Patristica et Mediævalia

Preliminares

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The Boethian definition of the notion of person between immanence and transcendence

2025-06-07T01:44:04+00:00

The current crisis of the notion of the person is more broadly a crisis of the foundation of human knowledge, where, having renounced a metaphysics capable of accounting for the transcendental root within which the notion of the person finds its origin, it is relegated solely to the horizontal realm of immanence that oscillates between empty abstract and universal definitions on one hand and equally sterile exaltations of narcissistic and self-referential individuality on the other. The aim of this study is to recover the philosophical root of Boethius’s definition of the person, as an individual substance of rational nature, bringing to the fore the logical and metaphysical structure of the transcendent being, as defined by the Neoplatonist Porphyry, within which it is embedded. In the Porphyrian paradigm of the descent of the One-Being into the many, individuation does not occur through matter, but rather at the formal and intelligible level, thereby implying for individual substances the possibility of their ascent, where rational nature plays the fundamental role of restarting, through a movement of conversion, the process of recomposing the many into the One. Boethius shares this framework but places the notion of the person within a Christian vision of existence, thus definitively delivering it to Latin Western thought.

The Nature of Propositions and Propositional Attitudes According to William of Ockham

2025-06-07T01:44:30+00:00

Ockham proposed two consecutive theories about the nature of common concepts or universals. In parallel to these two theories, Ockham proposed two theories about the nature of propositions. This article has two interrelated goals. First, to reveal that Ockham's first theory of the nature of propositions solves only two of the three problems that contemporary propositional realism conceives in some of its arguments, while the second theory solves three of those problems. In each case, however, Ockham attributes the same characteristics and functions to propositions as contemporary literature. Secondly, my goal in this article is to reveal that, by observing those characteristics and functions of propositions, it is clear that Ockham's theories about propositions are consistent with a single theory about the nature of judgments, and apprehensions, two different types of propositional attitudes.

Consequence and Opinio Probabilis: The Induction of Singulars in the Ars Logica of John Poinsot

2025-06-07T01:44:56+00:00

John Poinsot (John of St. Thomas) (1589-1644) is one of the most prominent thinkers of the so-called late scholasticism. He became notable for his numerous writings, especially in the areas of Logic, Metaphysics, and Theology. In his time, probabilism was a prevailing doctrine in ecclesiastical circles, both in Europe and America. The topic was usually discussed within moral theology, particularly in matters related to the sacrament of penance and right conscience. However, what is proposed in this brief analysis is a logical-epistemic perspective on the opinio probabilis, based on the fundamental gnosiological notions of Poinsot's Ars Logica. Our aim in this exposition is to show that the probable opinion corresponds to a sui generis model of enunciation that presents significantly relevant semantic difficulties for the horizon of language meanings and the epistemic degrees of the notitia of the intentional object. In this context, the doctrine of the sign and relation emerges as indispensable requirements for an adequate approach to the subject, ultimately presented as an inductive model of formal consequence.

Humanism and Christian Humanism in Étienne Gilson

2025-06-07T01:45:30+00:00

In some articles, Gilson discusses the historiographic categories of Renaissance and humanism, noting the ambiguity and insufficiency of these labels. He describes the “literary humanism” of the Renaissance, but warns that there is a more deeply anthropological sense of “humanism” founded on the dignity and value of human nature, very far from the postulates of “atheistic humanism.” However, already in his first writings, he introduced the new expression “Christian humanism”, where human dignity is brought to its fullness by its openness to the supernatural. Otherwise perhaps Gilson is the first thinker to introduce the expression “Christian humanism” picked up years later by other authors and, finally, by the Magisterium of the Church.

The Sermo in die Trinitatis (1462) by Rodrigo Sánchez de Arévalo: A Precedent to His Treatise on the Trinity?

2025-06-07T01:48:00+00:00

This paper presents the first critical edition and Spanish translation of the Sermo in die Trinitatis by the Spanish bishop Rodrigo Sánchez de Arévalo, delivered in Rome before Pope Pius II in 1462. In this work, the Castilian prelate argues, in line with Catholic doctrine, that the mystery of the Trinity can only be comprehended through faith. Moreover, it is suggested that, given the thematic similarity, this work may have been the seed for a more extensive treatise on the same subject entitled An mysterium sancte Trinitatis probari possit naturali aut humana ratione, written in opposition to the views of Ramon Llull, who held that the Trinity could indeed be grasped through reason when faith was insufficient.

La virtù in Dante. Un’etica della libertà e dell’amore

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On the union of the incarnate Word

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The text is an unpublished translation into Spanish of a central pamphlet in the theological speculation of Saint Thomas Aquinas, which includes 135 pages of an original preliminary study on the reasons why this text might have been interpreted as foreign to the work of the Angelic Doctor. It also presents an original way to incorporate passages from the Summa contra Gentiles that were not included by previous commentators, such as Patfoord, who is perhaps one of the most recognized in this topic. The main novelty offered by the commentator and translator is to demonstrate the existing unity between the assertions made in the pamphlet and the complete theological work of Aquinas.

Intencionalidad y modalidad en el pensamiento de Juan Duns Escoto. Las distinciones 35 y 36 de Ordinatio I

2025-06-07T01:38:32+00:00

Domingo Báñez, Tratado sobre el hombre (IV). Comentario a Suma Teológica, I, q. 84 - q. 89

2025-06-07T01:39:30+00:00