Atomism in Late Medieval Philosophy and Theology
History of Science and Medicine Library VOLUME 8
Medieval and Early Modern Science Editors
J.M.M.H. Thijssen, Radboud University Nijmegen C.H. Lüthy, Radboud University Nijmegen Editorial Consultants
Joël Biard, University of Tours Simo Knuuttila, University of Helsinki John E. Murdoch, Harvard University Jürgen Renn, Max-Planck-Institute for the History of Science Theo Verbeek, University of Utrecht VOLUME 9
Atomism in Late Medieval Philosophy and Theology Edited by
Christophe Grellard and Aurélien Robert
LEIDEN • BOSTON 2009
On the cover: Goussin de Metz, l’Image du monde, Paris, 1304; Bibliothèque de Rennes Métropole, MS0593, f. 64a. Courtesy of the Bibliothèque de Rennes Métropole. This book is printed on acid-free paper. Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Atomism in late medieval philosophy and theology / edited by Christophe Grellard and Aurélien Robert. p. cm. — (History of science and medicine library ; v. 8) Includes bibliographical references and index. ISBN 978-90-04-17217-3 (hardback : alk. paper) 1. Atomism. 2. Philosophy, Medieval. I. Grellard, Christophe. II. Robert, Aurélien. III. Title. IV. Series. BD646.A85 2009 189—dc22 2008042420
ISSN 1872-0684 ISBN 978 90 04 17217 3 Copyright 2009 by Koninklijke Brill NV, Leiden, The Netherlands. Koninklijke Brill NV incorporates the imprints Brill, Hotei Publishing, IDC Publishers, Martinus Nijhoff Publishers and VSP. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, translated, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without prior written permission from the publisher. Brill has made all reasonable efforts to trace all right holders to any copyrighted material used in this work. In cases where these efforts have not been successful the publisher welcomes communications from copyright holders, so that the appropriate acknowledgements can be made in future editions, and to settle other permission matters. Authorization to photocopy items for internal or personal use is granted by Koninklijke Brill NV provided that the appropriate fees are paid directly to The Copyright Clearance Center, 222 Rosewood Drive, Suite 910, Danvers, MA 01923, USA. Fees are subject to change. printed in the netherlands
CONTENTS Preface ......................................................................................... List of Authors ............................................................................
vii ix
Introduction ................................................................................ Christophe Grellard & Aurélien Robert
1
Beyond Aristotle: Indivisibles and Infinite Divisibility in the Later Middle Ages .................................................................. John E. Murdoch
15
Indivisibles and Infinities: Rufus on Points ................................ Rega Wood
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Richard Kilvington on Continuity ............................................. Elżbieta Jung & Robert Podkoński
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The Importance of Atomism in the Philosophy of Gerard of Odo (O.F.M.) .......................................................................... Sander W. de Boer
85
Nicholas of Autrecourt’s Atomistic Physics ............................... Christophe Grellard
107
William Crathorn’s Mereotopological Atomism ........................ Aurélien Robert
127
An Indivisibilist Argumentation at Paris around 1335: Michel of Montecalerio’s Question on Point and the Controversy with John Buridan .................................................................. Jean Celeyrette John Wyclif ’s Atomism ............................................................... Emily Michael
163 183
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Blasius of Parma facing Atomist Assumptions .......................... Joël Biard
221
Bibliography ................................................................................
235
Index of Ancient, Medieval and Renaissance Authors ............. Index of Modern and Contemporary Authors .........................
