The Embodied Soul: Aristotelian Psychology and Physiology in Medieval Europe between 1200 and 1420 PDF
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Historical-Analytical Studies on Nature, Mind and Action 11 Marek Gensler Monika Mansfeld Monika Michałowska Editors The Embodied Soul Aristotelian Psychology and Physiology in Medieval Europe between 1200 and 1420 Historical-Analytical Studies on Nature, Mind and Action Volume 11 Editor-in-Chief Gyula Klima, Fordham University, New York, USA Series Editors Russell Wilcox, University of Navarra, Pamplona, Spain Hendrik Lagerlund, Stockholm University, Stockholm, Sweden Jonathan Jacobs, CUNY, John Jay College of Criminal Justice, New York, USA Advisory Editors Dan Bonevac, University of Texas, Austin, USA Sarah Borden, Wheaton College, Wheaton, USA Edward Feser, Pasadena College, Pasadena, USA Jorge Garcia, University of Buffalo, New York, USA WIlliam Jaworski, Fordham University, New York, USA Joseph E. Davis, University of Virginia, Charlottesville, USA Stephan Meier-Oeser, Academy of Sciences of Göttingen, Göttingen, Germany Jose Ignacio Murillo, University of Navarra, Pamplona, Spain Calvin Normore, UCLA, Los Angeles, USA Penelope Rush, University of Tasmania, Hobart, Australia Jack Zupko, University of Alberta, Edmonton, Canada Historical-Analytical Studies on Nature, Mind and Action provides a forum for integrative, multidisciplinary, analytic studies in the areas of philosophy of nature, philosophical anthropology, and the philosophy of mind and action in their social setting. Tackling these subject areas from both a historical and contemporary systematic perspective, this approach allows for various “paradigm-straddlers” to come together under a common umbrella. Digging down to the conceptual-historical roots of contemporary problems, one will inevitably find common strands which have since branched out into isolated disciplines. This series seeks to fill the void for studies that reach beyond their own strictly defined boundaries not only synchronically (reaching out to contemporary disciplines), but also diachronically, by investigating the unquestioned contemporary presumptions of their own discipline by taking a look at the historical development of those presumptions and the key concepts they involve. This series, providing a common forum for this sort of research in a wide range of disciplines, is designed to work against the well- known phenomenon of disciplinary isolation by seeking answers to our fundamental questions of the human condition: What is there? – What can we know about it? – What should we do about it? – indicated by the three key-words in the series title: Nature, Mind and Action. This series will publish monographs, edited volumes, and commented translations. Marek Gensler • Monika Mansfeld Monika Michałowska Editors The Embodied Soul Aristotelian Psychology and Physiology in Medieval Europe between 1200 and 1420 Editors Marek Gensler Monika Mansfeld University of Łódź University of Łódź Łódź, Poland Łódź, Poland Monika Michałowska Medical University of Łódź Łódź, Poland Akademie Věd České Republiky Narodowe Centrum Nauki This work was supported by the Polish National Science Centre (NCN) grant n. UMO-2016/23/B/HS1/00430. The Academy of Sciences of the Czech Republic has funded the Open Access publication of the chapter “Buridan Wycliffised? The Nature of the Intellect in Late Medieval Prague University Disputations” by Lukáš Lička. ISSN 2509-4793 ISSN 2509-4807 (electronic) Historical-Analytical Studies on Nature, Mind and Action ISBN 978-3-030-99452-5 ISBN 978-3-030-99453-2 (eBook) https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-99453-2 © The Editor(s) (if applicable) and The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2022 Chapter 14 is licensed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/). For further details see license information in the chapter. This work is subject to copyright. All rights are solely and exclusively licensed by the Publisher, whether the whole or part of the material is concerned, specifically the rights of translation, reprinting, reuse of illustrations, recitation, broadcasting, reproduction on microfilms or in any other physical way, and transmission or information storage and retrieval, electronic adaptation, computer software, or by similar or dissimilar methodology now known or hereafter developed. The use of general descriptive names, registered names, trademarks, service marks, etc. in this publication does not imply, even in the absence of a specific statement, that such names are exempt from the relevant protective laws and regulations and therefore free for general use. The publisher, the