives de philosophie 9:129 –177Google Scholar
(1952a). ‘The Limitation of Act by Potency: Aristotelianism or Neoplatonism?‘, The New Scholasticism 26:Google Scholar
(1952b). ‘The Meaning of Participation in St Thomas’, Proceedings of the American Catholic Philosophical Association 26:.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
(1970). ‘The “Real Distinction” in John Quidort’, Journal of the History of Philosophy 8:CrossRefGoogle Scholar
(1947). Intuitive Cognition: A Key to the Significance of the Later Scholastics, The Franciscan InstituteGoogle Scholar
(1965). ‘Science première et science universelle dans le “Commentaire de la métaphysique” de saint Thomas d'Aquin’, Revue philosophique de Louvain 63:.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
(1972). Aquinas on Metaphysics. A historico-doctrinal study of the Commentary on the Metaphysics, Martinus NijhoffGoogle Scholar
(1939). la nozione metafisca di partecipazione secondo san tommaso d'aquino, vita e pensieroGoogle Scholar
(1950). la nozione metafisica di partecipazione secondo s. tommaso d'aquino (2nd ed.), società editrice internazionaleGoogle Scholar
(1960). partecipazione e causalità secondo san tommaso, società editrice internazionalGoogle Scholar
(1956). la structure méaphysique du concret selon saint thomas d'aquin (2nd ed.), j-vrinGoogle Scholar
(1963). ‘Albertus Magnus und die Entwicklung der Scholastischen Metaphysik’, in (ed.) Die Metaphysik im Mittelalter (Miscellanea Mediaevalia, 2), De GruyterGoogle Scholar
(1503). Egidius Romanus de esse et essentia, de mensura angelorum, et de cognitione angelorum, Venice (Reprinted Minerva 1968)Google Scholar
(1927). ‘Avicenne et le point de départ de Duns Scot’, Archives d'histoire doctrinale et littéraire du moyen âge 2:.Google Scholar
(1950). ‘La preuve du De ente et essentia’, Acta III Congressus Thomistici Internationalis: Doctor Communis 3:.Google Scholar
(1961a). The Christian Philosophy of St Thomas Aquinas (With a Catalogue of St Thomas' Works by ), tr. , Victor GollanczGoogle Scholar
(1968). ‘Sur la composition fondamentale de l'être fini’, in De doclrina Ioannis Duns Scoti. Acta Congressus Scotistici Internationalis Oxonii et Edimburgi 11–17 sept. 1966 celebrati. V. II: Problemata Philosophica, Cura Commissionis ScotisticaeGoogle Scholar
(1925). ‘La littérature quodlibétique de 1260 à 1320’, Revue des sciences philosophiques et théologiques 14Google Scholar
(1904–37). Les Quodlibets de Godefroid de Fontaines, ed. and (Les Philosophes Belges), Institut supérieur de Philosophic de l'Université de LouvainGoogle Scholar
(1973). ‘Godfrey of Fontaines: Disputed Questions 9, 10 and 12’, ed. , Franciscan Studies 33 :Google Scholar
(1937). La distinction de l'essence et de l'existence d'après îbn Sīnā, Desclée de BrouwerGoogle Scholar
(1957). ‘Cronología de la “Suma” de Enrique de Gante por relation a sus “Quodlibetos”’, Gregorianum 38:.Google Scholar
(1958). Ser participado y ser subsistente en la metafisica de Enrique de Gante, Apud Aedes Universitatis GregorianaeGoogle Scholar
(1935). Fr. Gonsalvi Hispani O.F.M. Quaestiones disputatae et de Quodlibet, ed. (Bibliotheca Franciscana Scholastica Medii Aevi, IX), Collegium S. BonaventuraeGoogle Scholar
(1924a). Neu aufgefundene Werke des Siger von Brabant und Boetius von Dacien (Sitzungsberichte der Bayerischen Akademie der Wissenschaften, Philosophisch-historische Abteilung, 1924, No. 2)Google Scholar
(1970). ‘Forma Essendi: Interprétation philologique et interprétation philosophique d'une formule de Boèce’, Les Études classiques 38:.Google Scholar
(1518). Quodlibeta magistri Henrici Goethals a Gandavo doctoris solemnis (2 vols.), Paris (Reprinted Bibliothèque S.J. de Louvain 1961)Google Scholar
(1520). Summa quaestionum ordinariarum (2 vols.), Paris (Reprinted Franciscan Institute 1953)Google Scholar
(1925). Richard de Middleton. Sa vie, ses oeuvres, sa doctrine, Spicilegium Sacrum LovanienseGoogle Scholar
(1927). ‘Gilles de Rome et Henri de Gand sur la distinction réelle (1276–1287)’, Gregorianum 8:.Google Scholar
