The High Middle Ages were remarkable for their coherent sense of 'Christendom': of people who belonged to a homogeneous Christian society marked by uniform rituals of birth and death and worship. That uniformity, which came under increasing strain as national European characteristics became more pronounced, achieved perhaps its most perfect intellectual expression in the thought of the western Christian thinkers who are sometimes called 'scholastic theologians'. These philosophers produced (during roughly the period 1050-1350 CE) a cohesive body of work from their practice of theology as an academic discipline in the university faculties of their day. Richard Cross' elegant and stylish textbook - designed specifically for modern-day undergraduate use on medieval theology and philosophy courses - offers the first focused introduction to these thinkers based on the individuals themselves and their central preoccupations. The book discusses influential figures like Abelard, Peter Lombard and Hugh of St Victor; the use made by Aquinas of Aristotle; the mystical theology of Bonaventure; Robert Grosseteste's and Roger Bacon's interest in optics; the complex metaphysics of Duns Scotus; and the political thought of Marsilius of Padua and William of Ockham. Key themes of medieval theology, including famous axioms like 'Ockham's Razor', are here made fully intelligible and transparent.

The Consolation of Philosophy occupies a central place in the history of Western thought. Its author, Anicius Manlius Severinus Boethius (ca. 476-526 c.e.), was a Roman philosopher, scholar, and statesman who wrote The Consolation of Philosophy while in a remote prison awaiting his execution on dubious political charges. The text of this Norton Critical Edition is based on the translation by Richard H. Green. It is accompanied by the editor's preface and full-scale introduction to the work, the translator's preface, and explanatory annotations. "Contexts" reprints selections from the texts that Boethius drew upon for his own work. These include excerpts from two of Plato's Dialogues (Gorgias and Timaeus), from Aristotle's Nicomachean Ethics, and from Augustine's On Free Choice of the Will. "Criticism" collects five wide-ranging essays by major scholars of Boethius. Henry Chadwick presents a general introduction to Boethius's life and works. Nelson Pike presents a clear and insightful interpretation of what Boethius means by writing that God is eternal (timeless). The final three essays-by William Bark, Edmund Reiss, and John Marenbon-all depart from traditional readings of The Consolation of Philosophy in significant ways and are sure to stimulate classroom discussion. A Chronology of Boethius's life and work and a Selected Bibliography are also included.

Human civilization will be forever indebted to the great thinkers of Jewish philosophy's golden age. Moses Maimonedes, Levi Gersonides, Judah Halevi, Saadia Gaon, Hasdai Crescas and their like grappled with some of the most challenging metaphysical issues, while the profundity of their solutions continue to engage philosophers today. Did God create the world? Can human freedom be reconciled with divine foreknowledge? What is the nature of the good life? Focusing on the central philosophical questions of the Middle Ages, Daniel Rynhold offers a concise introduction to topics such as God and creation, human freewill, biblical prophecy, the Commandments, the divine attributes and immortality. Structured around themes that form the common "syllabus" of medieval Jewish philosophy, each chapter builds a debate around a particular topic and in so doing utilizes the arguments of the chief philosophical figures of the medieval era. Explaining all concepts in a clear, non-technical fashion, the book also provides suggestions for further reading at the end of each chapter. The first dedicated textbook to introduce the great richness of medieval Jewish philosophy as a whole, this lively and comprehensive survey is the ideal introduction for undergraduate students of the subject as well as the interested general reader.

The third volume of The Hackett Aquinas, a series of central philosophical treatises of Aquinas in new, state-of-the-art translations accompanied by a thorough commentary on the text.

