Blackwell Readings in Medieval Philosophy

(Ed. Gyula Klima, Fordham University)

The material will be organized thematically, or “doctrinally” (as opposed to, say,
chronologically, or around single problems), adhering to the medievals’ own conception
of the division of philosophical disciplines. The introduction to each major division will
clarify the similarities and differences between the medieval and modern conceptions of
the scope of each philosophical discipline, and the peculiarities of the characteristic
medieval genres and methods in approaching these different fields. Within the
subdivisions there is a chronological order, mostly paralleled by the order of difficulty of
the readings. But each subdivision covers the chronological range between early and late
medieval philosophy, giving a taste of changing treatments of the same topics.
Accordingly, it will be relatively easy for instructors to “fine-tune” the actual selections
they use for particular courses of slightly different levels.

1. Logic and Epistemology (259 pages/123 pages)

1.1. The Scope and Divisions of Disciplines (41 pages/23 pages)
1.1.1. Augustine: “A brief history of ancient philosophy, the distinctions of
philosophical disciplines and discussion of the relationship between faith and
reason”, On the City of God, bk. 8, cc. 2-11. (10 pages)
1.1.2. Hugh of Saint Victor: “An introduction into the seven liberal arts”, The
Didascalicon of Hugh of St. Victor, with notes and tr. by J. Taylor, Columbia
University Press: New York, 1961, rpt. 1991), bk. 1, cc. 1-5, bk. 2, cc. 1-3, cc. 6-
18, cc. 28-30. (13 pages)
1.1.3. Anonymous 12th-century author: “The division of science”, Dialectica
Monacensis, in: Logica Modernorum, tr. Klima, Gyula, (1 page with diagram)
1.1.4. Aquinas: “On the division of theoretical science”, q. 5, a. 1, of Expositio
super Librum Boethii de Trinitate, available in: The Division and Methods of the
Sciences: Questions V and VI of his Commentary on the De Trinitate of Boethius.
Tr.: Maurer, Armand, 4th rev. ed. Mediaeval Sources in Translation, 3. Toronto:
Pontifical Institute of Mediaeval Studies, 1986. (13 pages)
1.1.5. Buridan: “What constitutes the unity of science”, Summulae de Dialectica,
tr. Klima, Gyula, Yale University Press, New Haven, 2001, 8.3.6, pp. 681-687. (6
pages)
1.2. Predicables and Universals (67 pages/40 pages)
1.2.1. Porphyry: “Isagoge”, tr. Spade, Paul, in: Five Texts on the Medieval
Problem of Universals, Hackett: Indianapolis, 1994, pp. 1-11. (10 pages)
1.2.2. Boethius: “Second Commentary on Porphyry’s Isagoge”, tr. Spade, Paul,
in: Five Texts on the Medieval Problem of Universals, Hackett: Indianapolis,
1994. pp. 20-25. (5 pages)

