A History of Twelfth-Century Western Philosophy [Paperback]

The first comprehensive study of the philosophical achievements of twelfth-century Western Europe.The period's problems and perspectives in scientific inquiry, speculative grammar and logic are highlighted in the first comprehensive international study of the philosophical achievements of the twelfth century.The period's problems and perspectives in scientific inquiry, speculative grammar and logic are highlighted in the first comprehensive international study of the philosophical achievements of the twelfth century.This is the first comprehensive study of the philosophical achievements of twelfth-century Western Europe. It is the collaboration of fifteen scholars whose detailed survey makes accessible the intellectual preoccupations of the period, with all texts cited in English translation throughout. After a discussion of the cultural context of twelfth-century speculation, and some of the main streams of thought - Platonic, Stoic, and Arabic - that quickened it, comes a characterisation of the new problems and perspectives of the period, in scientific inquiry, speculative grammar, and logic. This is followed by a closer examination of the distinctive features of some of the most innovative thinkers of the time, from Anselm and Abelard to the School of Chartres. A final section shows the impact of newly recovered works of Aristotle in the twelfth-century West.Preface; Contributors; List of abbreviations; Introduction Peter Dronke; Part I. Background: 1. Philosophy, cosmology, and the twelfth-century Renaissance Winthrop Wetherbee; 2. The platonic inheritance Tullio Gregory; 3. The Stoic inheritance Michael Lapidge; 4. The Arabic inheritance Jean Jolivet; Part II. New Perspectives: 5. Scientific speculations Charles Burnett; 6. Speculative grammar Karin Margareta Fredborg; 7. Logic (i): from the late eleventh century ot the time of Abelard Martin M. Tweedale; 8. Logic (ii): the later twelfth century Klaus Jacobi; Part III. Innovators: 9. Anselm of Canterbury StephlS<