The Ikhwan al-Safa' (Brethren of Purity), the anonymous adepts of a tenth-century esoteric fraternity based in Basra and Baghdad, hold an eminent position in the history of science and philosophy in Islam due to the wide reception and assimilation of their monumental encyclopaedia, the Rasa'il Ikhwan al-Safa' (Epistles of the Brethren of Purity). This compendium contains fifty-two epistles offering synoptic accounts of the classical sciences and philosophies of the age; divided into four classificatory parts, it treats themes in mathematics, logic, natural philosophy, psychology, metaphysics, and theology, in addition to didactic fables. The three epistles in this volume are among the most accessible and appealing of the Brethren of Purity's treatises. In their down-to-earth yet elegant style, they present age-old teachings on three fundamental issues: the nature of death, and what this means for body and soul; the truth about pleasure and pain, both physical and spiritual; and the multiplicity of human languages and their origins, beginning with a discussion of natural and mechanical sounds and proceeding to human speech. Rich with metaphors and illustrative parables, here we find outstanding examples of adab in the Arabic literary tradition, refined and genial philosophical discourses that reveal a high degree of sophistication and considerable literary flair.

Entirely faithful to Boethius' Latin; Relihan's translation makes the philosophy of the Consolation intelligible to readers; it gives equal weight to the poetry--in fact, Relihan's metrical translation of Boethius' metro are themselves contributions of the first moment to Boethian studies. Boethius finally has a translator equal to his prodigious talents and his manifold vision. --Joseph Pucci, Brown University

By exploring the philosophical character of some of the greatest medieval thinkers, An Introduction to Medieval Philosophy provides a rich overview of philosophy in the world of Latin Christianity. Explores the deeply philosophical character of such medieval thinkers as Augustine, Boethius, Eriugena, Anselm, Aquinas, Bonaventure, Scotus, and Ockham Reviews the central features of the epistemological and metaphysical problem of universals Shows how medieval authors adapted philosophical ideas from antiquity to apply to their religious commitments Takes a broad philosophical approach of the medieval era by,taking account of classical metaphysics, general culture, and religious themes

Substance and the Fundamentality of the Familiar explicates and defends a novel neo-Aristotelian account of the structure of material objects. While there have been numerous treatments of properties, laws, causation, and modality in the neo-Aristotelian metaphysics literature, this book is one of the first full-length treatments of wholes and their parts. Another aim of the book is to further develop the newly revived area concerning the question of fundamental mereology, the question of whether wholes are metaphysically prior to their parts or vice versa. Inman develops a fundamental mereology with a grounding-based conception of the structure and unity of substances at its core, what he calls substantial priority, one that distinctively allows for the fundamentality of ordinary, medium-sized composite objects. He offers both empirical and philosophical considerations against the view that the parts of every composite object are metaphysically prior, in particular the view that ascribes ontological pride of place to the smallest microphysical parts of composite objects, which currently dominates debates in metaphysics, philosophy of science, and philosophy of mind. Ultimately, he demonstrates that substantial priority is well-motivated in virtue of its offering a unified solution to a host of metaphysical problems involving material objects.

Mark Rowlands was a young philosophy professor, rootless and searching for life s greater meaning. Shortly after arriving at the University of Alabama, he noticed a classified ad in the local paper advertising wolf cubs for sale, and decided he had to investigate, if only out of curiosity. It was love at first sight, and the bond that grew between philosopher and wolf reaffirms for us the incredible relationships that exist between man and animal. When Mark welcomed his new companion, Brenin, into his home, but more than just an exotic pet, Brenin exerted an immense influence on Rowlands both as a person, and, strangely enough, as a philosopher, leading him to reevaluate his attitude toward love, happiness, nature, death, and the true meaning of companionship.

"Avicenna's Physics" is the very first volume that he wrote when he began his monumental encyclopedia of science and philosophy, "The Healing". Avicenna's reasons for beginning with "Physics" are numerous: it offers up the principles needed to understand such special natural sciences as psychology; it sets up many of the problems that take center stage in his Metaphysics; and it provides concrete examples of many of the abstract analytical tools that he would develop later in "Logic". While "Avicenna's Physics" roughly follows the thought of "Aristotle's Physics", with its emphasis on natural causes, the nature of motion, and the conditions necessary for motion, the work is hardly derivative. It represents arguably the most brilliant mind of late antiquity grappling with and rethinking the entire tradition of natural philosophy inherited from the Greeks as well as the physical thought of Muslim speculative theologians. As such, "Physics" is essential reading for anyone interested in understanding Avicenna's complete philosophical system, the history of science, or the history of ideas.

