Albert the Great, the Albert Legend, and the Legitimation of the Dominicans

By the time of his death in 1280 Albert the Great was respected not only as a theologian and philosopher, but also as one of the greatest authorities on astrology in the West. Such expertise rarely gains plaudits today, but in late medieval Europe knowledge of esoteric pursuits was held in high regard. This is why Dominicans not only did nothing to challenge the growth of the “Albert Legend,” that Albert had mastered all magical and esoteric topics, but also promoted this myth. By promoting this legend, they bolstered and legitimized the reputation of the Order of Preachers.

Thomas Aquinas and Albertus Magnus on the Problem of Evil: Insights from their Commentaries on the Book of Job

This article broadly considers the commentaries on Job of Thomas Aquinas and Albert the Great as offering a helpful theological alternative to some modern philosophical approaches to the ‘problem of evil’. We seek to show that whereas some modern philosophers understand evil as a problem for the very existence of God, whether and how God can coexist with evil was never a question that evil seriously raised in the minds of Aquinas and Albert. In fact, although the suffering of the just in particular led our medieval Dominicans to wonder about divine providence and our ability to know God in this life, they understood the reality of evil as compelling evidence for the existence of God.

Thirteenth-Century Aristotelian Logic

The aims of this paper are to show (i) that thirteenth-century Aristotelian logic (AL-13) is a logical tradition that considers Aristotelian logic (AL: the logical curriculum at the University of Paris, that is, Porphyry’s Isagoge, Aristotle’s Organon, Boethius’s De divisione and De topicis differentiis, and the anonymous Sex principia) as a system that is organized around the syllogistic argument; and (ii) that AL-13 can be characterized as the study of scientific method, of which formal analyses are a part but by no means the crucial one. I give a diachronic account of AL-13, with its continuities and ruptures, by looking at the general accounts of AL by Nicholas of Paris (1230s), Albert the Great (1250s), and Radulphus Brito (1290s).

El Llibre dels ocells de caça, o Flors de les receptes medicinals per a ocells de caça

Resum: Edició d’un dels textos de falconeria medievals conservats en català, interessant per l’extensió i per la qualitat de la redacció, amb un vocabulari ric, variat i especialitzat. Està format per la unió de dos tractats diferents i apareix recollit en un extens volum miscel·lani copiat en el segle XV en el qual es recullen, també, altres tractats, de cosmètica femenina, de cuina, etc. Tot i que les fonts del Llibre dels ocells de caça, o Flors de les receptes medicinals per a ocells de caça semblen molt abundants, anotem ací l’edició amb la que permet un acarament més evident per la proximitat entre el text llatí i el català, ja que n’és la font directa; es tracta del De falconibus de sant Albert el Gran o sant Albert Magne, del qual hi ha una versió parcial entre els folis 122v a 138v del manuscrit. Paraules clau: edició, tractats de falconeria, edat mitjana, Albert el Gran. Abstract: This work focuses in the edition of a medieval falconry text written in Catalan. This is an interesting text because of its length and the quality of its language, with a rich, varied, and specialized vocabulary. It joins two different treatises, copied into a larger 15th-century miscellaneous manuscript, in which other treatises are also collected, such as one on women’s cosmetics, another on cooking, etc. Although the sources of the Llibre dels ocells de caça, o Flors de les receptes medicinals per a ocells de caça seem very abundant, we annotate the edition with the source allowing a more direct comparison because of the proximity between the Latin and Catalan text; namely, the De falconibus by St. Albert the Great, of which there is a partial version in folios 122v to 138v of the manuscript. Key words: text edition, treatise, falconry, Middle Ages, Albert the Great.

“Mirum est si intellectus noster omnem scientiam accipiens ex phantasmate”

Albert`s so called “anthropology” is putting the human being on the top of a hierarchy of living things in virtue of a unique feature – i.e. the possession of the intellect – that offers the possibility to transcend the changing realm of nature and to rise its possessor to the dignity of his creator. Although, throughout his corpus Albert often defends the independence of the human intellect from matter and consequently from the body and senses, his works of natural philosophy seem to give us a different perspective. In De animalibus, Albert is considering the brain as the divine member of the body responsible for the operations of sensation and, to a certain degree, of intellection. Such being the case, the entire humoral activity of the human body has a direct influence on the activity of the intellect, in spite of its divine nature. Accordingly, the main purpose of my study is to point out how the classical humoral theory is integrated by Albert the Great in his physiological consideration for an explanation of the intellect placed between the murky boundaries of natural philosophy and metaphysics.