(1930). Aegidii Romani Theoremata de esse et essentia. Texte précédé d'une introduction historique et critique, Museum LessianumGoogle Scholar
(1965). ‘Wesen und Dasein bei Heinrich von Gent und Duns Scotus’, Franziskanische Studien 47:.Google Scholar
(1968). Jacobi de Viterbio O.E.S.A. Disputatio prima de quolibet, ed. , Augustinus-VerlagGoogle Scholar
(1891–5). Opera omnia. Editio nova juxta editionem Waddingi XII tomos con-tinentem a patribus Franciscanis de observantia accurate recognita (26 vols, in 13), VivèsGoogle Scholar
(1948). Tractatus de anima loannis Pecham, ed. , Edizioni ‘Studi Francescani’ s. FrancescoGoogle Scholar
(1973). ‘Geschichte der Wissenschaft im mittelalterlichen Erfurt’. Geschichte Thüringens II 2: BöhlauGoogle Scholar
(1970). ‘Aristoteles' erste Philosophie als universale Wissenschaft von den APXAI’, Archiv für Geschichte der Philosophie 52:.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
(1927). ‘Le Correctorium Corruptorii “Quare”‘, ed. in Les premiùres polémiques thomistes, KainGoogle Scholar
(1975). William of Ockham: The Metamorphosis of Scholastic Discourse, Manchester University PressGoogle Scholar
(1932). ‘La composition hylémorphique des substances spirituelles’, Revue Néoscolastique de Philosophic 34:.Google Scholar
(1976a). ‘Le statut de la matière première chez Bonaventure’, Franziskanische Forschungen 28:.Google Scholar
(1972). Les Quaestiones super librum de causis de Siger de Brabant, Publications Universi– taires de LouvainGoogle Scholar
(1946). ‘Esse and Essentia in the Metaphysics of Siger of Brabant’, Mediaeval Studies 8:.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
(1976). ‘Some Aspects of Fourteenth-Century Philosophy’, Medieualia et Humanistica, n.s. 7:Google Scholar
(1952). The Concept of Univocity Regarding the Predication of God and Creature According to William Ockham, The Franciscan InstituteGoogle Scholar
(1950). ‘Giles of Rome on Boethius’ “Diversum est esse et id quod est”’, Mediaeval Studies 12:.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
(1950–1). ‘Giles of Rome, Auditor and Critic of St. Thomas’, The Modern Schoolman 28:.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
(1964). ‘Duns Scotus’ Teaching on the Distinction Between Essence and Existence’, The New Scholasticism 38:.Google Scholar
(1965). ‘Quiddity and Real Distinction in St. Thomas Aquinas’, Mediaeval Studies 27:.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
(1978). The Doctrine of Being in the Aristotelian ‘Metaphysics’, A Study in the Creek Background of Mediaeval Thought, 3rd ed., Pontifical Institute of Mediaeval StudiesGoogle Scholar
(1953). ‘Gilles de Rome, O.E.S.A. (ca. 1243–1316) et la distinction réelle de l'essence et de l'existence’, Revue de I'Université d'Ottawa 23:Google Scholar
(1940–2). ‘Les disputes d'Henri de Gand et de Gilles de Rome sur la distinction de l'essence et de l'existence’, Archives d'Histoire doctrinale et littéraire du Moyen Âge 13:.Google Scholar
(1973). ‘St Thomas and the Coherence of the Aristotelian Theology’, Mediaeval Studies 35:CrossRefGoogle Scholar
(1922–6). Quaestiones in secundum librum Sententiarum, ed. (3 vols.), Bibliotheca Franciscana Scholastica Medii Aevi, Collegium S. BonaventuraeGoogle Scholar
(1951). ‘Procli Elementatio theologica translata a Guilelmo de Moerbeke’, ed. , Tijdschrift voor Philosophie, 13: ;Google Scholar
(1973). The Historical Constitution of St Bonaventure's Philosophy, Pontifical Institute of Mediaeval StudiesGoogle Scholar
(1966). Die Axiomenschrift des Boethius (De Hebdomadibus) als Philosophisches Lehrbuch des Mittelalters, BrillGoogle Scholar
(1960). ‘Avant l'exil de Gilles de Rome: Au sujet d'une dispute sur les “Theoremata de esse et essentia” de Gilles de Rome’, Mediaevalia Philosophica Polonorum 7:Google Scholar
(1948). Siger de Brabant. Questions sur la métaphysique (Quaestiones in Metaphysicam), ed. , Éditions de l'lnstitut Supérieur de Philosophie de LouvainGoogle Scholar
