Mind, Cognition and Representation: The Tradition of Commentaries on Aristotle’s De anima

268 Pages·2008·3.759 MB·English

by  Paul J.J.M. Bakker, Johannes M.M.H. Thijssen

MIND, COGNITION AND REPRESENTATION
Howcanbeliefs,whichareimmaterial,beaboutthings?Howcanthebodybetheseat
ofthought?
This book traces the historical roots of the cognitive sciences and examines pre-
modernconceptualizationsofthemindaspresentedanddiscussedinthetraditionof
commentariesonAristotle’sDeanimafrom1200until1650.Itexploresmedievaland
Renaissanceviewsonquestionswhichnowadayswouldbeclassifiedunderthephilo-
sophyofmind,thatis,questionsregardingtheidentityandnatureofthemindand
its cognitive relation to the material world. In exploring the development of schol-
asticideas,concepts,arguments,andtheoriesinthetraditionofcommentariesonDe
anima,andtheirrelationtomodernphilosophy,thisbookdissolvesthetraditional
periodizationintoMiddleAges,Renaissanceandearlymoderntimes.Byplacingkey
issuesintheirphilosophico-historicalcontext,notonlyisdueattentionpaidtoAris-
totle’sownviews,butalsotothoseofhithertolittle-studiedmedievalandRenaissance
commentators.
ASHGATE STUDIES IN MEDIEVAL PHILOSOPHY
Series Editors
JohnMarenbon,TrinityCollege,Cambridge,UK
ScottMacDonald,CornellUniversity,USA
ChristopherJ.Martin,UniversityofAuckland,NewZealand
SimoKnuuttila,AcademyofFinlandandtheUniversityofHelsinki,Finland
The study of medieval philosophy is flourishing as never before. Historically pre-
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achievements.AshgateStudiesinMedievalPhilosophypresentssomeofthebestof
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Other titles in the series:
Ockham on Concepts
Claude Panaccio
ISBN 978-0-7546-3228-3
RepresentationandObjectsofThought
in Medieval Philosophy
EditedbyHenrikLagerlund
ISBN 978-0-7546-5126-0
Medieval Modal Systems
Problems and Concepts
Paul Thom
ISBN 978-0-7546-0833-2
TheologyatParis,1316–1345
PeterAuriolandtheProblemofDivine
ForeknowledgeandFutureContingents
Chris Schabel
ISBN 978-0-7546-0204-0
Mind, Cognition
and Representation
The Tradition of Commentaries
on Aristotle’s De anima
Editedby
PAUL J.J.M. BAKKER
&
JOHANNES M.M.H. THIJSSEN
R Routledge
O
U
T
L
E Taylor & Francis Group
D
G
LEONDON AND NEW YORK
First published 2007 by Ashgate Publishing
Published 2016 by Routledge
2 Park Square, Milton Park, Abingdon, Oxon OX14 4RN
711 Third Avenue, New York, NY 10017, USA
Routledge is an imprint of the Taylor & Francis Group, an informa business
Copyright © PaulJ.J.M.Bakker&JohannesM.M.H.Thijssen2007
PaulJ.J.M.BakkerandJohannesM.M.H.Thijssenhaveassertedtheirmoralrightunderthe
Copyright,DesignsandPatentsAct,1988,tobeidentifiedastheeditorsofthiswork.
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reprinted or reproduced or utilised in any
form or by any electronic, mechanical, or other means, now known or hereafter invented,
including photocopying and recording, or in any information storage or retrieval system,
without permission in writing from the publishers.
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BritishLibraryCataloguinginPublicationData
Mind,cognitionandrepresentation:thetraditionof
commentariesonAristotle'sDeanima.–(Ashgatestudiesin
medievalphilosophy)
1.Aristotle.Deanima–Congresses2.Psychology–Early
worksto1850–Congresses3.Philosophy,Medieval–
Congresses4.Scholasticism–Congresses
I.Bakker,PaulJ.J.M.II.Thijssen,J.M.M.H.
128.2
LibraryofCongressCataloging-in-PublicationData
Mind,cognition,andrepresentation:thetraditionofcommentariesonAristotle'sDeanima/
editedbyPaulJ.J.M.BakkerandJohannesM.M.H.Thijssen.
p.cm.--(Ashgatestudiesinmedievalphilosophy)
Includesbibliographicalreferencesandindex.
ISBN978-0-7546-3084-5(hardcover:alk.paper)1.Aristotle.Deanima--Congresses.
2. Psychology--Earlyworksto1850--Congresses.3.Soul--Congresses.4.Philosophyof
mind–Congresses.5.Life--Congresses.I.Bakker,PaulJ.J.M.II.Thijssen,J.M.M.H.
B415.M562007
128--dc22
2007022825
ISBN 13: 978-0-7546-3084-5 (hbk)
CONTENTS
Contributors vii
. Introduction 1
