Dependence, Separability, and Theories of Identity and Distinction in Late Medieval Philosophy

Dependence, Separability, and Theories of Identity and Distinction in Late Medieval Philosophy PDF Author: Joshua Blander
Publisher: Shekharhb
ISBN: 9781835200476
Category : Education
Languages : en
Pages : 0

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Book Description
Ever since the waning of medieval scholasticism, critics of the intellectual activity of the period have mocked medieval philosophers for their obsession with so-called metaphysical minutiae. Humanists frequently suggested that the medievals had lost track of what was valuable in philosophizing. One topic of regular scorn for such philosophers was the continual attention to the development of theories of distinctions, for one major task to which medieval philosophers directed their considerable talents was working out careful theories of distinctions. When someone jokingly asks "How many angels can dance on the head of a pin?" she is invoking one pejorative way of invoking the medieval concern with various sorts of distinctions. To those without ears to hear, such a question can seem foolish or pointless.

Dependence, Separability, and Theories of Identity and Distinction in Late Medieval Philosophy

Dependence, Separability, and Theories of Identity and Distinction in Late Medieval Philosophy PDF Author: Joshua Blander
Publisher: Shekharhb
ISBN: 9781835200476
Category : Education
Languages : en
Pages : 0

Get Book Here

Book Description
Ever since the waning of medieval scholasticism, critics of the intellectual activity of the period have mocked medieval philosophers for their obsession with so-called metaphysical minutiae. Humanists frequently suggested that the medievals had lost track of what was valuable in philosophizing. One topic of regular scorn for such philosophers was the continual attention to the development of theories of distinctions, for one major task to which medieval philosophers directed their considerable talents was working out careful theories of distinctions. When someone jokingly asks "How many angels can dance on the head of a pin?" she is invoking one pejorative way of invoking the medieval concern with various sorts of distinctions. To those without ears to hear, such a question can seem foolish or pointless.

Dependence, Separability, and Theories of Identity and Distinction in Late Medieval Philosophy

Dependence, Separability, and Theories of Identity and Distinction in Late Medieval Philosophy PDF Author: Joshua Blander
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category :
Languages : en
Pages : 161

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Book Description
Theories of distinctions surface some of the most fundamental elements of metaphysical and logical inquiry. For many medieval philosophers, theories of distinctions provided some semblance of rational order and unity to metaphysical, logical and theological questions. The two philosophers on which I focus, John Duns Scotus and William Ockham, discuss distinctions and metaphysical adjuncts in a variety of philosophical and theological contexts. When discussing Scotus, I emphasize his development of a robust theory of identity and distinction. I give special attention to his accounts of what he calls qualified non-identity or qualified distinction, which he surprisingly says is compatible with real identity. When I turn my attention to Ockham, I focus on his use of the real distinction in the context of the common fourteenth century disputes about universals. The question of separability has long been a central one for various theories of distinctions. Students of medieval philosophy who have interacted with Scotus's theory of distinctions have generally assumed two distinct claims: (1) that the real distinction entails separability; and (2) that the formal distinction entails inseparability. I raise concerns for both of those claims. The rejection of assumption (2) depends on a careful (and controversial) reading of Scotus's account. On the other hand, the rejection of (1) is comparatively straightforward, though perhaps still controversial. Ockham's interesting claims about universals make reference only to the real distinction (or its denial). Thus the emphasis in what follows is on Ockham's account of the real distinction and the proper conditions for separability when such a distinction obtains. Because Ockham's account of the distinctions is simpler than Scotus's in important ways, the discussion of separability might initially seem like it ought to be simpler as well. Surprisingly, Ockham's account of separability in relation to the real distinction - the only relevant case, since he denies the general usefulness of the formal distinction - is complicated, and he seems to deny that separability is possible in every case in which a real distinction obtains.

Oxford Studies in Medieval Philosophy, Volume 4

Oxford Studies in Medieval Philosophy, Volume 4 PDF Author: Robert Pasnau
Publisher: Oxford University Press
ISBN: 0198786360
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 226

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Book Description
Oxford Studies in Medieval Philosophy showcases the best new scholarly work on philosophy from the end of antiquity into the Renaissance. OSMP combines historical scholarship with philosophical acuteness, and will be an essential resource for anyone working in the area.

Theories of Cognition in the Later Middle Ages

Theories of Cognition in the Later Middle Ages PDF Author: Robert Pasnau
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
ISBN: 9780521583688
Category : Philosophy
Languages : en
Pages : 352

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Book Description
A major contribution to the history of philosophy in the later medieval period (1250-1350).