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 1.2.3. Abelard: “Logica Ingredientibus”, tr. Spade, Paul, in: Five Texts on the
Medieval Problem of Universals, Hackett: Indianapolis, 1994, pp. 26-29, 37-56.
(22 pages)
1.2.4. John of Salibury: “Metalogicon”, bk. 2, cc. 17, in: Baird, Forrest E. –
Kaufmann, Walter (eds.), Medieval Philosophy, Prentice Hall: Upper Saddle
River, N.J., 2000, pp. 206-208. (2 pages)
1.2.5. Walter Burley: “A question on universals”, tr. Klima, Gyula (to be done),
in: Burlei Super Artem Veterem, Minerva: Frankfurt, 1967. (15 pages)
1.2.6. William Ockham: “On Universals”, in: Summa totius Logicae, bk. 1, cc. 14-
16, available in Philosophical Writings, tr. Boehner, Philotheus, Hackett:
Indianapolis, 1990, pp. 32-40. (8 pages)
1.2.6. John Buridan: “On the Predicables”, Summulae, 2.1.1-3. (5 pages)
1. 3. The Properties of Terms (57 pages)
1.3.1. Lambert of Auxerre: “On the Properties of Terms”, from the Logica Alberti
(who may actually not have been Lambert of Auxerre), in: The Cambridge
Translations of Medieval Philosophical Texts, tr. Kretzmann, Norman, Cambridge
University Press: Cambridge, 1988, pp. 104-118. (14 pages)
1.3.2 Walter Burley: “On Supposition”, in: On the Purity of the Art of Logic, tr.
Spade, Paul V., pp. 79-100. (21 pages)
1.3.3. William Ockham: “On Terms”, Summa Totius Logicae, in: Hyman, Arthur
– Walsh, James J., Philosophy in the Middle Ages, Hackett: Indianapolis, 1973,
pp. 653-662. (8 pages)
1.3.3. John Buridan: “On Supposition”, in: Summulae de Dialectica, tr. Klima,
Gyula, Yale University Press: New Haven, 2001, pp. 221-228; 251-258. (14
pages)
1.4. Universal Knowledge, Illumination vs. Abstraction (49 pages/29 pages)
1.4.1. Augustine: “On Divine Ideas and Illumination”, On Eighty-Three Different
Questions, q. 46, 1-2, in: The Essential Augustine, tr. Bourke, Vernon J., Hackett:
Indianapolis, 1974, pp. 62-63. + On the Free Choice of the Will, bk. 2, c. 8, in:
Baird-Kaufmann, pp. 82-84. (4 pages)
1.4.2. Matthew of Aquasparta: “On Divine Illumination”, Bonaventure, et al., De
Humanae Cognitionis Ratione: anecdota quaedam Seraphici Doctoris Sancti
Bonaventurae et nonnulorum eius discipulorum, Ad Claras Aquas (Quaracchi):
St. Bonaventure, 1883, tr. Klima, Gyula, pp. 94-96. (2 pages)
1.4.4. Thomas Aquinas: “Illumination vs. Abstraction”, selections from Summa
Theologiae, qq. 84-85, in: Baird-Kaufmann, pp. 372-380. (8 pages)
1.4.5. Thomas Aquinas: “Our Knowledge of the First Principles of
Demonstration”, in: Commentary on Aristotle’s Posterior Analytics, bk. 2, lc. 20.
(5 pages)

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 1.4.5. Henry of Ghent: “Can a Human Being Know Anything without Divine
Illumination?”, Summa Quaestionum Ordinarium, q. 2, a. 1, in: The Cambridge
Translations of Medieval Philosophical Texts, tr. Pasnau, Robert, pp. 110-135.
(15 pages)
1.4.6. Duns Scotus: “On Illumination”, Ordinatio, I, d. 3, a. 4, in: Spade, P. V., A
Survey of Medieval Philosophy, (online, in public domain) 1985, pp. 439-459. (20
pages)
1.5. Knowledge and Skepticism (45 pages/31 pages)
1.5.1. Augustine: “If I am deceived, I exist”, selections from On the City of God
and On Trinity, in: The Essential Augustine, tr. Bourke, Vernon J., pp. 33-36. (3
pages)
1.5.2. Avicenna: “The Suspended/Flying Man”, S. van Riet, ed., Avicenna
Latinus: Liber de anima seu sextus De naturalibus, 2 vols., (vol. 1, Louvain: E.
Peeters, and Leiden: E. J. Brill, 1972; vol. 2: Louvain: Editions orientalistes, and
Leiden: E. J. Brill, 1968), I, 1, vol. 1, pp. 36-37 lines 49-68 (=Venice edition of
1508, fol. 2rb, marginal letter X), in: Spade, P. V., A Survey of Medieval
Philosophy, (online, in public domain) 1985, p. 460. (1 page)
1.5.2. Henry of Ghent: “Can a Human Being Know Anything?”, Summa
Quaestionum Ordinarium, q. 1, a. 1, in: The Cambridge Translations of Medieval
Philosophical Texts, tr. Pasnau, Robert, pp. 94-108. (14 pages)
1.5.3. William Crathorn: “On the Possibility of Infallible Knowledge”, in:
Questions on the First Book of Lombard’s Sentences, q. 1, conclusions 8-13, in:
The Cambridge Translations of Medieval Philosophical Texts, tr. Pasnau, Robert,
pp. 291-298. (7 pages)
1.5.4. Nicholas of Autrecourt: “Letters to Bernard of Arezzo”, in: Nicholas of
Autrecourt: His Correspondence with Master Giles and Bernard of Arezzo, A
Critical Edition from the Two Parisian Manuscripts with An Introduction, English
Translation, Explanatory Notes and Indexes by L. M. De Rijk E.J. Brill: Leiden-
New York-Köln, 1994, pp. 46-75. (15 pages)
1.5.5. John Buridan: “On Scientific Knowledge”, selections in Hyman, Arthur –
Walsh, James J., Philosophy in the Middle Ages, Hackett: Indianapolis, 1973, pp.
751-759. (8 pages)
2. Philosophy of Nature, Philosophy of the Soul, Metaphysics (213 pages/153 pages)
2.1. Hylomorphism, Causality, Natural Philosophy (71 pages/61 pages)
2.1.1. Avicebron (Solomon Ibn Gabirol): “Fountain of Life”, in: Hyman, Arthur –
Walsh, James J., Philosophy in the Middle Ages, Hackett: Indianapolis, 1973, pp.
359-368. (8 pages)
2.1.2. Aquinas: “On the Principles of Nature”, tr. Klima, Gyula, online, in public
domain. (10 pages)
2.1.3. Aquinas: “On the Mixture of Elements”, Spade, Paul, online, in public
domain: http://pvspade.com/Logic/docs/mixture.pdf (4 pages)