PaulJ.J.M.Bakker&JohannesM.M.H.Thijssen
. TheMind–SoulProblem 3
RobertPasnau
. AShortIntroductiontoJamesofDouai’sPhilosophyofMind 21
GuyGuldentops
. ‘TheUniversalLivingThingisEitherNothingorPosterior.’Radulphus
Brito’sQuaestionessuperlibrosDeanima 45
MarySirridge
. MakingAristotleModern.JohnBuridanonPsychologyandLanguage 69
HenrikLagerlund
. Self-KnowledgeandSelf-RepresentationinLaterMedievalPsychology 87
JackZupko
. MaterialisminthePhilosophyofMind.NicholasofAmsterdam’s
QuaestionesDeanima 109
OlafPluta
. TheRenaissanceDebateontheImmortalityoftheSoul.Pietro
PomponazziandthePluralityofSubstantialForms 127
LorenzoCasini
. NaturalPhilosophy,Metaphysics,orSomethinginBetween?Agostino
Nifo,PietroPomponazzi,andMarcantonioGenuaontheNatureand
PlaceoftheScienceoftheSoul 151
PaulJ.J.M.Bakker
vi contents
. SuárezonCognitiveIntentions 179
TuomoAho
. AttentionPlease!TheoriesofSelectiveAttentioninLateAristotelian
andEarlyModernPhilosophy 205
CeesLeijenhorst
Bibliography 231
Index 251
CONTRIBUTORS
TuomoAho,UniversityofHelsinki,Finland
PaulJ.J.M.Bakker,RadboudUniversityNijmegen,TheNetherlands
LorenzoCasini,UniversityofUppsala,Sweden
GuyGuldentops,ThomasInstitut,UniversityofKöln,Germany
HenrikLagerlund,UniversityofWesternOntario,London(on),Canada
CeesLeijenhorst,RadboudUniversityNijmegen,TheNetherlands
RobertPasnau,UniversityofColorado,Boulder(co),U.S.A.
OlafPluta,RadboudUniversityNijmegen,TheNetherlands
MarySirridge,LouisianaStateUniversity,BatonRouge(la),U.S.A.
JohannesM.M.H.Thijssen,RadboudUniversityNijmegen,TheNetherlands
JackZupko,EmoryUniversity,Atlanta(ga),U.S.A.
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chapter
INTRODUCTION
This book has evolved out of a Colloquium whose themewas Mind, Perception
andCognition.TheTraditionofCommentariesonAristotle’sDeanima,andwhich
was hosted by the Center for Medieval and Renaissance Natural Philosophy at
the Radboud University Nijmegen in August . It was our intention as the
organizerstobringtogetheranumberofscholarsandworkonarangeoftopics
related to Aristotle’s De anima in the light of two particular developments that
haveoccurredinthestudyofpremodernhistoryofphilosophy.
ThefirstofthesedevelopmentsisthatthestudyofmedievalandRenaissance
commentariesofAristotle’sDeanimahascometobeestablishedasanewfieldof
interestingandfruitfulresearchinitsownright,adevelopmentthatisnoweven
moreclearthanitwasin.TheColloquiumexploredmedieval,Renaissance
andearlymodernviewsonanumberofquestionsthatarestillbeingdiscussedin
contemporaryphilosophyofmind.Inthissense,manyofthechaptersinthisbook
arepresent-oriented,without,however,losingsightoftheproperphilosophico-
historicalcontextsinwhichthesequestionswereaddressedandtheterminology
in which the debates were framed. In this way, this book will add to the recent
shift in research to issues that would nowadays be classified under philosophy
of mind, but which philosophers of the late Middle Ages and the Renaissance
approachedthrough Aristotle’sDeanima,and,asaconsequence,placedwithin
thebroadercontextofnaturalphilosophy.Inordertogainanyunderstandingof
thecontributionstothephilosophyofmindthatweremadeinthistradition,it
isimportanttorecognizethatthisfieldwasdefinedbythemuchwiderscopeof
a treatise (viz. De anima) that was concerned with a particular part of physical
reality,namelywithlivingnaturalbodies.
ThesecondmajordevelopmentthatliesbehindthisColloquiumandthebook
is the border territory between scholastic and modern philosophy, which has
emergedasanarenaofextremelyinterestingandfruitfulresearchinthehistori-
ographyofphilosophy.Onceoneperceivesthatmanyiconsofmodernphilosophy
movedwithintheworldofscholasticphilosophy,evenwhenopposingit,thetra-
ditionaldividesbetweentheMiddleAges,theRenaissanceandtheearlymodern
periodbecomelessmeaningful.Thisdecreasedrelevanceoftraditionalperiodiz-
ationhasgonehandinhandwithanincreaseinthesensitivitytotheproblems
andpossibilitiesofinterpretingthedebatesandtheoriesfromthelatemedieval
uptotheearlymodernperiod.ThemythinthehistoriographyofWesternphil-