John Buridan

by Zupko, Jack

• ISBN13: 9780268032562
• ISBN10: 0268032564
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2003-03-01
• Publisher: Univ of Notre Dame Pr

Summary

John Buridan (ca. 1300-1361) was the most famous philosophy teacher of his time, and probably the most influential. In this important new book, Jack Zupko offers the first systematic exposition of Buridan's thought to appear in any language. Zupko uses Buridan's own conception of the order and practice of philosophy to depict the most salient features of his thought, beginning with his views on the nature of language and logic and then illustrating their application to a series of topics in metaphysics, natural philosophy, and ethics.

Part 1 of John Buridan considers the picture of language and logic developed in Buridan's Summulae de dialectica. Buridan systematically overhauled the logic he first learned and later taught at the University of Paris, redeeming the older tradition of Aristotelian logic in terms, propositions, and arguments. This made possible newer and more powerful forms of philosophical discourse. The second part of this volume provides a reading of Buridan's philosophy, showing how this discourse shaped his treatment of speculative question

Author Biography

Jack Zupko is associate professor of philosophy at Emory University.

Table of Contents

Acknowledgments	ix
Introduction	xi
Abbreviations	xix
Part One: Method
Language	3	(26)
The Science of Logic	29	(20)
Propositions, Predicables, and Categories	49	(10)
Suppositions	59	(12)
Syllogisms	71	(7)
Topics	78	(12)
Fallacies	90	(10)
Demonstrations	100	(23)
Insoluble Propositions	123	(16)
Part Two: Practice
Ultimate Questions	139	(25)
Bodies and Souls	164	(19)
Knowledge	183	(20)
Natural Science	203	(24)
Virtue	227	(16)
Freedom	243	(28)
Buridan's Legacy	271	(4)
Works by Buridan	275	(4)
Notes	279	(130)
Works Cited	409	(20)
Index of Quotations from Buridan's Writings	429	(8)
Index of Names	437	(4)
Index of Subjects	441