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 2.1.4. Siger of Brabant: “Question on the Eternity of the World”, in Hyman-
Walsh, pp. 493-502. (9 pages)
2.1.5. Giles of Rome: “The Errors of Philosophers”, in: Shapiro, pp. 386-400. (14
pages)
2.1.6. “The Condemnation of 1277”, in H & W, pp. 584-591. (7 pages)
2.1.5. William Ockham: “On Projectile Motion”, in H & W, p. 689. (1 page)
2.1.5. John Buridan: “The Theory of Impetus and its Applications”, in: Shapiro,
529-547. (18 pages)
2.2. Human Nature and the Philosophy of the Soul (45 pages/27 pages)
2.2.1. Augustine: “On Mind/Body Dualism”, On the Customs of the
Catholic Church [ = De moribus ecclesiae catholicae], I, 4, 6, in
Spade, Survey, p. 383. + De Civitate, 29, 3, in H&W, p. 89. (1
page) PL 32, col. 1313
2.2.2. Alfarabi: “The Letter concerning the Intellect”, Hyman-Walsh, pp. 215-
221. (7 pages)
2.2.3. Avicenna: “Concerning the Soul”, in: Baird-Kaufmann, pp. 219-230. (11
pages)
2.1.5. Averroes: “Long Commenatry on De Anima”, in: Hyman-Walsh, pp, 324-
334. (10 pages)
2.1.10. Siger of Brabant: “On the Intellective Soul”, in Wippel-Wolter, pp. 360-
365. (5 pages)
2.1.9. Aquinas: “Questions from the Summa Theologiae on the Soul”, Baird-
Kaufmann, pp. 363-372. (8 pages)
2.1.10. Buridan: “Questions on the Soul”, bk. 3, q. 4 and q. 11, tr. Jack Zupko. (14
pages)
2.3. Metaphysics, Existence and Essence (33 pages/23 pages)
2.3.1. Avicenna (Ibn Sina): “On Common Nature”, in: Spade, P. V., A Survey of
Medieval Philosophy, (online, in public domain) 1985, pp. 461-462. (2 pages)
2.3.2. Aquinas: “On Being and Essence”, in Baird-Kaufmann, pp. 418-434. (16
pages)
2.3.3. Thomas de Vio Cajetan: “Question on Essence and Existence”, q. 12
(neatly summarizing and arguing against the position of Scotus) of Commentary
on Being and Essence, translated from the Latin with an Introduction by L. H.
Kendzierski and F. C. Wade, Milwaukee, Wis., Marquette University Press, 1964,
pp. 217-227. (10 Pages)
2.3.4. John Buridan: “Questions on Essence and Existence”, in: H & W, pp. 760-
765. (5 pages)
2.4. God’s Existence and Essence (64 pages/42 pages)