Teorias do Intelecto na Idade Média Latina. De anima III, cap. 5 de Aristóteles e sua tradição medieval

Resumo: No capítulo 5 do Livro III De anima (430a10-19) Aristóteles distingue entre o νοῦς ποιητικός (nous poietikós), chamado pelos Latinos intellectus agens (intelecto agente), e νοῦς παθητικός (nous pathetikós), chamado pelos Latinos intellectus passivus, ou seja, intellectus possibilis (intelecto possível), termos técnicos e filosóficos mais comuns. O capítulo 5 é de grande importância não só para a filosofia antiga e para os comentadores das obras de Aristóteles, como os comentários de Teofrasto, de Alexander de Afrodisias, de Simplício e Themístius entre outros, mas também para a filosofia do mundo árabe e da Europa latina. Sabe-se que Aristóteles não escreveu um tratado próprio sobre o intelecto, embora possam ser encontradas várias observações acerca do intelecto em suas obras. Os tratados do Intelecto começam com Al-Kindi, Al-Farabi, Avicena e sobretudo Averróis, e se refletem, num sentido crítico e afirmativo, (nos debates) dos tratados latinos, por exemplo, nos tratados de Alberto Magno, de Tomás de Aquino, de Sigério de Brabant entre outros. Este artigo apresenta observações preliminares e preparatórias ao projeto de traduções bilíngue (Latim-Português) dos tratados medievais sobre o intelecto ‘Teorias do Intelecto na Idade Média’ que está em desenvovlimento no Centro Internacional de Estudos Medievais da UFU. Palavras-chaves: unidade do intelecto, imaginação, intencionalidade, luz intelectual e cognição Theories of the Intellect in the Latin Middle Ages. De anima III, cap. 5 of Aristotle and his Medieval Tradition Abstract: In the chapter 5 of the III. Book of De anima (430a10-19) Aristotle distinguishes between the νοῦς ποιητικός (nous poietikós) called by the Latins intellectus agens (agent intellect) and the νοῦς παθητικός (nous pathetikós) called by the Latins intellectus passivus, or intellectus possibilis (possible intellect), most common technical and philosophical terms. The chapter 5 is of great importance not only to ancient philosophy and to the commentators of Aristotle’s works such as the commentaries of Theophrastus, Alexander of Aphrodisias, of Simplicius, and Themistius among others, but also to the philosophy of the Arabic World and the Latin Europe. One knows well that Aristotle does not have written a proper treatise on intellect; although there are several observations about the intellect in his works. Separate treatises begin with Al-Kindi, Al-Farabi, Avicenna, and especially Averroes, which Latin treatises as of Albert the Great, Thomas Aquinas, Siger of Brabant among others reflect in a critical as well as an affirmative sense. This article can be read as preliminary and preparatory observations to a bilingual (Latin-Portuguese) translation project of treatises corresponding to ‘Theories of Intellect in the Middle Ages’ which is ongoing at the International Center for Medieval Studies at UFU. Key-words: Unity of the Intellect, Imagination, Intentionality, Intellectual Light, and Cognition Theorien des Intellekts im Lateinischen Mittelalter. De anima III, 5 des Aristoteles und seine mittelalterliche Tradition Zusammenfassung: Im 5. Kapitel des III. Buchs von De anima (430a10-19) unterscheidet Aristoteles zwischen dem νοῦς ποιητικός (nous poietikós), von den Lateinern intellectus agens (tätiger Intellekt) genannt und dem νοῦς παθητικός (nous pathetikós), von den Lateinern intellectus passivus oder auch intellectus possibilis (möglicher Intellekt) genannt, gemeinhin bekannte technische und philosophische Begriffe. Dieses 5. Kapitel ist von grösster Bedeutung nicht nur für die antike Philosophie und die Kommentatoren der Werke des Aristoteles wie die Kommentare des Theophrastus, des Alexander von Aphrodisias, Simplicius und Themistius unter anderen, sondern auch für die Philosophie der arabischen Welt und des lateinischen Europas. Bekanntlich hat Aristoteles keinen eigenen Traktat über den Intellekt geschrieben, obgleich sich viele Beobachtungen zum Intellekt in seinem Werk antreffen. Selbständige Traktate über den Intellekt beginnen mit Al-Kindi, Al-Farabi, Avicenna und besonders Averroes, die sich in den lateinischen Traktaten, z.B. des Albertus Magnus, Thomas von Aquin, Siger von Brabant und anderen zustimmend wie kritisch widerspiegeln. Dieser Artikel kann als vorläufige und vorbereitende Bemerkungen zu einem zweisprachigen (lateinisch-portugiesischen) Übersetzungsprojekt von Texten gelesen werden, welche „Theorien des Intellekts im Lateinischen Mittelalter“ betreffen. Dieses Projekt ist am Internationalen Zentrum für Mittelalterstudien der UFU in Arbeit genommen worden. Schlüsselwörter: Verstand, Vernunft, Intentionalität, Anschauung und Erkenntnis