Virtues of the Will: The Transformation of Ethics in the Late Thirteenth CenturyIn Virtues of the Will, Bonnie Kent traces late thirteenth-century debates about the freedom of the will, moral weakness, and other issues that helped change the course of Western ethics. She argues that one cannot understand the controversies of the period or see Duns Scotus in perspective without paying due attention to his immediate predecessors: the influential secular master Henry of Ghent, Walter of Bruges, William de la Mare, Peter Olivi, and other Franciscans. Seemingly radical doctrines in Scotus often turn out to be moderate in comparison to other near-contemporary views, and striking Scotistic innovations often turn out to be something approaching commonplaces of Franciscan thought. This study presents the controversies of the period less as a reaction by theologians against philosophy than as genuine philosophical debates about problems raised by Aristotle's thought. And it presents Scotus's teachings less as a break with tradition than as a reasonably natural response to issues debated by his predecessors. The overall aim is to recover part of a late thirteenth-century dialogue about the will and morality. By explaining in a clear, accessible style the sometimes complex issues debated during this period, Virtues of the Will helps readers understand not only the historical and doctrinal context but also the more enduring philosophical problems posed by Aristotle's teachings. |
Contents
teachers but I mean to do it anyway Over the years Paul Kristeller | 3 |
CONTENTS | 18 |
Aristotle among the Christians | 39 |
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Virtues of the Will: The Transformation of Ethics in the Late Thirteenth Century Bonnie Kent No preview available - 1995 |
Common terms and phrases
action actus aliqua Aquinas Aquinas's argues Aristotle Aristotle's ethics Aristotle's teachings Augustine Augustinian autem Averroes Averroist Bonaventure bonum causa cause sine qua choice choose Christian commentary conception condemnation Correctorium Delorme dicendum dicit discussion doctrine Duns Scotus efficient cause enim ergo etiam Franciscan free decision Giles of Rome Gilson Godfrey of Fontaines Gonsalvus habet habit happiness Henry of Ghent human Ibid ideo illud incontinent incontinent's intellect judges judgment late thirteenth century libertas liberum arbitrium Macken masters metaphysics moral virtues moral weakness moved mover nisi object Olivi Paris passion peccatum Peter Olivi philosophy pleasure position potentia potest quae Quaest quam Quaracchi questions quia quod voluntas Quodlibet radical Aristotelians rational rationem reason Richard of Middleton says scholastic scilicet Scotus's secundae secundum sense appetite sibi sicut solum soul ST I-IIae sunt tamen theology Thomas Thomistic tion virtue ethics virtuous voluntarist voluntatis will's freedom William