Questions on the Soul by John Buridan and Others: A Companion to John Buridan's Philosophy of Mind (Historical-Analytical Studies on Nature, Mind and Action Book 3)

This volume features essays that explore the insights of the 14th-century Parisian nominalist philosopher, John Buridan. It serves as a companion to the Latin text edition and annotated English translation of his question-commentary on Aristotle’s On the Soul. The contributors survey Buridan’s work both in its own historical-theoretical context and in relation to contemporary issues. The essays come in three main sections, which correspond to the three books of Buridan’s Questions. Coverage first deals with the classification of the science of the soul within the system of Aristotelian sciences, and surveys the main issues within it. The next section examines the metaphysics of the soul. It considers Buridan’s peculiar version of Aristotelian hylomorphism in dealing with the problem of what kind of entity the soul (in particular, the human soul) is, and what powers and actions it has, on the basis of which we can approach the question of its essence. The volume concludes with a look at Buridan’s doctrine of the nature and functions of the human intellect. Coverage in this section includes the problem of self-knowledge in Buridan’s theory, Buridan’s answer to the traditional medieval problem concerning the primary object of the intellect, and his unique treatment of logical problems in psychological contexts. Front Matter....Pages i-xxii Later Medieval Philosophy of Cognitive Psychology....Pages 1-20 Where Should We Discuss the Soul? On the Relation between the Doctrines of De anima and De generatione et corruptione ....Pages 21-43 The Trivia of Materialism, Dualism and Hylomorphism: Some Pointers from John Buridan and Others....Pages 45-62 Buridan on the Metaphysics of the Soul....Pages 63-75 Aquinas vs. Buridan on the Substance and Powers of the Soul....Pages 77-93 John Buridan on External and Internal Sensation....Pages 95-106 Durand of St.-Pourçain and John Buridan on Species: Direct Realism with and without Representation....Pages 107-129 Bero Magni de Ludosia on Parts of Sensation....Pages 131-147 Awareness and Unity of Conscious Experience: Buridan on the Common Sense....Pages 149-156 Buridan on Sense Perception and Sensory Awareness....Pages 157-167 Buridan on the Psychology and Morality of Appetitive Acts....Pages 169-182 Intellect and Intellectual Activity in Buridan’s Psychology....Pages 183-192 Self-Knowledge and the Science of the Soul in Buridan’s Quaestiones De Anima ....Pages 193-210 Scotus and Buridan on the First Known (Primum cognitum)....Pages 211-223 Linguistic Externalism and Mental Language in Ockham and Buridan....Pages 225-237 Was Buridan a ‘Psychologist’ in His Logic?....Pages 239-260 Buridan, Intentionality and Its Paradoxes....Pages 261-277 Back Matter....Pages 279-295 Gyula Klima, Editor. Includes Bibliographical References And Index.