Readings in Medieval Philosophy

The most comprehensive collection of its kind, this unique anthology presents fifty-four readings--many of them not widely available--by the most important and influential Christian, Jewish, and Muslim philosophers of the Middle Ages. The text is organized topically, making it easily accessible to students, and the large selection of readings provides instructors with maximum flexibility in choosing course material. Each thematic section is comprised of six chronologically arranged readings. This organization focuses on the major philosophical issues and allows a smooth introduction to the material. The topics covered are: (1) The Existence of God, (2) Ethics and the Problem of Evil, (3) God's Foreknowledge and Free Will, (4) Theology, (5) Political Philosophy, (6) Knowledge and Sensation, (7) Universals, (8) Logic and the Philosophy of Language and (9) Physics. Each text is preceded by a biographical note on the author and a brief analytical introduction. Unlike other anthologies, which present sources as a series of truncated excerpts, this collection avoids intrusive editing and includes many selections in their entirety, thus preserving the rich flavor of the medieval mind at work.

Table of Contents:
PART I: THE EXISTENCE OF GOD 1: St. Augustine: The Free Choice of the Will, Book II, Chapters 3-15 2: Avicenna: The Proof of God's Existence from The Metaphysica of Avicenna 3: St. Anselm and Gaunilon: Proslogium, Preface and Chapters I-IV; An Appendix in Behalf of the Fool by Gaunilon and Anselm's Apologetic 4: William of Auvergne: The Trinity, Or The First Principle, Chapters I-III 5: St, Thomas Aquinas: Summa Theologica Part I: Question I, Articles 1 and 2; Question II, Articles 1, 2 and 3 6: John Duns Scotus: "On the Existence of God" from A Treatise on God as First Principle PART II: ETHICS AND THE PROBLEM OF EVIL 7: Pseudo-Dionysius: "The Nature of Evil" from The Divine Names, Chapter Four 8: Solomon Ibn Gabirol: The Improvement of the Moral Qualities 9: Peter Abelard: Ethics, Prologue and Chapters I-XVI 10: Moses Maimonides: Laws Concerning Character Traits 11: St.Thomas Aquinas: "Disputed Questions Concerning Evil" from De Malo; Question One, Articles 1-4 and Question Three, Article 1 12: John Duns Scotus: God and Creatures; The Quodlibetal Questions; Question 18, Articles I-III PART III: GOD'S FOREKNOWLEDGE AND FREE WILL 13: Boethius: The Consolation of Philosophy, Book V 14: St. Anselm: Foreknowledge and Free Choice, Chapters 1-4 15: Averroes: "On God's Knowledge" from On the Harmony of Religion and Philosophy 16: William of Ockham: "God's Causality and Foreknowledge"; Quodlibeta, III, Question iii and Ordinatio, D. XXXVIII, Question unica 17: Levi ben Gerson: The Wars of the Lord, Book III, Divine Knowledge 18: Peter de Rivo: A Quodlibetal Question on Future Contingents Disputed at Louvain in the year 1465 PART IV: THEOLOGY 19: St. Augustine: On the Immortality of the Soul 20: Fridugisus of Tours: Letter to Charlemagne: On the Being (Substantia) of Nothing and Shadows 21: John Scotus Eriugena: "On the Trinity" from Periphyseon, Book II; 561C-579D 22: St. Peter Damian: Letter on Divine Omnipotence, Selections 23: St. Anselm: Grace and Free Choice 24: St. Bonaventure: Disputed Questions on the Mystery of the Trinity; Question II, Articles I and II PART V POLITICAL PHILOSOPHY 25: Al-Farabi: The Perfect State, Section V; Chapter 15 26: John of Salisbury: The Policraticus, Book Four, Prologue and Chapters I-IV 27: St. Thomas Aquinas: On Kingship to the King of Cyprus, Book One, Chapters I, II and VI, Book Two, Chapter III 28: John of Paris: On Royal and Papal Power, Prologue and Chapters 1-7 29: Marsilius of Padua: The Defender of Peace, Discourse One, Chapters II and VIII-XIII 30: William of Ockham: Eight Questions on the Power of the Pope, Question II, Chapters I and VII; Dialogus de Potestate Papae et Imperatoris, Part III: Treatise ii; Book II, Chapters 26-28 PART VI: KNOWLEDGE AND SENSATION 31: St. Augustine: The Trinity, Selections on Knowledge 32: St. Thomas Aquinas: Summa Theologica, Part I, Question LXXXIV, Articles 6-8; Question LXXXV, Articles 1-8: Question LXXXVI, Articles 1-4 and Question LXXXVIII, Articles 1-3 33: Matthew of Aquasparta: Disputed Questions on Faith and Knowledge, Question I 34: Nicolaus of Autrecourt: Two Letters to Bernard of Arezzo 35: Jean Buridan: Commentary on Aristotle's De Anima, Book II, Questions 9-11 36: Nicole Oresme: Prologue and Chapter One, "On the Causes of Marvels Involving Vision, from De causis mirabilium PART VII: UNIVERSALS 37: Peter Abelard: Glosses on Porphyry from Logica Ingredientibus, "On Universals" 38: John of Salisbury: The Metalogicon, Book II, Chapters 17-20 39: St. Thomas Aquinas: Concerning Being and Essence, Introduction and Chapters 1-4 40: John Duns Scotus: The Principle of Individuation, Questions One-Six 41: William of Ockham: Summa logicae, Part I, Chapters 14-17; Quodlibet 4, Question 35 and Quodlibet 5, Questions 12 and 13 42: Walter Burley: "On Universals" PART VIII: LOGIC AND THE PHILOSOPHY OF LANGUAGE 43: Boethius: On Division 44: William of Sherwood: Introduction to Logic, Chapter Five, "Properties of Terms" 45: Peter of Spain: "Treatise on Distributions" from Summulae Logicales 46: Robert Kilwardby: "The Nature of Logic" and "Dialectic and Demonstration" from De ortu scientiarum 47: John Buridan: Sophismata, Chapter VIII, "Insolubles" 48: Paul of Venice: "On Entailment Propostions" from Logica Magna PART IV: PHYSICS 49: Robert Grosseteste: On Light 50 Letter to Sigerus de Foucaucourt: On the Magnet: Peter Peregrinus of Maricourt: 51: Roger Bacon: Opus Majus, Part IV: Distinctions I, II and III 52: John Pecham: Perspectiva communis, Part II, Reflection 53: "The Impetus Theory of Projectile Motion" from Questions on the Eight Books of the Physics of Aristotle, Book VIII, Question 12; "On the Free Fall of Bodies" and "On the Diurnal Rotation of the Earth" from Questions on the Four Books on the Heavens and the World of Aristotle, Book II, Questions 12 and 22 54: Nicholas of Cusa: Concerning Experiments in Weight