247 249
PREFACE Most of the papers collected in this volume are the result of a conference held at the Maison française d’Oxford in November 2004, which was organized by the present editors. This two-days workshop was entitled “Atomism and its Place in Medieval Philosophy” and its first aim was to assess the different issues in which atomism could have played a role during the Middle Ages. But the contributions generally focused their target on the physical/mathematical distinction within medieval debates about the continuum and the indivisible. For this reason, each chapter has been thoroughly rewritten and we asked other scholars to participate to this book. This is the reason why we have decided to change the title for the publication with an even more general title. As organizers of the conference, we would like to express our gratitude to the institutions that sponsored us and helped us with their financial support: first, the Maison française d’Oxford, where the workshop took place and whose director, Alexis Tadié, generously offered excellent conditions for the organization; the “Service Science et Technologie” of the French Embassy in Great Britain (London); the GDR 2522 “Philosophie de la connaissance et de la nature au Moyen Âge et à la Renaissance” (CNRS, Tours); the ACI “Articulations entre mathématique et philosophie naturelle (XIV e–XVIe s.)” (CNRS) which all financed the main part of the colloquium; finally, the Center “Tradition de la pensée classique” (EA 2482) of the University of Paris I Panthéon-Sorbonne who helped both for the conference and for the publication of the volume. We therefore thank them all for their participation, without which this conference and this book wouldn’t have existed. Above all we must thank Alexis Tadié and Stéphane Van Damme who encouraged us and made the realization of this project possible. Our gratitude also goes to Margaret Cameron and Dallas Denery Junior who helped us to translate into English some of the chapters presented here which were initially written in French. We must also thank the people who were present at the conference but who didn’t take part in this volume: Richard Cross, Luc Foisneau, Gabriele Galluzzo, Dan Garber, Isabel Irribaren, Andrew Pyle, Sabine Rommevaux, Cecilia Trifogli.
LIST OF AUTHORS Joël Biard, Université François Rabelais, Centre d’Études Supérieures de la Renaissance (UMR 6576 du CNRS), Tours, France. Jean Celeyrette, UMR 8163 Savoirs, Textes, Langage CNRS-Université de Lille III, Lille, France. Sander W. de Boer, Radboud Universiteit Nijmegen, Nijmegen, The Netherlands. Christophe Grellard, Université de Paris I Panthéon-Sorbonne, Paris, France. Elbieta Jung, University of ŁódΩ, ŁódΩ, Poland. Emily Michael, Brooklyn College and the Graduate Center, City University of New York, New York, USA. John E. Murdoch, Harvard University, Cambridge, Mass., USA. Robert Podkodski, University of ŁódΩ, ŁódΩ, Poland. Aurélien Robert, Centre d’Études Supérieures de la Renaissance (UMR 6576 du CNRS), École française de Rome, Tours-Roma, France-Italy. Rega Wood, Stanford University, USA.
INTRODUCTION Christophe Grellard & Aurélien Robert 1. Medieval Atomism in Recent Historiography In the second half of the twentieth century, there has been a great renewal in the history of medieval atomism. If the rising of philosophical debates on the composition and the divisibility of a continuum in the Latin West during the thirteenth and the fourteenth centuries had long been considered a mere transition between Ancient and Renaissance atomism,1 more recent studies have taken the opposite direction and tended to restore the image of a period of intense reflections on indivisibles. John E. Murdoch is mostly responsible for this turn in recent historiography, thanks to his work on a lot of still unedited authors.2 In some respects, this attitude is not that new if we consider that at the end of the nineteenth century, Kurd Lasswitz’s essay Geschichte der Atomistik vom Mittelalter bis Newton (1890) and Léopold Mabilleau’s Histoire de la philosophie atomistique (1895) had already attempted to make room for medieval atomism, though both of them were unfamiliar with most of the important authors of the fourteenth century, with the exception of Nicholas of Autecourt.3 But it is only recently that some important monographs have endeavoured to replace these two pioneering books. Bernhardt Pabst, in 1994,4 and Andrew Pyle in 1995,5 furnished new and detailed studies of medieval atomism, with full chapters dedicated to fourteenth-century atomism.6 The ambition of this book is not to replace those essays in the history of medieval atomism, but to raise some new questions about the commonly accepted view of the nature 1 We should mention earlier monographs on this topic, such as Van Melsen, From Atomos to Atom, where the chapter on medieval atomism is joined to the Renaissance period and is limited to developments on minima naturalia. 2 See the bibliography at the end of the volume. 3 In fact, they only knew Autrecourt’s articles condemned in Paris. 4 Pabst, Atomtheorien des lateinischen Mittelalters. 5 Pyle, Atomism and its Critics from Democritus to Newton. 6 For a more detailed historiographical essay on medieval atomism, cf. Lüthy, Murdoch & Newman, Late Medieval and Early Modern Corpuscular Matter Theories, “introduction,” pp. 1–17.
