Franciscan Studies

ST. BONAVENTURE AND ARABIAN INTERPRETATIONS OF TWO ARISTOTELEAN PROBLEMS The writings of St. Bonaventure contain very strong critiques of the interpretations by Arabian philosophers, notably Avicenna and Averroes, of Aristotle's position on the origin of the world and on the nature of the human intellect. These two Aristotelean problems are handled by St. Bonaventure initially in his Commentary on the Sentences (1254-1256).1 He takes the stand that the world as a whole was brought into being, and that its intrinsic principles of matter and form were produced from nothing. Regarding the ancient philosophers, he sees as unreasonable the Platonist position that the world was produced from pre-existent matter to which, after some time, the maker of the universe conjoined forms previously existing and separated from matter. The Aristoteleans came closer to the truth in saying that the world was made, but not from pre-existing principles. Bonaventure finds it difficult, nevertheless, to understand whether or not Aristotle held that matter and form were made from nothing. He did not apparently hold such a position, thus failing to reach the truth, though less than the other ancient philosophers.2 Their common failure to see that the world came to-be from nothing gave rise to the opinion of an eternal world, which was sustained seemingly by Aristotle, the more excellent of the philosophers: it was ascribed to him by the 1 His works are cited (with volume and page numbers) from Opera Omnia (Quaracchi, 1882-1902), 10 vv. Additional directions are given (also with volume and page numbers) to those works found in Opera Theologica Selecta (Quaracchi, 1934-1964), 5 vv. Notes to Collationes in Hexameron include references to the edition by F. Delorme (Quaracchi, 1934). AtI references to St. Bonaventure's writings use the abbreviations in S. Bonaventura 1274-1974 (Grottaferrata, 1973), II, 15-16. This article was read originally as a paper at the Fifth International Congress for Medieval Philosophy, in Spain (Madrid, Córdoba and Granada), 5-12 September 1972. 2 II Sent., d. 1, p. 1, a. 1, q. 1, Resp. (II, 16-17; II, 10-11). 220JOHN F. QUINN early Fathers, his commentators and the Arabians, while his own words seem to say that the world is eternal. The Arabians maintained that Aristotle neither thought nor intended to prove that the world had no beginning whatever, but that it did not begin to-be by natural motion. Bonaventure finds it difficult here to understand what position Aristotle did hold. If he held that the world did not begin according to nature, his reasons showing it from motion and time are valid. He has clearly erred, however, if he held that the world did not begin in any way. Indeed, to avoid contradiction, he thought it necessary to posit either that the world was not made or that it was not made from nothing. Hence, to avoid an actual infinity, it was necessary to hold either the corruption of the human soul or the unity of all human souls, or that they circulated from one body to another, thus destroying the truth of human beatitude.3 Bonaventure, contrary to the Arabians, favours the view of Aristotle thinking that the world never had a beginning. He supports this view with reasons taken from Aristotle showing, according to motion and time, that the world had to-be eternally. The movement of the first movable object (primum mobile) had no beginning, because that movement could not precede either itself or the object: if a movement comes to-be, it must begin by motion or change; but the being of a movement demands the being of something movable, and so Aristotle, avoiding infinity, posited a movement that did not begin, thus thinking the world to-be eternally. Measuring motion, time could not be prior to the movement causing the being of things that begin to-be: if time began to-be, it began either in an instant or in time; it did not begin in an instant, which does not contain time, nor did it begin in time, which always has a before and an after, so that Aristotle, seeing no beginning to time, thought the world...