Review :
"This is a splendidly chosen anthology. It allows me to give students passages from the four main authors under study (Augustine, Anselm, Aquinas, Bonaventure) on comparable themes, point them to related texts from others, all under one cover!"--Joseph Koterski, Fordham University "Good text, great selections."--James Bjornstad, Cedarville College "This book provides a well-structured framework for discussion of some of the central philosophical problems on the basis of medieval texts in the Christian, Jewish, and Islamic traditions."--Ivan Boh, Ohio State University "Exceptionally helpful for students and for nonspecialists, because it arranges substantial selections from the writings of interesting philosophers in a topical organizational scheme, and because it provides helpful introductory remarks by the editor."--Kenton Machina, Illinois State University "A balanced, useful selection of texts for any course in Medieval Philosophy."--Prof.George Kovacs, Florida International University "Superb text: Lengthy selections, with pithy introductions and extensive endnotes, in thematic clusters, just as they would be best used in a course. Also inclusive of Jewish and Muslim thinkers to give an accurate picture of medieval multiculturalism."--William E. Murnion, Ramapo College of New Jersey "An excellent, wide-ranging collection affording the student diverse points of entry into the medieval mind."--Rev.Gerald Twaddell, Thomas More College "This collection of reading is exceptionally helpful for students and nonspecialist, it arranges substantial selections from the writing of interesting philosophers in a topical organizational schene".--Kenton Machina,Illinois State University--Normal "This is a balanced, useful selection of texts for any course in medieval philosophy".--Prof. George KovacsFlorida International University--Miami "Excellent in every respect:translation, presentations,selections".--Bro. Brain Dybowski,College of Santa Fe--Santa Fe "It is wonderfully presented and serves our purposes (inductive study of texts) perfectly."--William Edgar, Westminster Theological Seminary