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of fourteenth-century atomism in particular. The aim is to go further into detail about specific authors than do the expansive histories mentioned above, though we do not intend the present work to be a mere collection of single essays on single authors. As this introduction will try to show, several leitmotivs are present throughout the different chapters. The principal tasks of this book are, first, to distinguish the singularity of fourteenth-century atomism, compared to other periods; second, to show that the understanding of the debates over this period is far more complicated than it is usually asserted in the old as in the recent historiography; and third, to ask whether fourteenth-century atomism is rather mathematical, physical or even metaphysical, as some of the contributors have tried to challenge the prevailing view about the mathematical nature of indivisibilism at that time. It is a difficult task to catch the essence of medieval atomism—if it exists—for as Gaston Bachelard used to say, the atomist doctrines become more and more confused when one wants to embrace them as a whole.7 It is undeniably true that different forms of atomism existed in the Middle Ages, from the Arabic occasionalist theories of the Mutakallimun to the infancy of modern science in the natural philosophy of the Renaissance. One may be tempted to distinguish the theory of the elements in the medical context, the medieval interpretations of Plato’s atomism in the Timaeus, the reconstruction of Democritus’s thesis through Aristotle’s critics, etc. For medieval attempts to consider the existence of atoms or indivisibles are to be found in very different contexts. In any case, the rather common attitude nowadays is to assert that apart from Arabic theological atomism, the only survival of atomism in the Middle Ages is the fourteenth-century “indivisibilism.”8 This way of dividing the history of atomism is certainly artificial and misleading, for as early as the twelfth century some atomistic theories of matter were developed by philosophers such as William of Conches. So we are left with Bachelard’s opinion, while historians tend to restrict themselves to their own specific areas. According to John E. Murdoch, for example, fourteenth-century atomism presents some particular features that allow the historian of philosophy and science to isolate this period from other traditions. The mathematical—or rather geometrical—nature of the fourteenth-century debates on the continuum
7 8
Bachelard, Les intuitions atomistiques, p. 11. Murdoch, “Naissance et développement de l’atomisme au bas Moyen Âge latin.”
introduction
3
and indivisibles differentiates it from William of Conches’s atomism, for example, which is in turn influenced by Plato’s Timaeus and by the medical school of Salerno and has nothing to do with Aristotle’s geometrical attacks against Leucippus and Democritus. In this volume, we will focus on fourteenth-century discussions of indivisibles and atoms,9 in order to take stock of the situation on recent historiography and above all to discuss Murdoch’s hypothesis, which is the prevailing one today. Indeed, all the chapters presented here try to respond, implicitly or explicitly, to the question: are debates on atomism in the fourteenth century purely mathematical and geometrical? In order to give the reader a general idea of the history of atomism in the Middle Ages, let us first describe in a few lines the Ancient sources that were available to the medieval philosophers, since it is partly at the origin of the main stream in recent historiography. 2. Ancient and Medieval Atomism It has long been thought that Ancient atomists, such as Epicurus or Lucretius, were rediscovered during the Renaissance, notably after the works of Poggio Bracciolini on the manuscript of the De natura rerum discovered by him in 1417. But the manuscripts on which Poggio based his edition are from the 9th century, and we know now that Lucretius was still copied during the Middle Ages, as is evident from the many manuscripts of the De natura rerum dating after the 9th–10th centuries.10 Moreover, as J. Philippe has shown in his pioneering study,11 Lucretius’s poem was discussed throughout the Middle Ages with no interruption from the era of the Church Fathers to the twelfth century. An example of this persistence is William of Conches, who quotes a passage from the De natura rerum in his Dragmaticon philosophiae, though he didn’t have access to the original text but only knew it from Cicero, Priscian and probably other sources.12 The same is also true for Epicurus, whose works were known through a still longer chain of intermediate sources. One feels this tradition in the medieval encyclopaedias, as in Isidore of Seville, the Venerable Bede and Rhaban Maur, all of whom 9 One exception is Rega Wood’s chapter on Richard Rufus, which serves to clarify the particular situation of fourteenth-century discussions. 10 Philippe, “Lucrèce dans la théologie chrétienne,” (1896), pp. 151–152. 11 Ibid. 12 William of Conches, Dragmaticon philosophiae [ Ronca], p. 27.
