Nolan, Simon (2014) John Baconthorpe on Soul, Body and Extension. Maynooth Philosophical Papers, 7. pp. 33-45. ISSN 2009-7751

Preview

Download (192kB) | Preview

Abstract

John Baconthorpe (c.1290-1345/8) was the best-known of the Carmelite scholastics in the Middle Ages. This article is a brief study of his solution to the philosophical problem of how the soul may be wholly present in the human body and present whole and undivided in each part. Baconthorpe’s account is of great interest for a number of reasons. He takes issue with one of his fellow Carmelite masters, alerting us to diversity of opinion within that ‘school’. Furthermore, in using terminology and illustrative analogies drawn from terminist logic and the mathematical sciences, Baconthorpe is an important witness to what has been described as the ‘mathematization’ of philosophy and theology in late medieval England. Finally, study of Baconthorpe’s texts provides further evidence of the emergence of the theme of extension in fourteenth-century thought in which we can discern the roots of modern philosophical debate.

Item Type:	Article
Keywords:	John Baconthorpe; Soul; Body; Extension; mathematization of philosophy;
Academic Unit:	Faculty of Arts,Celtic Studies and Philosophy > Philosophy
Item ID:	5740
Depositing User:	Simon Nolan
Date Deposited:	28 Jan 2015 17:19
Journal or Publication Title:	Maynooth Philosophical Papers
Publisher:	Maynooth University Department of Philosophy
Refereed:	Yes
URI:	https://www.maynoothuniversity.ie/philos...
Use Licence:	This item is available under a Creative Commons Attribution Non Commercial Share Alike Licence (CC BY-NC-SA). Details of this licence are available here

Repository Staff Only(login required)

Item control page

Downloads

Origin of downloads