An Aristotelian response to Renaissance humanism : Jacopo Zabarella on the nature of arts and sciences

"The starting point of this study is to examine Zabarella's logica and methodological writings within the wider context of his philosophical thinking. Recent studies have considered his work either as the culmination of Renaissance Aristotelianism, or as the precursor of modem science. Neither of these approaches to Zabarella has brought in light those questions on which his writings were grounded. At the beginning of his collected logical works, Opera logica (1578), he drews a distinction between the eternal world of nature and the human world, which is contingent upon human volition. From this distinction he defines two corresponding kinds of knowledge, and two different methods of producing them. One purpose of this study is to show how and why Zabarella, unlike humanists, consistently prefers theoretical knowledge to its practical applications. Only in the last few years research has emphasized the importance of the relationship between Aristotelianism and humanism." (p. 14-15) Contents ACKNOWLEDGMENTS ........................................ ..................... 7 1. INTRODUCTION................................................................... 9 1.1. Humanism and science ................................................. 9 1.2. Aristotelianism at Padua............................................... 12 1.3. The nature of arts and sciences .................................... 14 1.4. Jacopo Zabarella: his life and works............................. 18 2. ARTS AND SCIENCES IN ZABARELLA'S THOUGHT ....... 21 2.1. Aristotle on arts and sciences....................................... 21 2.2. Contemplative sciences and productive arts............... 25 2.3. The primacy of theoretical sciences ............................. 30 2.4. Putting sciences 4J. order............................................... 35 2.5. The perfection of natural philosophy........................... 40 3. LOGIC AS AN INSTRUMENT OF SCIENCE ........................ 45 3.1. The nature of logic ........................................................ 45 3.2. The use of logic ............................................................. 50 3.3. Rhetoric and poetry as logical disciplines................... 59 3.4. Poetry and moral instruction........................................ 67 4. THE METHODOLOGY 8F ARTS AND SCIENCES.............. 80 4.1. Orders of presentation................................................... 80 4.2. Methods of demonstration............................................ 85 4.3. Induction and the regress-method................................ 92 4.4. Sense-perception and reasoning ................................... 101 5. ART AND NATURE IN THE ARISTOTELIAN TRADITION ............................................................................ 107 5.1. Aristotelian tradition: art imitates nature ............... ~ .... 107 5.2. A Renaissance dilemma: can an art compete with nature? ........................................................................... 111 5.3. Mechanics: a mediator between art and nature ........... 119 6. THE MEDICAL TRADITION AT THE UNIVERSITY OF PADUA ..... : ............................................................. , .............. 131 6.1. From Pietro d'Abano to Leoniceno's medical humanism ...................................................................... 131 6.2. The nature of medical knowledge: art or science? ....... 135 6.3. Anatomy as the basis of medical science ..................... 148 6.4. Zabarella's response to medical humanism ................. 159 7. ARTS AND.SCIENCES AT PADUA IN THE SIXTEENTH CENTURY .............................................................................. 178 ABBREVIATIONS ....................................................................... 182 BIBLIOGRAPHY ......................................................................... 183 INDEX OF NAMES ..................................................................... 195