Readings on the Condemnation of 1277

 

 

Dr. Creighton Rosental will present a lecture entitled “Medieval Aristotelianism: Condemnation and Confluence” during our class session on Thursday, April 5. A description of the lecture and speaker is found below. In preparation for his lecture, please read the following texts, which are all posted online in the form of PDF files. Print them out, follow the instructions below when reading them, and bring them with you to class.

 

 

Siger of Brabant, “On the Intellective Soul”

            http://www.fordham.edu/gsas/phil/klima/Blackwell-proofs/MP_C26.pdf

You need only to read this to get the general sense: Don’t worry if you don’t fully understand the arguments. (4 pages)


Boethius of Dacia: “On the Supreme Good”

http://www.fordham.edu/gsas/phil/klima/Blackwell-proofs/MP_C43.pdf

Read this carefully. (5 pages)

 

 

Giles of Rome “On the Errors of the Philosophers”

http://www.fordham.edu/gsas/phil/klima/Blackwell-proofs/MP_C21.pdf

Read chs. 1-3. (3 pages)

 

 

“The Condemnations of 1277”

http://www.fordham.edu/gsas/phil/klima/Blackwell-proofs/MP_C22.pdf

You aren’t required to read this carefully, but at a minimum skim it online. Note that the "A" theses are purportedly positions held by Aquinas. (10 pages)

 

 

 

 

 

A lecture in the SCSU Philosophy Department Colloquium Series:

 

“Medieval Aristotelianism: Condemnation and Confluence”

 

Dr. Creighton Rosental

 

Thursday, April 5, 1:50 pm, EN B218; Questions and Discussion: 3:15 pm, EN D227

 

The return of the Aristotelian corpus to the Latin West in the 13th century resulted in a great deal of intellectual turbulence. Aristotle's logical Organon, which had not been lost to the West, was highly respected and widely studied, and many considered his newly re-found scientific and metaphysical works just as exciting. Other, more conservative, philosophers saw the study of this new Aristotelian material as a threat to important Christian doctrinal positions, for example, that the universe had a beginning, and that we each have a unique soul. This talk will examine the history of the reaction to Aristotle by Medieval philosophers and theologians, and look closely at some of the issues that caused so much trouble.

 

Dr. Creighton Rosental received his Ph.D. in philosophy from the University of Massachusetts, Amherst.  He is currently assistant professor of philosophy at Mercer University in Macon, Georgia.  His manuscript, "Aquinas's Resolution of the Problem of Faith and Reason" is pending publication.