In his first book composed in English, Rémi Brague maintains that there is a fundamental problem with modernity: we no longer consider the created world and humanity as intrinsically valuable. Curing Mad Truths, based on a number of Brague's lectures to English-speaking audiences, explores the idea that humanity must return to the Middle Ages. Not the Middle Ages of purported backwardness and barbarism, but rather a Middle Ages that understood creation—including human beings—as the product of an intelligent and benevolent God. The positive developments that have come about due to the modern project, be they health, knowledge, freedom, or peace, are not grounded in a rational project because human existence itself is no longer the good that it once was. Brague turns to our intellectual forebears of the medieval world to present a reasoned argument as to why humanity and civilizations are goods worth promoting and preserving. Curing Mad Truths will be of interest to a learned audience of philosophers, historians, and medievalists.

Intended for advanced undergraduates, graduate students, and teachers, this new translation and exposition of the first two Questions of the Summa Theologiae explains the text in unprecedented detail. The famous "Five Ways" of Aquinas receive ample consideration. The arguments are placed in their larger context in Thomistic philosophy and traced back to first principles, which in turn are illustrated by examples and defended from common objections. All technical terms occurring in the text are defined or explained in both the commentary and the glossary. Throughout, attention is paid to the rationale behind the order in which Aquinas proceeds. 574 pages; includes three appendices, an index of primary sources useful to know in reading the first two Questions, and exhaustive glossary.

Chronologically, this translation comprises the third book of Ficino's letters ("Liber III"), as published during his lifetime, and dates from August 1476 to May 1477. They follow volume 1 and are therefore published as volume 2. Both book two and three of Ficino's Letters were dedicated to King Matthias of Hungary whom Ficino regarded as a model of the philosopher king referred to in Plato's "Republic". Indeed, Matthias was no ordinary king. He became one of the very few Christian leaders to defeat the Ottoman Turks decisively during the period of their empire's almost continuous growth from the early 1300s to the death of Suleiman I in 1566. King Matthias was also a devotee of philosophy, keenly interested in the practical study of Plato. Members of Ficino's Academy dwelt at this court, and an invitation to visit his court was extended to Ficino himself. Ficino's Academy was consciously modelled on the philosophical schools of antiquity. It was not merely an institute of learning. The bond between Ficino and the other members of the Academy was their mutual love, based on the love of the Self in each, a love capable of expression in all fields of human activity. It was because such love was the basis of his School that Ficnio could write (letter 21) - "the desire of him, who strives for anything other than love, is often totally frustrated by the event. But he alone who loves nothing more than love itself, by desiring immediately attains, and in always attaining continues to desire." It is the principle of unity to which Ficnio repeatedly returns in this volume. He returns to it not just as a philosophical concept, but as an immediate perception. In his letter to Paul of Middelburg ("distinguished scientist and astronomer"), Ficino observes - "If any age can be called a golden one it is undoubtedly the one that produces minds of gold in abundance. And no one who considers the wonderful discoveries of our age will doubt that it is a golden one. For this golden age has restored to the light the liberal arts that were almost extinct: grammar, poetry, rhetoric, painting, sculpture, architecture, music and the ancient art of singing to the Orphic lyre."

The Rationes super Praedicamenta Aristotelis of John Pagus is one of the earliest known literary products of the Arts Faculty of the University of Paris. Written in the 1230s, it is among the first extant commentaries on Aristotle's Categories and reflects a period in which philosophers had already absorbed the full range of Aristotle's logical writings and were becoming increasingly familiar with his physical and metaphysical works.

