Medieval Philosophy as Transcendental Thought: From Philip the Chancellor (ca. 1225) to Francisco Suarez

by Jan Aertsen

Overview

The origin of transcendental thought is not to be sought in Kant's philosophy but is a medieval achievement. This book provides for the first time a complete history of the doctrine of the transcendentals, from its beginning in the "Summa de bono" of Philip the Chancellor (ca. 1225) up to its most extensive systematic account in the "Metaphysical Disputations" of Francisco Suárez (1597). The book also shows the importance of the doctrine for the understanding of philosophy in the Middle Ages. Metaphysics is called "First Philosophy", not because it deals with the first, divine being, but because it treats that which is first in a cognitive sense, the transcendental concepts of "being", "one", "true" and "good".

Winner of the Journal of the History of Philosophy Book Prize competition for the best book in the history of western philosophy published in 2013.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9789004225848
Publisher:	Brill Academic Publishers, Inc.
Publication date:	03/02/2012
Series:	Studien und Texte zur Geistesgeschichte des Mittelalters Series , #107
Pages:	776
Product dimensions:	6.60(w) x 9.70(h) x 1.70(d)

About the Author

Jan A. Aertsen, Ph.D. (1982) in Philosophy, Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, is Professor Emeritus of Philosophy and Director Emeritus of the Thomas Institute at the University of Cologne. He has published extensively on Thomas Aquinas and the doctrine of the transcendentals including Nature and Creature, Thomas Aquinas's Way of Thought (Brill, 1988) and Medieval Philosophy and the Transcendentals. The Case of Thomas Aquinas (Brill, 1996).

Table of Contents

Preface ... xix
Introduction ... 1

Chapter One The Concept of transcendens in Medieval Thought: What is beyond and what is common ... 13

Chapter Two Conditions, Presuppositions and Sources of a Doctrine of the Transcendentals ... 35

Chapter Three The Beginning of the Doctrine of the Transcendentals (ca. 1225): Philip the Chancellor ... 109

Chapter Four The Doctrine of the Transcendentals in Franciscan Masters ... 135

Chapter Five Albertus Magnus: Different Traditions of thought and the Transcendentals ... 177

Chapter Six Thomas Aquinas: A First Model ... 209

Chapter Seven Henry of Ghent: The onto-theological transformation of the doctrine ... 273

Chapter Eight The German Dominican School: Dietrich of Freiberg and Meister Eckhart ... 315

Chapter Nine Duns Scotus: A Turn in the Doctrine of the Transcendentals ... 371

Chapter Ten Discussions on the Scotist Conception ... 433

Chapter Eleven The Doctrine of the Transcendentals in N

Chapter Twelve Neoplatonic Critiques of Transcendental Metaphysics ... 545

Chapter Thirteen The Doctrine of the Transcendentals in Renaissance Philosophy ... 569

Chapter Fourteen The “Metaphysical Disputations” of Francisco Suárez: Between Scholasticism and Modernity ... 587

Chapter Fifteen The Doctrine of the “Supertranscendentals”: An Alternative Model? ... 635

Chapter Sixteen Conclusion: The importance of the transcendental way of thought for medieval philosophy ... 657

Bibliography ... 707
Index Nominum ... 741
Index Rerum ... 747