Questiones super I-VII libros Politicorum

This volume is the first complete critical edition of Peter of Auvergne’s Questiones super I-VII libros Politicorum. The Questiones was produced at the Faculty of Arts of Paris sometime between late 1291 and 1296 and is the earliest surviving commentary in question form on Aristotle’s Politics. As the introduction explains, the Questiones was philosophically innovative and became the most influential question-commentary on the Politics in the Middle Ages. The volume also includes a critical edition of an earlier oral report (reportatio) of Peter’s teaching on Books I-II and part of III which became the basis for those sections of the Questiones. This volume is of interest to scholars of medieval philosophy and the history of political thought and is a reference point for future research on the medieval reception of Aristotle’s Politics and medieval Aristotelian practical philosophy more broadly.

Introduction

This introductory chapter provides an overview of the study of the history of philosophy. In general, there is an enormous difference between those who concern themselves with ancient philosophy, those who concern themselves with medieval philosophy, and the students of the history of modern philosophy. And, across this distinction, there is a great variety of approaches. One should not forget that the historiography of philosophy itself in many ways is a product of history and reflects the historical context in which it is pursued. Nevertheless, what this book is interested in is not the factual question of why historians of philosophy do what they do, but the theoretical question, the question of how one ought to conceive of and explain what they do; though they themselves in this work may not in fact be guided by these assumptions and principles, there must be such principles to the extent that their activity is a rational activity. It is also important to note that philosophers tend to criticize historians of philosophy as being unduly historical and not sufficiently philosophical.

The Identification and Representation of Views

This chapter describes the actual work of the historian of philosophy. Ordinarily, the historian is working with a text, or even a number of texts, on the basis of which he will try to reconstruct the thought of a philosopher. This is the standard case in the history of medieval philosophy, and it is almost invariably the case for the historian of modern philosophy. In the case of ancient philosophy, however, the primary aim is not to understand certain texts, but to understand the thought of a philosopher underlying a text, if there is one. The historian has to understand and to explain a philosopher’s taking a view from the point of view of a contemporary historian of philosophy, and this means that he has to identify——to represent——the philosopher’s view not only in terms in which it is intelligible to a modern historian of philosophy, but also in terms in which it is intelligible to the historian’s modern audience. And this raises at least two questions, one concerning the translation this involves and the other concerning the language of the historian.

Interpreting Duns Scotus

John Duns Scotus is commonly recognized as one of the most original thinkers of medieval philosophy. His influence on subsequent philosophers and theologians is enormous and extends well beyond the limits of the Middle Ages. His thought, however, might be intimidating for the non-initiated, because of the sheer number of topics he touched on and the difficulty of his style. The eleven essays collected here, especially written for this volume by some of the leading scholars in the field, take the reader through various topics, including Duns Scotus's intellectual environment, his argument for the existence of God, and his conceptions of modality, order, causality, freedom, and human nature. This volume provides a reliable point of entrance to the thought of Duns Scotus while giving a snapshot of some of the best research that is now being done on this difficult but intellectually rewarding thinker.

Does Philosophy Form or Inform? (Review of the Monograph Pierre Ado “Philosophy as a Way of Life”. Transl. by O. Yosypenko. Kyiv: New Acropolis, 2020).

The review includes a book by Pierre Ado, a French philosopher, philologist and researcher for ancient and medieval philosophy. The main idea of the book is to find an answer on the question: does philosophy form or inform? In this way, the author tries to actualize the fact that philosophical discourse and philosophical life are inseparable. He believes that the recognition of philosophical life as one of the poles of philosophy will help to find a place in our modern world for philosophers who will not only renew philosophical discourse, but also direct it into their lives. This book is addressed to everyone. Ado is convinced that anyone who dares to live in a philosophical way can become a philosopher.