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discussed the existence of atoms, a tradition that continues up to Vincent of Beauvais, for example. John of Salisbury also dealt with Epicurism in his Metalogicon13 and in his Entheticus, where he tried to refute its principal tenets.14 We may multiply the examples, but there is no doubt that ancient atomist theories were known to the medieval philosophers and associated with names such as Epicurus or Lucretius. The idea of an eclipse of atomism seems to be confirmed by the violent reactions of the Church Fathers. Everybody has in mind Lactantius’s attacks, for example.15 So, even if Augustine said that Epicurism was dead in his times, it is now well-known that this view has no basis in historical reality. It is true, indeed, that Ancient atomists were not discussed for their theories of matter as such, but rather for the theological consequences of their views, among them the negation of Divine providence and the implication of the impassivity of God. Therefore, despite the fact that many indirect sources were present during the Middle Ages, there were no new atomist theories of matter, nor detailed exegesis of ancient ideas, until the 12th century. One of the main reasons for this absence was the assimilation of Epicurism with heresy; and even if atomism is not necessarily connected with the theory of pleasure, its view of matter has been discredited for several ancillary reasons as well.16 Further, the main theses of Ancient atomism were known through severe critics or through partial quotations.17 The first philosophical resurgence of atom-
Cf. John of Salisbury, Metalogicon [ Hall ], II, 2, 10–11, p. 58 or IV, 31, 22–27. The relevant passages are found in Philippe, “Lucrèce dans la théologie chrétienne,” (1896), pp. 158–159. 15 For example: Lactantius, De ira dei, 10, 1–33. 16 For example, in the 9th and 10th centuries, Epicurism was attached to the Cathar heresy. Cf. Philippe, “Lucrèce dans la théologie chrétienne,” (1896), pp. 148–160. In the 11th century, one can still find violent critics against Epicurus in Marbode of Rennes, Liber decem capitulorum [ Leotta], pp. 54–58. The passage ends with a terrible judgement (p. 58): Quapropter stultos Epicuri respue sensus, Qui cupis ad vitam quandoque venire beatam; Sperne voluptates inimicas philosophiae, In grege porcorum nisi mavis pinguis haberi Illisa rigidam passurus fronte securim. 17 As J. Philippe asserts (Ibid. p. 161): “Les citations de Lucrèce chez les grammairiens, les extraits de son oeuvre donnés par les Apologistes assurèrent, bien mieux qu’un enseignement méthodique, la conservation de ses idées qui entrèrent ainsi dans l’enseignement théologique. Présenté comme système, l’Epicurisme eût été vite proscrit, et, de fait, il l’a été souvent: mais des citations éparses semblaient moins dangereuses, et, comme les idées qu’elles contenaient répondaient souvent à des questions soulevées par les commentaires bibliques, on les adopta sans défiance.” 13
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ism dates from the 12th century, in the works of William of Conches, but it is a result of different traditions, Platonist and medical, and it is not a strict reading of Ancient atomism. In the 13th century, there were no developed atomist theories as far as we know—be they mathematical or physical—even if one can find some corpuscular tendencies in some physicians as Urso of Salerno at the very end of the 12th century,18 or in some philosophers such as Robert Grosseteste and Roger Bacon.19 All of these authors discussed the concept of minimum, sometimes considering it as a synonym of “atom,” as is explicitly affirmed by Albert the Great, for example.20 Not only there were no atomist theories of matter, but providence, indifference of God, hedonist visions of happiness, etc. were no longer subjects of discussion when authors treated the nature of matter, except for some detailed critiques of Arabic atomism in Thomas Aquinas’s Summa contra gentiles for example.21 The target had changed. In addition to the theological motive for the eclipse of Ancient atomism, the arrival of new Latin translations of Aristotle’s texts on natural philosophy in the thirteenth century played an important role. Epicurus and Lucretius were no longer the protagonists when people dealt with the nature and function of atoms, as both were progressively replaced by Democritus, to whom Aristotle devoted many passages in the Physics, the De generatione et corruptione and De caelo. This is the reason why, according to Murdoch, fourteenth-century atomism is merely a response to Aristotle’s anti-atomism and never a return to Ancient theories. He wrote:
Cf. Jacquart, “Minima in Twelfth-Century Medical Texts from Salerno.” Cf. Molland, “Roger Bacon’s Corpuscular Tendencies (and some of Grosseteste’s too).” Work should be done on David of Dinant, who seems to have been tempted by corpuscular theories too. 20 Albert the Great, De generatione et corruptione [ Hoddfeld ], t. 1, c. 12, p. 120, 44–55: “Democritus autem videbat quod omnia naturalia heterogenia componuntur ex similibus sicut manus ex carne et osse et huiusmodi, similia vero componuntur secundum essentiam ex minimis quae actionem formae habere possunt, licet enim non sit accipere minimum in partibus corporis, secundum quod est corpus, quod autem non accipi minus per divisionem, tamen est in corpore physico accipere ita parvam carnem qua si minor accipiatur, operationem carnis non perficet, et hoc est minimum corpus non in eo quod corpus, sed in eo quod physicum corpus, et hoc vocavit atomus Democritus.” 21 Cf. Aquinas, Summa contra Gentiles, III, c. 65 and 69. For the references to the Arabs in Aquinas, cf. Anawati, “Saint Thomas d’Aquin et les penseurs arabes: Les loquentes in lege Maurorum et leur philosophie de la nature.” 18 19
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christophe grellard & aurélien robert Unfortunately, almost all this indivisibilist literature is devoted to arguing against the Aristotelian position and to establishing that continua can be composed in this or that fashion of indivisibles; very little is said that helps to explain precisely why this current of indivisibilism arose in the first third of the fourteenth century or what function it was held to serve. There seems to be no sign of a resurgence of ancient physical atomism among these late medieval indivisibilists, nor anything resembling a consciously atomistic interpretation of mathematics.22
Murdoch’s statement is partly true, because every philosopher who wrote something in the area of natural philosophy at this time had to discuss the question of continuity as found in the sixth book of Aristotle’s Physics, and this is not the indivisibilist’s privilege. Moreover, Murdoch is perfectly right in saying that one cannot find real hints of ancient physical atomism in this fourteenth-century indivisibilist literature, for if there were physical theories for the existence of atoms, they had nothing in common with Democritus’s or Lucretius’s views on the subject.23 However, can we limit our characterization of fourteenth-century atomism to its mathematical features? 3. Fourteenth-Century Atomism: Mathematical, Physical or Metaphysical? Much recent research is devoted to showing that there was also a more physical form of atomism in the fourteenth century. In this respect, the most representative philosopher of this physicalist way of thought is undoubtedly Nicholas of Autrecourt, who is admittedly considered as an exception in the philosophical landscape of later medieval philosophy (see Christophe Grellard’s chapter). But there are other, lesser-known thinkers who developed consistent views about the physical nature of atoms and their role in the explanation of natural phenomena, among them Gerard of Odo, William Crathorn or John Wyclif, to whom some of the chapters in the present volume are dedicated (see the contributions of De Boer, Robert and Michael). J.E. Murdoch, “Infinity and Continuity,” p. 576. It is clear that medieval philosophers knew mainly the physical part of Democritus’s doctrine, because of the mediation of Aristotle’s critics (they also knew some epistemological elements from Cicero and Aristotle’s Metaphysics, book Γ ). But it is also evident that Democritus’s thought cannot be limited to such an aspect. For recent presentations on different facets of his philosophy, cf. Brancacci & Morel, Democritus: Science, the Arts, and the Care of the Soul. 22 23
introduction