authors and the editors are safe to assume that the advice and information in this book are believed to be true and accurate at the date of publication. Neither the publisher nor the authors or the editors give a warranty, expressed or implied, with respect to the material contained herein or for any errors or omissions that may have been made. The publisher remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations. This Springer imprint is published by the registered company Springer Nature Switzerland AG The registered company address is: Gewerbestrasse 11, 6330 Cham, Switzerland Preface The Embodied Soul: Aristotelian Psychology and Physiology in Medieval Europe Between 1200 and 1420 explores a wide range of issues of philosophical anthropol- ogy in the later Middle Ages. The purpose of this volume is to acquaint a wider audience with the dynamic of the reception of Aristotle-inspired views on psychol- ogy and physiology and the mind-body problem, which increased vigorously after the translation of Aristotle’s natural philosophy treatises into Latin. It sheds light on the writings of both the best-known masters of that time and authors whose works and ideas have undeservedly fallen into oblivion and still await critical editions and investigation. The collection evolved from the papers read at the conference Mind and Body: Aspects of Medieval Natural Philosophy, which was held at the University of Łódź, Poland, on 13–14 June 2019, to conclude the project entitled The Problem of Mind- Body Relation in the Philosophy of Walter Burley. This book came into being during a very disturbing time, when the COVID-19 pandemic was announced and lockdowns were imposed all over the world. We are deeply grateful to the authors with whom we had the pleasure to work on this vol- ume for their determination and engagement in the production of the volume. We would like to thank all those who encouraged us during this time, and especially our families for their love and unfailing support. Łódź, Poland Marek Gensler Łódź, Poland Monika Mansfeld Łódź, Poland Monika Michałowska v Contents 1 The Development of Aristotelian Psychology and Physiology in Medieval Europe Between 1200 and 1420: Introduction . . . . . . . . 1 Marek Gensler, Monika Mansfeld, and Monika Michałowska 2 Physiology of Taste and Intentionality in John Blund’s Tractatus De Anima . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17 Riccardo Fedriga 3 Anthropology of Gilbertus Anglicus’ Compendium medicinae . . . . . . 37 Agnieszka Kijewska 4 A Stain on the Bronze: Some Medieval Latin Commentators on De insomniis 2, 459b23–460a32 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 57 Christina Thomsen Thörnqvist 5 Pygmies, Twins, Monsters: Human Nature and Its Borderlines in Albert the Great . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 73 Evelina Miteva 6 Why Philosophers Father Foolish Children: Peter of Spain, Albert the Great, and James of Viterbo on the Transmission of Intellectual Qualities . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 91 Mario Loconsole 7 Bodily Prerequisites of the Mind: The Spirit as the Highest Product of Digestion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 115 Marilena Panarelli 8 The Role of the Intentio Individualis in Albert the Great’s Sense Perception Theory . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 133 Paloma Hernández-Rubio vii viii Contents 9 Death, the Intellect and the Resurrection of the Dog: Geoffrey of Aspall’s Questions on the De Longitudine et Brevitate Vitae . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 163 Michael W. Dunne 10 Medieval Views on the Subject of Thought and the Intellectual Soul . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 191 Cecilia Trifogli 11 A Medieval Defence of Innatism: The Case of James of Viterbo . . . . 213 Martin Pickavé 12 The World of Senses. On the Process of Cognition in Walter Burley . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 229 Monika Mansfeld 13 “Is Touch One Sense or Several?” A Late Medieval Scientific Question. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 253 Chiara Beneduce 14 Buridan Wycliffised? The Nature of the Intellect in Late Medieval Prague University Disputations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 277 Lukáš Lička Author Index . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 311 Subject Index . