Demonstrability of Categories: the viae divisivae and their criticisms

From an early stage, the Aristotelian list of ten categories was seen with suspicion. Authors discussed not only the scope of the list - expressions, concepts, realities -, but also its alleged arbitrariness. One of the attempts to give an account of the completeness and sufficiency of the Aristotelian categories was inspired by a passage in Aristotle’s Topics: a via divisiva, in a shape of a tree, which covers all the possibilities. At least since Porphyry, several authors applied this scheme to the ten categories. With this work, I intend to present some of the viae divisivae created by 13th century authors, i.e., Robert Kilwardby, Albert the Great and Thomas Aquinas. In a second moment, I will give an account about Duns Scotus’ critique to this kind of procedure. According to Scotus, theviae divisivae do the opposite of what is intended.

The conclusio pulchra, mirabilis et bona: an ingenious demonstration attributable to Nicole Oresme

Hardly any other concept has occupied the minds of philosophers and scientists as much as the con-cept of infinity. Late medieval philosophy is not an exception. Especially within the context of the so-calledcalculatorestradition a new approach emerged which prioritised the analysis of physical, mathematical, and logical problems over the determination of the essence of infinity and its defini-tion. From the fourteenth century onward, it was not unusual in this context to discuss in detail some special cases of motion which included an augmentationin infinitumof the “degrees of velocity”. This paper focuses on a particular case, the “conclusio mirabilis”, a demonstration to which Oresme could have self-referred in this treatiseDe configurationibusas a “more subtle and more difficult” proof. Whereas this short text has until now been analysed according to only one manuscript, the present contribution involves a research regarding a text conglomerate made up of at least seven manuscripts which are somehow mutually connected. It is argued that an attribution of this demon-stration to Oresme is, with due caution, possible, even if further research is still needed to determine the original shape of the text. In addition, this paper includes a short reference to two later important authors, Biagio Pelacani da Parma and Jacques Almain, whose reception of theconclusio mirabi-lisremained unnoticed in the scholarship until now.

Internal Senses and Intellect in the Sentencia cum Questionibus in libros De anima I-II Aristotelis attributed to Peter of Spain

This study aims to present the internal senses and intellect in the theory of the abstraction of Pedro Hispano’s on Sentencia cum questionibus in libros De anima I-II Aristotelis and the functions of these elements in the theory of abstraction, detaining the role of the cognitive faculties as well as the internal senses, the possible intellect and the agent intellect.

On the Celestial Bodies in the Coimbra Commentary on De Caelo

I discuss in this paper some evidence of possible influence by Philoponus of Alexandria over the authorship of Coimbra Commentary on De caelo. Thus, I will analyze how Philoponus’ objections against the Aristotelian idea of nongenerated and imperishable heavenly bodies are integrated to the commentary, considering both explicit and implicit references to Philoponus that are present in the text. This discussion might add a valuable contribution to the studies of the reception of Ancient commentators in Early Modern natural philosophy.

Arborescent Structures in Medieval Sciences: Gradation and Argumentative Opposition

The medieval tendency to depict textual and conceptual contents in a schematic way through visual matrices generates different forms of conceptualization and appreciation of the philosophical tradition. This task involves the perceptual activity and the knowledge visualization. In this paper three examples of schematization models will be showed: sciences division, classifications of virtues and vices, and some practical uses of geometry. Those schemes point out the relations of gradation, opposition and division regarding to a specific set of principles, logical or geometrical, that justifies the representative disposition in which visual frameworks introduce a certain conception of knowledge order and its development.

Meteorology: elements and position in the corpus aristotelicum

In this paper, I am to present an overview of the theoretical grounds and position of Meteorologicain the corpus Aristotelicum. For that, I expose initially the arguments for the possible dating of the text. In the sequence I consider its relation with other treatises. Thus, I aim to provide support to the discussion concerning the theoretical structure of the text, focusing on the theory of exhalations and rotation of fire and air regions, respectively, material and efficient causes of meteorological phenom-ena. In each case, I point out the difficulties that proceeded from such theories

Necessary Political Aristotelianism

This paper seeks to present the intellectual framework in which the Latin translation of Aristotle’s Politics by William of Moerbeke in 1265 emerges and to some extent evaluate its first repercussions in the classification of scientia practica in the university context of the 13th century Latin. It is not a matter of making an exhaustive study of the reception of Politics, nor of scrutinizing the intellectual conditions, particularly university, of the Latin medieval world prior to the translation of Politics, but of understanding the conditions of assimilation of the aristotelian political text within the framework of understanding the practical sciences

Cartesian discourse on the rainbow versus Conimbricense treatise on the celestial arch

In this article we compare the exposition of two famous texts contemplated in the history of philosophy that deal mainly with the explanation of the meteorological phenomenon of the rainbow. The texts are the Fifth Treatise entitled From the Rainbow or Celestial arc of the Meteorological Commentaries, published in 1593 by the Jesuit Masters Conimbricenses and Discourse VIII entitled About the Rainbow from the Meteoros de Descartes, published in 1637. The pertinence of the comparison between the works mentioned is justified by a vast ban on comments on the medieval origins of Cartesian science and by Descartes himself declaring the initiative to compare both philosophical perspectives

Distinction Theory in Descartes' Philosophy

The aim of this article is to think the theory of distinctions in the philosophy of Descartes, and, from this theory, to make considerations to subjects related to Cartesian metaphysics. In this way, in the first instance, the article deals with the difference between the procedures of exclusion and abstraction, since it is a crucial difference to understand the real distinction as it is thought by Descartes. In the sequence the discussion is directed towards the real distinction, at which point, in addition to the definition and functioning of the real distinction, its conflict with the substantial union is raised. In a third, the article addresses the modal distinction and its relation with the philosophy of Francisco Suárez. Finally, it enters into the theme of the distinction of reason. At this point, the article seeks to clarify difficulties presents in the philosophy of Descartes and that concern the relations between distinction of reason, formal distinction, distinctio rationis ratiocinantis and distinctio rationis ratiocinatae.