Marking the Boundaries : Animals in Medieval Latin Philosophy

Estimative Power as a Social Sense

The estimative power has been widely discussed in modern scholarly literature. This chapter complements the existing picture by analysing medieval Latin views concerning its role as the explanans of the social behaviour of humans and other animals. Although medieval authors rarely focus on this function, the chapter shows that the estimative power plays an important explanatory role both in philosophical psychology and political philosophy. peerReviewed

Perceptual experience : Assembling a Medieval Puzzle

The Active Nature of the Soul in Sense Perception: Robert Kilwardby and Peter Olivi

AbstractThis article discusses the theories of perception of Robert Kilwardby and Peter of John Olivi. Our aim is to show how in challenging certain assumptions of medieval Aristotelian theories of perception they drew on Augustine and argued for the active nature of the soul in sense perception. For both Kilwardby and Olivi, the soul is not passive with respect to perceived objects; rather, it causes its own cognitive acts with respect to external objects and thus allows the subject to perceive them. We also show that Kilwardby and Olivi differ substantially regarding where the activity of the soul is directed to and the role of the sensible species in the process, and we demonstrate that …

Human Sociability in Antonio Montecatini's (1537–99) Commentary on Aristotle's Politics

The present article delves into the history of political philosophy by discussing human sociability in Antonio Montecatini's (1537–99) commentary on Aristotle's Politics. The focus is on a philosophical analysis of three interrelated ideas that Montecatini discusses: (1) Aristotle's dictum that human beings are political animals by nature; (2) naturalness of the household; and (3) the nature and origin of political communities. Montecatini's views are briefly related to those of John Case (ca. 1546–1600), and they are also contextualized within the late medieval commentary tradition on the Politics, but the main aim is to clarify Montecatini's philosophical position and examine the ways in …

Estimative Power as a Social Sense

The estimative power has been widely discussed in modern scholarly literature. This chapter complements the existing picture by analysing medieval Latin views concerning its role as the explanans of the social behaviour of humans and other animals. Although medieval authors rarely focus on this function, the chapter shows that the estimative power plays an important explanatory role both in philosophical psychology and political philosophy.

L'éthique de la personne: Liberté, autonomie et conscience dans la pensée de Pierre de Jean Olivi by Stève Bobillier

Extending the Limits of Nature. Political Animals, Artefacts, and Social Institutions

This essay discusses how medieval authors from the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries dealt with a philosophical problem that social institutions pose for the Aristotelian dichotomy between natural and artificial entities. It is argued that marriage, political community, and language provided a particular challenge for the conception that things which are designed by human beings are artefacts. Medieval philosophers based their arguments for the naturalness of social institutions on the anthropological view that human beings are political animals by nature, but this strategy required rethinking the borderline between nature and art. The limits of nature were extended, as social institution…

Lakeja tarvitaan, koska ihminen on itsekäs

Beasts, Human Beings, or Gods? Human Subjectivity in Medieval Political Philosophy

Human beings are not only self-conscious minds but embodied and social beings, whose subjectivity is conditioned by their social surroundings. From this point of view, it is natural to suppose that the development and existence of a subject that is distinctively human requires contact with other people. The present contribution discusses medieval ideas concerning the intersubjective constitution of human being by looking at the medieval reception of two ideas, which Aristotle presents at the beginning of his Politics: (1) human beings are political animals by nature, which means that those who live outside of political communities due to their nature are either deficient or above humanity –…

Elävät kuolleet : Aristoteles, Hobbes ja Fromm modernin zombikuvaston valossa

Zombeja käsittelevät televisiosarjat ja sarjakuvat ovat viime vuosina saavuttaneet suurta suosiota. Esimerkiksi The Walking Dead -sarjan ensimmäinen jakso näytettiin samanaikaisesti 120 maassa, ja sarjaa on sittemmin katsonut tuotantokaudesta riippuen 5–15 miljoonaa katsojaa. Post-apokalyptinen maailma kiehtoo suurta yleisöä, koska dystooppiset tarinat peilaavat erilaisia käsityksiä ihmisten perusolemuksesta ja yhteiskunnan perustasta; sarjaa voi pitää filosofisena ajatuskokeena, jolla testataan, miten erilaiset näkemykset toimisivat luonnontilaan paluun jälkeen. Artikkelimme lähtökohta on, että zombikuvasto tarjoaa hedelmällisen tilaisuuden filosofiselle analyysille. Tarkastelemme yhteisku…

Havaitseminen jonakin : teema ja sen keskiaikaiset muunnelmat

Medieval Commentators on Simultaneous Perception : An Edition of Commentaries on Aristotle's De sensu et sensato 7

The Active Nature of the Soul in Sense Perception: Robert Kilwardby and Peter Olivi

This article discusses the theories of perception of Robert Kilwardby and Peter of John Olivi. Our aim is to show how in challenging certain assumptions of medieval Aristotelian theories of perception they drew on Augustine and argued for the active nature of the soul in sense perception. For both Kilwardby and Olivi, the soul is not passive with respect to perceived objects; rather, it causes its own cognitive acts with respect to external objects and thus allows the subject to perceive them. We also show that Kilwardby and Olivi differ substantially regarding where the activity of the soul is directed to and the role of the sensible species in the process, and we demonstrate that there ar…