Subjectivity and Selfhood in Medieval and Early Modern Philosophy

Subjectivity and Selfhood in Medieval and Early Modern Philosophy PDF Author: Jari Kaukua
Publisher: Springer
ISBN: 3319269143
Category : Philosophy
Languages : en
Pages : 295

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Book Description
This book is a collection of studies on topics related to subjectivity and selfhood in medieval and early modern philosophy. The individual contributions approach the theme from a number of angles varying from cognitive and moral psychology to metaphysics and epistemology. Instead of a complete overview on the historical period, the book provides detailed glimpses into some of the most important figures of the period, such as Augustine, Avicenna, Aquinas, Descartes, Spinoza, Leibniz and Hume. The questions addressed include the ethical problems of the location of one's true self and the proper distribution of labour between desire, passion and reason, and the psychological tasks of accounting for subjective experience and self-knowledge and determining different types of self-awareness.

Individuation and Identity in Early Modern Philosophy

Individuation and Identity in Early Modern Philosophy PDF Author: Kenneth F. Barber
Publisher: SUNY Press
ISBN: 9780791419670
Category : Philosophy
Languages : en
Pages : 296

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Book Description
Major philosophers whose views are discussed in this book include Descartes, Malebranche, Spinoza, Locke, Berkeley, Hume, Leibniz, Wolff, and Kant. In addition, the contributors of minor Cartesians, especially Regis and Desgabets, are analyzed in a separate chapter. Although the views of early modern philosophers on individuation and identity have been discussed before, these discussions have usually been treated as asides in a larger context.

Covenant and Causality in Medieval Thought

Covenant and Causality in Medieval Thought PDF Author: William J. Courtenay
Publisher: Variorum Publishing
ISBN:
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 360

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Book Description


Consciousness and Self-knowledge in Medieval Philosophy

Consciousness and Self-knowledge in Medieval Philosophy PDF Author: Gyula Klima
Publisher:
ISBN: 9781527506787
Category : Consciousness
Languages : en
Pages : 106

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Book Description
Contemporary introductions to the theme of self-knowledge too often trace its emergence in the history of philosophy to thinkers such as Ren� Descartes and David Hume. Whereas Descartes conceives of self-knowledge as intimate and first-personal, Hume contends that it is limited to our awareness of our impressions and ideas. In point of fact, self-knowledge is a perennial theme. We may, for instance, trace the lineage of Hume and Descartes on these matters to Aristotle and Plato, respectively. This volume studies philosophical treatments of self-knowledge in the Medieval Latin West. It comprises two sets of papers; the first is taken from an author-meets-critics session on Therese Scarpelli-Cory's Aquinas on Human Self Knowledge, which advances the thesis that Aquinas's theory of self-knowledge wherein the intellect grasps itself in its activity bridges the divide between mediated and first-personal self-knowledge. The second set of papers discuss self-knowledge in terms of self-fulfilment. Authors look to Aquinas's account of how we can know when we have acquired the virtues necessary for human happiness, as well as the medieval traditions of mysticism and theology, which offer accounts of transformative self-knowledge, the fulfilment that this brings to our emotional and physical selves, and the authority to teach and counsel about what this awareness confers.

The Oxford Handbook of Medieval Philosophy

The Oxford Handbook of Medieval Philosophy PDF Author: John Marenbon
Publisher: Oxford University Press
ISBN: 0190246979
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 768

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Book Description
This Handbook shows the links between medieval and contemporary philosophy. Topic-based essays on all areas of philosophy explore this relationship and introduce the main themes of medieval philosophy. They are preceded by the fullest chronological survey now available of the different traditions: Latin and Greek, Islamic and Jewish.

Aquinas's Ontology of the Material World

Aquinas's Ontology of the Material World PDF Author: Jeffrey E. Brower
Publisher:
ISBN: 0198714297
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 350

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Book Description
What is the nature of the material world? And how are its fundamental constituents to be described? These questions are of central concern to contemporary philosophers, and in their attempt to answer them, they have begun reconsidering traditional views about metaphysical structure, including the Aristotelian view that material objects are best described as 'hylomorphic compounds'--that is, objects composed of both matter (hyle) and form (morphe). In this major new study, Jeffrey E. Brower presents and explains the hylomorphic conception of the material world developed by Thomas Aquinas, the most influential Aristotelian of the Middle Ages. According to Brower, the key to understanding Aquinas's conception lies in his distinctive account of intrinsic change. Beginning with a novel analysis of this account, Brower systematically introduces all the elements of Aquinas's hylomorphism, showing how they apply to material objects in general and human beings in particular. The resulting picture not only sheds new light on Aquinas's ontology as a whole, but provides a wholesale alternative to the standard contemporary accounts of material objects. In addition to presenting and explaining Aquinas's views, Brower seeks wherever possible to bring them into dialogue with the best recent literature on related topics. Along the way, he highlights the contribution that Aquinas's views make to a host of contemporary metaphysical debates, including the nature of change, composition, material constitution, the ontology of stuff vs. things, the proper analysis of ordinary objects, the truthmakers for essential vs. accidental predication, and the metaphysics of property possession.