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 315 Chapter 1 The Development of Aristotelian Psychology and Physiology in Medieval Europe Between 1200 and 1420: Introduction Marek Gensler , Monika Mansfeld , and Monika Michałowska Abstract The chapter is devoted to various aspects of philosophical anthropology in the views of Latin authors of the Later Middle Ages. The boundaries of the period are set by two important historical occurrences: the translation of Aristotelian natu- ral philosophy treatises into Latin at the turn of the thirteenth century and the early signs of crisis in scholastic philosophy precipitating the rejection of the pre-modern vision of human being as a psychosomatic unity by early modern science. It pres- ents, in a chronological order, the changes and developments in the understanding of mutual relations between the soul and the body. It takes into account not only the areas of interest (reproduction, nutrition, growth, motion, perception, cognition, etc.) but also the forms of the analyzed works (literal commentaries, paraphrases, questions, treatises). Moreover, it pays attention to the way in which those works formed an interlocking chain through two and a half centuries of history with sev- eral recurrently crossing trails, some of which were frequented throughout the period, while others were of a more ephemeral character. Keywords Medieval philosophy · Philosophy of nature · Philosophical anthropology · Mind-body problem · Aristotelianism · History of physiology · History of psychology This work was supported by the Polish National Science Centre (NCN) grant n. UMO-2016/23/B/ HS1/00430. M. Gensler (*) · M. Mansfeld University of Łódź, Łódź, Poland e-mail: [email protected]; [email protected] M. Michałowska Medical University of Łódź, Łódź, Poland e-mail: [email protected] © The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature 1 Switzerland AG 2022 M. Gensler et al. (eds.), The Embodied Soul, Historical-Analytical Studies on Nature, Mind and Action 11, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-99453-2_1 2 M. Gensler et al. 1.1 Introduction The volume entitled The Embodied Soul. Aristotelian Psychology and Physiology in Medieval Europe between 1200 and 1420 is devoted to various aspects of philo- sophical anthropology in the views of Latin authors of the Later Middle Ages. The boundaries of the period are set by two important historical occurrences: the transla- tion of Aristotelian natural philosophy treatises into Latin at the turn of the thir- teenth century and the early signs of crisis in scholastic philosophy precipitating the rejection of the pre-modern vision of man as a psychosomatic unity by early modern science, which apparently rendered the scholastic vision of the world obsolete. The period included between those dates was by no means uniform in its doctrinal char- acter, since the dynamic of reception and accommodation of new ideas resulted in different forms of presenting issues belonging to that area of speculation. The vol- ume sheds light on some aspects of that dynamic in the writings of both the best- known masters of that time and those whose works and ideas have been neglected so far and still await critical editions and investigation. For this reason, texts included in this volume address both general and particular problems. An important criterion of the volume’s structure and of the historical-doctrinal analysis of those works is the time of their composition. Accordingly, the editors have decided to arrange them primarily in a chronological order. However, two further criteria have also been taken into consideration: the form of the analyzed works (literal commentaries, paraphrases, questions, treatises) and the area of inter- est (reproduction, nutrition, growth, motion, perception, cognition, etc.). As a result, the order of the texts in the volume has been coordinated in such a way that they form an interlocking chain of studies leading the reader through two and a half cen- turies of history along several recurrently crossing trails, some of which were fre- quented throughout the period, while others were of a more ephemeral character or soon ran into dead ends. 1.2 The First Phase: Aristotle’s De anima and Avicenna’s Liber sextus naturalium The scholastic commentary tradition of Aristotle’s treatises on psychology and physiology started with the Latin translation of two texts, viz. Aristotle’s De anima and Avicenna’s Liber de anima (Sextus de naturalibus), in the second half of the twelfth century.1 Their appearance in the Western institutions of learning coincided in time but it was not a mere coincidence: the reception of each of them was signifi- cantly influenced by the reception of the other. The reason for it was that the novel ideas from Aristotle had to be juxtaposed and coordinated with the established psychological doctrines of neo-Platonic origin. Avicenna’s neo-Platonic 1 See Hasse (2000).
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