(1966). Die Questiones metaphysice tres des Siger von Brabant', ed. , Archiv für Geschichte der Philosophie 48:Google Scholar
(1954). ‘Prime Mover, Physical and Metaphysical Considerations’, Proceedings of the American Catholic Philosophical Association 28:.Google Scholar
(1966). La Philosophie au XIIIe sièle (Philosophes médiévaux 9), Publications universitaires de Louvain Béatrice-NauwelaertsGoogle Scholar
(1977). Maître Siger de Brabant (Philosophes médiévaux, No. 21), Publications UniversitairesGoogle Scholar
(1948). ‘El pensamiento de Egidio Romano en torno a la distinción de esencia y existencia’, La Ciencia Tomista 75:.;Google Scholar
(1914). ‘Die kurze “Vita” und das Verzeichnis der Arbeiten Gerhards von Cremona’, Archiv für Geschichte der Medizin 8:.Google Scholar
(1963). ‘Existence/Essence in Thomas Aquinas's Early Writings’, Proceedings of the American Catholic Philosophical Association 37:.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
(1955). Expositio super librum Boethii De Trinitate, ed. (Studien und Texte zur Geistesgeschichte des Mittelalters, 4), BrillGoogle Scholar
(1963). Treatise on Separate Substances (Tractatus de Subslantiis Separatis), ed. and tr. , Saint Joseph College, West Hartford, Conn.Google Scholar
(1971b). In duodecim libros Metaphysicorum Aristotelis expositio, ed. and (2nd edn.), MariettiGoogle Scholar
(1954d). Sancti Thomae de Aquino super Librum de Causis Expositio, ed. , Société PhilosophiqueGoogle Scholar
(1966). ‘Die Questiones metaphysice tres des Siger von Brabant’, Archiv für Geschichte der Philosophie 48:.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
(1977). ‘Introduction doctrinale’ in Avicenna Latinus: Liber de Philosophia Prima sive Scientia Divina I–IV, E. PeetersGoogle Scholar
(1965a). ‘The Concept of Matter in Fourteenth Century Science’ in (ed.) The Concept of Matter in Creek and Medieval Philosophy, University of Notre Dame PressGoogle Scholar
(1976). ‘The Relationship of Medieval Natural Philosophy to Modern Science: The Contribution of Thomas Aquinas to its Understanding’, Manuscripta 20:.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
(1483). Quaestiones et decisiones in primum libarum Sententiarum, Urach (1491). Quodlibeta septem, Strasbourg (Reprinted Éditions de la Bibliothèque S.J.Louvain 1962)Google Scholar
(1967). Opera theobgica [OT] I: Scriptum in librum primum Sententiarum, Ordinatio, Probgus et Distinctio prima, ed. and in 1967–Google Scholar
(1964). ‘Godfrey of Fontaines and the Real Distinction Between Essence and Existence’, Traditio 20:.Google Scholar
(1974a). ‘The Dating of James of Viterbo–s Quodlibet 1 and Godfrey of Fontaines' Quodlibet VIII’, Augustiniana 24:.Google Scholar
(1974b). ‘Godfrey of Fontaines and Henry of Ghent's Theory of Intentional Distinction Between Essence and Existence’ in (ed.) Sapientiae Procerum Amore. Mélanges Médiévistes offerts à Dom fean-Pierre Müller O.S.B (Studia Anselmiana, 63), HerderGoogle Scholar
(1978). ‘Metaphysics and Separatio According to Thomas Aquinas’, The Review of Metaphysics 31:.Google Scholar
(1979). ‘Aquinas's Route to the Real Distinction: A Note on De ente et essentia’, The Thomist 43:CrossRefGoogle Scholar
(1946). The Transcendentals and their Function in the Metaphysics of Duns Scotus, The Catholic University of AmericaGoogle Scholar
(1965a). ‘The Ockhamist Critique’ in (ed.) The Concept of Matter in Greek and Medieval Philosophy, University of Notre Dame PressGoogle Scholar
(1965b). ‘The Formal Distinction’, in and (eds.) John Duns Scotus, 1265–1065, The Catholic University of AmericaGoogle Scholar
(1975)– ‘Recherches sur la productivite litteraire de Jacques de Viterbe jusqu'à 1300’, Augustiniana 25:Google Scholar
(1951). Richard de Mediavilla et la controverse sur la pluralité des formes, Éditions de l'lnstitut Supérieur de Philosophic de LouvainGoogle Scholar
(1965). Ontologie oder Metaphysik? Die Diskussion iiber den Gegenstand der Metaphysik im 13. und 14. Jahrhundert, BrillGoogle Scholar
- 5
- Cited by