The Nature of Natural Philosophy in the Late Middle Ages (Studies in Philosophy and the History of Philosophy, Volume 52)
Title | The Nature of Natural Philosophy in the Late Middle Ages (Studies in Philosophy and the History of Philosophy, Volume 52) PDF eBook |
Author | Edward Grant |
Publisher | CUA Press |
Pages | 377 |
Release | 2010-04-05 |
Genre | History |
ISBN | 0813217385 |
In this volume, distinguished scholar Edward Grant identifies the vital elements that contributed to the creation of a widespread interest in natural philosophy, which has been characterized as the "Great Mother of the Sciences."
Nature in Medieval Thought
Title | Nature in Medieval Thought PDF eBook |
Author | Chumaru Koyama |
Publisher | BRILL |
Pages | 203 |
Release | 2022-04-19 |
Genre | Philosophy |
ISBN | 9004453172 |
This volume deals with the medieval concept of nature under various aspects ( such as natural law and the foundation of ethics, the metaphysical and theological understanding of nature, final causality and explanation, nature as the object of science) and from different perspectives : Aristotle and Thomas Aquinas, Thierry of Chartres and the philosophy of nature in the 12th century, Henry Bate and William of Ockham, Duns Scotus. This publication is the result of a research project patronized by Waseda University in Tokyo which confronted Japanese and Western views on nature. It was assumed that an intercultural dialogue on nature, which still is a central concept in modern thought, both ecological and ethical, is not possible without an historical understanding of the formation of this concept in medieval culture. The various contributions of Japanese and Western scholars offer the medieval precedents for such a dialogue.
The Foundations of Modern Science in the Middle Ages
Title | The Foundations of Modern Science in the Middle Ages PDF eBook |
Author | Edward Grant |
Publisher | Cambridge University Press |
Pages | 268 |
Release | 1996-10-28 |
Genre | History |
ISBN | 9780521567626 |
This 1997 book views the substantive achievements of the Middle Ages as they relate to early modern science.
State and Nature
Title | State and Nature PDF eBook |
Author | Peter Adamson |
Publisher | Walter de Gruyter GmbH & Co KG |
Pages | 440 |
Release | 2021-04-19 |
Genre | Philosophy |
ISBN | 3110731037 |
A much-maligned feature of ancient and medieval political thought is its tendency to appeal to nature to establish norms for human communities. From Aristotle's claim that humans are "political animals" to Aquinas' invocation of "natural law," it may seem that pre-modern philosophers were all too ready to assume that whatever is natural is good, and that just political arrangements must somehow be natural. The papers in this collection show that this assumption is, at best, too crude. From very early, for instance in the ancient sophists' contrast between nomos and physis, there was recognition that political arrangements may be precisely artificial, not natural, and it may be questioned whether even such supposed naturalists as Aristotle in fact adopt the quick inference from "natural" to "good." The papers in this volume trace the complex interrelations between nature and such concepts as law, legitimacy, and justice, covering a wide historical range stretching from Plato and the Sophists to Aristotle, Hellenistic philosophy, Cicero, the Neoplatonists Plotinus and Porphyry, ancient Christian thinkers, and philosophers of both the Islamic and Christian Middle Ages.
State and Nature
Title | State and Nature PDF eBook |
Author | Peter Adamson |
Publisher | Walter de Gruyter GmbH & Co KG |
Pages | 435 |
Release | 2021-04-19 |
Genre | Philosophy |
ISBN | 3110730944 |
A much-maligned feature of ancient and medieval political thought is its tendency to appeal to nature to establish norms for human communities. From Aristotle's claim that humans are "political animals" to Aquinas' invocation of "natural law," it may seem that pre-modern philosophers were all too ready to assume that whatever is natural is good, and that just political arrangements must somehow be natural. The papers in this collection show that this assumption is, at best, too crude. From very early, for instance in the ancient sophists' contrast between nomos and physis, there was recognition that political arrangements may be precisely artificial, not natural, and it may be questioned whether even such supposed naturalists as Aristotle in fact adopt the quick inference from "natural" to "good." The papers in this volume trace the complex interrelations between nature and such concepts as law, legitimacy, and justice, covering a wide historical range stretching from Plato and the Sophists to Aristotle, Hellenistic philosophy, Cicero, the Neoplatonists Plotinus and Porphyry, ancient Christian thinkers, and philosophers of both the Islamic and Christian Middle Ages.
Medieval Thought
Title | Medieval Thought PDF eBook |
Author | David Edward Luscombe |
Publisher | Oxford University Press, USA |
Pages | 258 |
Release | 1997 |
Genre | Philosophy |
ISBN | 0192891790 |
The Middle Ages span a period of well over a millennium: from the emperor Constantine's Christian conversion in 312 to the early sixteenth century. During this time there was remarkable continuity of thought, but there were also many changes made in different philosophies: various breaks, revivals and rediscoveries. David Luscombe's history of Medieval Thought steers a clear path through this long period, beginning with three great influences on medieval philosophy: Augustine, Boethius, and Pseudo-Denis, and focusing on Alcuin, then Anselm, Abelard, Aquinas, Ockham, Duns Scotus, and Eckhart amongst others from the twelfth to the fifteenth century. Medieval philosophy is widely regarded as having a theological and religious orientation, but more recently attention has been given to the early study of logic, language, and the philosophy of science. This history therefore gives a fascinating insight into medieval views on aspects such as astronomy, materialism, perception, and the nature of the soul, as well as of God.
Don't Think for Yourself
Title | Don't Think for Yourself PDF eBook |
Author | Peter Adamson |
Publisher | University of Notre Dame Pess |
Pages | 249 |
Release | 2022-10-15 |
Genre | Philosophy |
ISBN | 0268203385 |
How do we judge whether we should be willing to follow the views of experts or whether we ought to try to come to our own, independent views? This book seeks the answer in medieval philosophical thought. In this engaging study into the history of philosophy and epistemology, Peter Adamson provides an answer to a question as relevant today as it was in the medieval period: how and when should we turn to the authoritative expertise of other people in forming our own beliefs? He challenges us to reconsider our approach to this question through a constructive recovery of the intellectual and cultural traditions of the Islamic world, the Byzantine Empire, and Latin Christendom. Adamson begins by foregrounding the distinction in Islamic philosophy between taqlīd, or the uncritical acceptance of authority, and ijtihād, or judgment based on independent effort, the latter of which was particularly prized in Islamic law, theology, and philosophy during the medieval period. He then demonstrates how the Islamic tradition paves the way for the development of what he calls a “justified taqlīd,” according to which one develops the skills necessary to critically and selectively follow an authority based on their reliability. The book proceeds to reconfigure our understanding of the relation between authority and independent thought in the medieval world by illuminating how women found spaces to assert their own intellectual authority, how medieval writers evaluated the authoritative status of Plato and Aristotle, and how independent reasoning was deployed to defend one Abrahamic faith against the other. This clear and eloquently written book will interest scholars in and enthusiasts of medieval philosophy, Islamic studies, Byzantine studies, and the history of thought.