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In this context of hesitation concerning the different possible streams of medieval atomism—physical or mathematical—the main aim of this book is to assess past and present research, focussing on the different forms taken by indivisibilist theories in the Latin West, as presented by their followers and their critics. It will appear that even at the end of the thirteenth century, when no indivisibilist theory was formed, the question of the nature of points was neither purely mathematical or geometrical, nor purely physical. Richard Rufus is a good representative of such a mixed point of view (see Wood’s chapter). And, in the fourteenth century, both attitudes can be found. All the divisibilists used geometrical arguments, because they are much stronger than any other. On the contrary, some indivisibilists tried to show that geometry is not the right tool to argue against atomism if one considers atoms in a physical or metaphysical way. Others tried to respond to the mathematical arguments, but always with physical considerations. With the exception of Michel of Montecalerio24 and Henry of Harclay, who discussed more precisely the mathematical arguments, Walter Chatton, William Crathorn, Gerard of Odo, Nicholas of Autecourt, and John Wyclif, demonstrate a strong propensity for the use of physical or metaphysical considerations. According to them, indivisibles must be considered as elemental components of reality, and not as mere unextended points. Nicholas of Autrecourt and William Crathorn even tried to develop a real atomistic physics, and John Wyclif ’s position could be traced back to the Platonist tradition inaugurated by the twelfth-century commentators of Plato. In any case, their positions are never reducible to a mere reaction to Aristotle’s arguments, nor to a reconstruction of Democritus through Aristotelian doxography. It is clear that from the divisibilist side, the strongest arguments against atomism are geometrical. They are presented by Aristotle, but also by Al-Ghazali’s and Duns Scotus’s works. As other examples of this attitude, we can mention Thomas Bradwardine, who dealt with the problem of the continuum in a mathematical and geometrical fashion, and Richard Kilvington, who tried to mix mathematical elements with physical thought experiments. Other divisibilists, as Walter Burley and Blasius of Parma, remained suspended between both methods. Beyond the oppositions between indivisibilists and anti-indivisibilists, the aim of the present book is thus to give an account of the complexity
24
On Montecalerio, see Celeyrette’s chapter in this volume.
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of the reflections upon the structure of continuum and matter in medieval natural philosophy. Indeed, a strict opposition between two antagonistic sides would be exaggeratedly schematic, even if some personal struggles cannot be excluded.25 The chapters presented here may be considered a starting point for further studies about the different atomist traditions in the Middle Ages, about the sources of medieval atomism, and about the relevant periods that must be taken into account by the historian of sciences.26 We hope that the following contributions will contribute to an understanding of atomism as a continuously—though more or less accurately—present context in medieval speculations about nature. 4. Overview of the Contributions In his inaugural chapter, John E. Murdoch gives a general survey of the divisibilist/indivisibilist debates in the later Middle Ages and a detailed dramatis personae of atomists and their critics. It is argued that the real motive behind fourteenth-century indivisibilism remains the rejection of Aristotle’s arguments as formulated in his Physics and his other treatises on natural philosophy. But Murdoch also endeavours to show that medieval philosophers went far beyond Aristotle, though he is always the point of departure for their enquiries. Many of them put forth new elements and new methods for the analysis of the continuum’s divisibility that were by no means present in Aristotle’s texts. Murdoch insists that the major issues of this renewal were mathematical and geometrical, even if one can also find a new language of analysis derived from logic in such a context. This first chapter can be considered as a guide through these complicated discussions, written from a standpoint representative of the prevailing historiography that some of the other chapters in this volume will challenge.