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 2.4.1. Augustine: “On the Fee Choice of the Will”, in B & K, pp. 75-92. (17
pages)
2.4.2. Moses Maimonides: “The Guide of the Perplexed”, in B & K, pp. 259-272.
(13 pages)
2.4.4. Anselm of Canterbury: “Selections from his Monologion and Proslogion”,
in: The Major Works, ed. Davies, B. – Evans, G. R., Oxford University Press:
Oxford, 1998, pp. 11-12, 87-88, 97-100. (7 pages)
2.4.3. Peter Abelard, Theologia Scholarium III, ed. E. Buytaert and C. Mews
(Turnhout; Brepols, 1987), tr. Marenbon, John, especially for this volume. (The
translation in Bosley-Tweedale is bad.) (5 pages)
2.4.5. Thomas Aquinas: “Questions from the Summa Theologiae”, in BK, pp. pp.
345-354. (8 pages)
2.4.6. William Ockham: “The Proof of the Existence of God”, in: Boehner, pp.
115-126. (14 pages)
3. Moral Philosophy (54 pages)
3.1. Goodness and Being (16 pages)
3.1.1. Augustine: “The Problem of Evil”, in: Enchiridion, tr. Hibbs, T., Regnery
Publishing Inc.: Washington, D.C., 1961, cc. 10-13. pp. 10-14. (4 pages)
3.1.2. Augustine: “Evil in a Good Creation”, On the City of God, bk. 11, cc. 22-
23, tr. Bettenson, H., Penguin Books: London-New York, etc., (1972, tr.
copyright), 1984, pp. 453-458. (5 pages)
3.1.3. Boethius: “De Hebdomadibus”, tr. MacDonald, Scott, in: Being and
Goodness, ed. Scott MacDonald, Cornell University Press, 1991, pp. 299-304. (5
pages)
Thomas Aquinas: “On Goodness and Being”, tr. Klima, Gyula, Summa
Theologiae, I, q. 5, a. 1, (2 pages)
3.2. Freedom of the Will (29 pages)
3.2.1. Augustine: “The Divided Will,” Confessions, in B&K, pp. 99-103. (4
pages)
3.2.2. Boethius: “On Divine Foreknowledge and Freedom of the Will”, in:
Consolation of Philosophy, tr. Relihan, Joel C., Hackett: Indianapolis, 2001, bk. 5,
c. 6 (prose), pp. 144-150. (6 pages)
3.2.2. Anselm of Canterbury: “On Free Will,” (complete), in: D&E, pp. 175-192.
(17 pages)
3.3.3. Henry of Ghent: “On the Primacy of the Will”, Quodlibet 1, q. 14, in:
Quodlibetal Questions on Free Will, tr. Teske, Roland, Marquette University
Press, Milwaukee, Wisconsin, 1993, pp. 25-31. (6 pages)
3.3. Virtues and Happiness (19 pages)

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 3.3.1. Boethius Dacus: “On the Supreme Good, or on the Life of the Philosopher”,
in, Wippel-Wolter, pp. 369-375. (6 pages)
3.3.2. Aquinas: “On Happiness”, ST I-II, qq. 1-5 (selections), in B&K, pp. 383-
388. (5 pages)
3.3.3. William Ockham: “Concerning Virtues and Vices”, tr. Keele, Rondo,
Opera Philosophica et Theologica. Gedeon Gál et al., series ed. Vol. VIII.
Gillelmus de Ockham, Opera Theologica, Quaestiones Variae, Girardus I.
Etzkorn, Franciscus E. Kelly, and Josephus C. Wey, C.S.B., vol. eds. Circa
virtutes et vitia is q. VI, a. X. St. Bonaventure: The Franciscan Institute, 1994. pp.
272-286. The translation is in the public domain. Available here:
http://pvspade.com/Logic/docs/circavirtutes.htm (8 pages)
3.4. Divine Law, Natural Law, Positive Law (10 pages)
3.4.1. Aquinas: “From the ‘Treatise on Law’”, in: Treatise on Law, tr. Regan,
Richard, J., Hackett: Indianapolis, 2000, ST I-II, q. 91. pp. 7-17, (10 pages)