AITH AND REASON: CHARTING THE MEDIEVAL CONCEPT OF THE INFINITE

The infinite, understood as transcendency, stood in the background of most medieval thinking. Embraced in the early Middle Ages by the concept of universal natural symbolism, which organized the reading of the syntax of natura, the infinite posed new epistemic problems for medieval thinking after th...

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Bibliographic Details
Author:Rein Undusk
Published: S.n., s.l., 2012
Volume:16
Pages:3-45
Language:English
Periodical:TRAMES
Number:1
ISSN:1406-0922
Format:Article
Topic:- Doctrine > Being > [Infinité. Immutabilité. Unité]
- Influence and Survival > The Middle Ages (430-1453) > Influence on the various authors and writings > [Jean Duns Scot (vers 1265-1308)]
Status:Needs Review
Description
Summary:The infinite, understood as transcendency, stood in the background of most medieval thinking. Embraced in the early Middle Ages by the concept of universal natural symbolism, which organized the reading of the syntax of natura, the infinite posed new epistemic problems for medieval thinking after the re-emergence of Aristotle’s natural philosophy, with some of its strongly finitist strings, in 12th century Europe. In fact, the collision of scholastic natural philosophy with supernatural theology, included judiciously in the structure of the medieval university, proved highly fruitful from the perspective of the development of knowledge as such. The effective, as regards the preparation of via moderna, entanglement of Franciscan Platonism and Aristotelianism in the philosophies of John Duns Scotus and William of Ockham is testimony to it. The present article undertakes the task to offer some insights into the way infinity was accommodated in medieval Christian thinking, especially from the point of view of concept formation in culture, and of the interrelations between different cognitive demands of the human mind.