The present volume contains the first full critical edition of the Latin text, preceded by an extensive introductory study consisting of two parts. The first part describes the life and work of John Pagus, the manuscript sources, formal features, authoritative sources, and date of his commentary, as well as its relationship to other known commentaries from the period. The second part is devoted to an analysis of some of the key features of Pagus' interpretation of the categories. The author takes account of Pagus's systematic construal of Aristotle's text, focusing particular attention on his position on perennial issues such as what categories are, which categories there are, what sort of items they collect, whether or not they can overlap, and the relationship between logical and metaphysical categories. To more appreciate and understand Pagus's approach, the volume also pays considerable attention to the views of his near-contemporaries Nicholas of Paris and Robert Kilwardby.

Did God exist a thousand years ago? This book discusses and analyses the origins of questioning God and Religion in Medieval Middle Eastern and European literature and thought. Author Fatemeh Azinfar analyses two medieval texts from the Middle East, "A Thousand and One Nights" and "Vis and Ramin", both of which question God's existence and actions. Europeans such as Dante, Abelard, Chaucer, the author of Chanson de Roland, and the author of "The Pearl" poem are shown to have asked similar questions. Azinfar argues that the European authors were influenced by the religious scepticism inherent in medieval Middle Eastern texts. The roots of the ideas of rationalism, existentialism, surrealism, and feminism are traced from the Islamic world to the medieval West. Azin-far shows that a period most view as steeped in religious dogmatism was actually an analytical era, rooted in rationality, scientific advancement, and scepticism. Tales of questing knights who rescue damsels also con-tain theories that question traditional views on religion, the possibility of the existence of a physical world, and nihilism.

This volume makes available for the first time in English full translations of Book 2 of the "Sentences." It consists of forty-four Distinctions and contains an introduction to Book 2, a list of the major chapter headings, and a bibliography.

"This is one of the few books on Montaigne that fuses analytical skill with humane awareness of why Montaigne matters."--Harold Bloom, Sterling Professor of Humanities, Yale University

"In this exhilarating and learned book on Montaigne's essays, Lawrence D. Kritzman "contemporizes" the great writer. Reading him from today's deconstructive America, Kritzman discovers Montaigne always already deep into a dialogue with Jacques Derrida and psychoanalysis. One cannot but admire this fabulous act of translation."--H?l?ne Cixous

"Throughout his career, Lawrence D. Kritzman has demonstrated an intimate knowledge of Montaigne's essays and an engagement with French philosophy and critical theory. "The Fabulous Imagination" sheds precious new light on one of the founders of modern individualism and on his crucial quest for self-knowledge."--Jean Starobinski, professor emeritus of French literature, University of Geneva

Michel de Montaigne's (1533-1592) "Essais" was a profound study of human subjectivity. More than three hundred years before the advent of psychoanalysis, Montaigne embarked on a remarkable quest to see and imagine the self from a variety of vantages. Through the questions How shall I live? How can I know myself? he explored the significance of monsters, nightmares, and traumatic memories; the fear of impotence; the fragility of gender; and the act of anticipating and coping with death. In this book, Lawrence D. Kritzman traces Montaigne's development of the Western concept of the self. For Montaigne, imagination lies at the core of an internal universe that influences both the body and the mind. Imagination is essential to human experience. Although Montaigne recognized that the imagination can confuse the individual, "the fabulous imagination" can be curative, enabling the mind's "I" to sustain itself in the face of hardship.

Kritzman begins with Montaigne's study of the fragility of gender and its relationship to the peripatetic movement of a fabulous imagination. He then follows with the essayist's examination of the act of mourning and the power of the imagination to overcome the fear of death. Kritzman concludes with Montaigne's views on philosophy, experience, and the connection between self-portraiture, ethics, and oblivion. His reading demonstrates that the mind's I, as Montaigne envisioned it, sees by imagining that which is not visible, thus offering an alternative to the logical positivism of our age.