Peter of John Olivi on the Psychology of Animal Action

“Like Ants in a Colony We Do Our Share”: Political Animals in Medieval Philosophy

This chapter discusses the reception of the Aristotelian concept of ‘political animal’ in thirteenth and fourteenth century Latin philosophy. Aristotle thought that there are other political animals besides human beings, and his idea of what it means to be a political animal was partially based on biological needs and desires that lead animals to live together. By analysing what medieval philosophers thought of other political animals - such as ants, bees, and cranes - and of the biological basis of the political nature of humans, the chapter elaborates on the precise meaning of the concept of political animal. It is argued that biological aspects play a significant role in medieval views, …

Sourcebook for the History of the Philosophy of Mind, eds. S. Knuuttila & J. Sihvola

Sourcebook for the History of the Philosophy of Mind, eds. S. Knuuttila & J. Sihvola

Rationaalista voluntarismia : eettinen teko William Ockhamin teoriassa

Cognitive Dispositions in the Psychology of Peter John Olivi

This chapter discusses Peter John Olivi’s (1248–1298) conception of the role of dispositions (habitus) in sensory cognition from metaphysical and psychological perspectives. It shows that Olivi makes a distinction between two general types of disposition. Some of them account for the ease, or difficulty, with which different persons use their cognitive powers, while others explain why people react differently to things that they perceive or think. This distinction is then applied to Olivi’s analysis of three different psychological operations, where the notion of disposition figures prominently; estimative perception, perceptual clarity, and the perception of pain and pleasure. The chapter …

Peter Olivi on Internal Senses

Insults, humour and freedom of speech

In this article we argue that freedom of speech should be understood as a social freedom. In the public discussion after the Charlie Hebdo attacks, it has often been understood as an absolute right to say anything – to offend, to make a fool of others and of oneself, and to express any opinion regardless of the consequences. We challenge this view and propose that advocating freedom of speech without understanding its social foundations is misleading and counterproductive. Based on the critical social theories of Erich Fromm, Charles Taylor and Axel Honneth, we show that there is an alternative tradition in which freedom is fundamentally rooted in social relations and therefore requires re…

Perceptual Self-Awareness in Seneca, Augustine, and Olivi

This article traces the philosophical idea of self-perception from the times of ancient Stoicism to the thirteenth century by analyzing the views of Seneca, Augustine, and Olivi. The central argument is that they defend the same idea according to which self-preservation and the appropriate use of one’s body requires awareness thereof, despite the obvious contextual differences and the uncertainty of direct historical connections between the authors. They think that this kind of self-awareness does not belong only to human beings, because irrational animals need to perceive their bodies, the functions of their bodily parts, and to perceive themselves as living beings in order to act appropri…

Perceiving Many Things Simultaneously : Medieval Reception of an Aristotelian Problem

Animal consciousness : Peter Olivi on cognitive functions of the sensitive soul

Perceiving As : Non-conceptual Forms of Perception in Medieval Philosophy

This chapter focuses on thirteenth-century Latin discussions concerning the psychological processes that explain some of the most sophisticated features of perceptual experience. Sense perception primarily conveys information about the sensible qualities of external objects; we see colours, hear sounds, taste flavours, and so forth. Yet, our experience of the external world contains several elements that cannot be reduced to these qualities. To name a few, external objects are perceived as three-dimensional bundles of properties, as useful or harmful for the perceiving subject, and as objects of desires, fears, and other emotions, and they are conceptualised in various ways—in short, they a…

Peter Olivi on Political Power, Will, and Human Agency

This essay discusses the views of Peter Olivi (ca. 1248-98) on the foundations of political power and agency. The central argument is that there is a strong connection between Olivi’s voluntarist psychology and his views concerning political power. According to Olivi, political power is ultimately based on the will of God, but in such a way that both the rulers and their subjects have, through their individual freedom, the liberty to use their share of power as they will. In fact, Olivi conceptualises political power as an extension of the dominion that human beings have over their wills, which is essential for being a political agent in the full sense. By providing a philosophical analysis…

A transcription of MS Vatican, Borgh. 129: Gualterus Burlaeus Expositio super libros Politicorum, lib. 1, tract. 1, cap. 1

This is a transcription of the beginning of Walter Burley’s (c. 1275–after 1344) commentary on Aristotle’s Politics (book one, tractate one, chapter one). The transcription reproduces the text of Vatican, MS Borgh. 129, fol. 1r–148v (here fol. 2rb–6va), which has been accessed in a high quality digital reproduction in colour. The commentary has been dated between 1338/39 and 1342. The transcription includes two apparatuses. The first of them is dedicated to references, mainly to Aristotle’s Politics. The other apparatus is for critical notes, and its main function is to reproduce marginalia. The manuscript contains several corrections by another hand (marked here as V1), and since these cor…