Ancient and Medieval Philosophy, Series 2, No. 20The sixteen questions in Henry of Ghent's Quodlibet XV treat a range of issues the immaculate conception, the omnipotence of God, the nature of an "instance," the absolute and ordained powers of the pope, and the nature of a just war. The text found in this book was reconstructed based on manuscripts copied from a first Parisian university exemplar, manuscripts whose model was probably a second Parisian university exemplar, and a manuscript that was in the possession of Godfrey of Fontaines."

This series offers central philosophical treatises of Aquinas in new, state-of-the-art translations distinguished by their accuracy and use of clear and nontechnical modern vocabulary. Annotation and commentary accessible to undergraduates make the series an ideal vehicle for the study of Aquinas by readers approaching him from a variety of backgrounds and interests.

Of the great philosophers of pagan antiquity, Marcus Tullius Cicero is the only one whose ideas were continuously accessible to the Christian West following the collapse of the Roman Empire. Yet, in marked contrast with other ancient philosophers, Cicero has largely been written out of the historical narrative on early European political thought, and the reception of his ideas has barely been studied. The Bonds of Humanity corrects this glaring oversight, arguing that the influence of Cicero's ideas in medieval and early modern Europe was far more pervasive than previously believed. In this book, Cary J. Nederman presents a persuasive counternarrative to the widely accepted belief in the dominance of Aristotelian thought. Surveying the work of a diverse range of thinkers from the twelfth to the sixteenth century, including John of Salisbury, Brunetto Latini, Marsiglio of Padua, Christine de Pizan, and Bartolome de Las Casas, Nederman shows that these men and women inherited, deployed, and adapted key Ciceronian themes. He argues that the rise of scholastic Aristotelianism in the thirteenth century did not supplant but rather supplemented and bolstered Ciceronian ideas, and he identifies the character and limits of Ciceronianism that distinguish it from other schools of philosophy. Highly original and compelling, this paradigm-shifting book will be greeted enthusiastically by students and scholars of early European political thought and intellectual history, particularly those engaged in the conversation about the role played by ancient and early Christian ideas in shaping the theories of later times.

Kessinger Publishing is the place to find hundreds of thousands of rare and hard-to-find books with something of interest for everyone!

In this much-anticipated work, distinguished authors Mary Beth Ingham and Mechthild Dreyer present an accessible introduction to the philosophy of the thirteenth century Franciscan John Duns Scotus. Based on their expert knowledge of Scotus, this text brings together key insights of Scotus's theory of cognition, metaphysics, and ethics in a comprehensive and unified manner.
The authors use critical texts and the most recent scholarship on Scotus to introduce the intricate vision of the Subtle Doctor to a wide audience.
This volume offers a point of entry into the world of medieval philosophy and its connection to questions belonging to natural theology: the existence of God, divine freedom, and perfection. It presents important historical information on Scotus himself, but additionally on the philosophical context in which he taught. The authors explicate his thought in light of the dominant questions of the late thirteenth century.
The integrative and comprehensive presentation of the essential elements of Scotus's philosophical vision makes this book an excellent resource. Basic concepts are explained for the non-specialist, while helpful discussions of Scotus's conceptions will be useful for those already familiar with his work.
Mary Beth Ingham is Professor of Philosophy and Associate Academic Vice President at Loyola Marymount University. In addition to numerous articles and reviews, her most recent works include Scotus for Dunces: An Introduction to the Subtle Doctor and The Harmony of Goodness: Mutuality and Moral Living According to John Duns Scotus. Mechthild Dreyer, author of numerous works published in German, is Professor of Scholastic Philosophy at the
University of Mainz, Germany. Her recent works include Scotus's Theoremata (coedited with Hannes Mvhle)in Scotus Opera Philosophica, Vol. 2, and Nikolaus von Amiens: Ars fidei catholicae.