On this point see the dramatis personae in Murdoch’s contribution to this volume. For example, studies about quantity in the twelfth century would probably reveal some atomistic preoccupations, as is clear from Peter Abelard’s discussion in the Dialectica, where he detailed the theory of his master (William of Champeaux?), who clearly stated that quantities (lines, but even bodies) are made of indivisibles. Cf. Peter Abelard, Dialectica [ De Rijk], pp. 56–60. Therefore, we may find some degree of similarity between twelfth and fourteenth-century indivisibilism. This would deserve another volume. 25
26
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In Rega Wood’s chapter, one will find a sketch, from a thirteenthcentury standpoint, of what would become the main blind alleys for fourteenth-century philosophers. Are mathematical, physical and metaphysical points of view on the nature of points alike and are they directed to the same object? Rega Wood thus presents the interpretation of Aristotle’s arguments against atomism by the thirteenth-century philosopher Richard Rufus of Cornwall, who dealt with this issue in many of his works. Since it is usually stated that medieval discussions about indivisibles are nothing but a mere reaction to the rediscovery of Aristotle’s texts, the case of Rufus seems important, for he belongs to the first generation of philosophers who commented on the whole Aristotelian corpus. This chapter then shows how confused Aristotle’s positions were about the definition of point in his different books, and how this confusion could lead to different kinds of interpretations. The central question in Rufus’s works is to know whether points are mere mathematical objects or substances of some sort, since, surprisingly enough, both assertions can be found in Aristotle. Thus, Rega Wood thoroughly examines the texts in which Rufus distinguishes the respective roles and objects of mathematics, physics and metaphysics. Following Aristotle in the main lines, Rufus strongly denied that a continuum is composed of indivisibles from a mathematical point of view, but he admits that points are really found in sensible objects, from which mathematicians abstract their concept of point. Therefore, there is a strict link between mathematical and physical points. Moreover, in distinguishing sensible from intelligible matter, Rufus seems to contend that intelligible quantity is infinitely divisible, while sensible matter has a kind of natural minimum. Turning then to the nature of points, Rufus considered them as accidents of matter, because matter cannot be spatially organized without the disposition of its points, i.e. by their respective positions. At the same time, he denies that points are constitutive parts of a body, even if they can be considered as a quasi cause of lines, for example. Therefore, points are primarily defined by their position in a line, a surface or a body, but are strictly extensionless. Hence, Rega Wood shows that points should be interpreted in Rufus’s thought as quasi essential parts of a line, but not as constitutive, nor as integral or quantitative parts of a substance. The final section of the chapter deals with the question of the infinite. If Rufus follows Aristotle in his criticism of physical atomism, all the same he affirms that infinities can be unequal, a position that sounds similar to the later view of Henry of Harclay.
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In their contribution, Robert Podkoński and Elżbieta Jung present Kilvington’s curious attitude toward atomism. Indeed, even if he proposes some geometrical arguments for infinite divisibility, he does not seem really interested in the classical debate as it appears in Duns Scotus’s reprisal of Avicenna’s rationes mathematicae. Neglecting the most popular arguments, he tries to elaborate new geometrical thoughtexperiments. Podkoński and Jung analyze carefully three of them: the first deals with the angle of contingency, the second with the evolution of a triangle in a cone of shadow, and the last with the possibility of an infinite line. In the two first problems, Kilvington identifies Euclid as the one who introduced the idea of an infinitely small mathematical being, in the prop. 16 of the third book of the Elements, and Plato as his atomist opponent in the Timaeus, but he totally ignores all of his contemporaries. In all three cases, however, Kilvington is not really concerned with the confutation of atomism, even if he remains a firm defender of infinite divisibility as an absolute principle. His first aim is rather to examine and solve paradoxical cases linked to the question of continuum and to the Aristotelian thesis. On this point, he underlines two difficulties against Aristotle: first, it doesn’t seem possible to adopt the Archimedean and Euclidean principle of continuity; second, in an Aristotelian context, we are not able to answer Zeno’s paradox. Despite these repeated attacks against indivisibilism, some authors tried to escape the threat of geometrical aporia by considering the problem from a more physical aspect. In his chapter, Sander W. de Boer endeavours to prove that Gerard of Odo (c. 1285–1349) is probably one of the first consistent atomists in the fourteenth century. Of course, Henry of Harclay and Walter Chatton were indivisibilists before him, but they did not defend a physicalist point of view. From several unedited texts, Sander W. de Boer shows that atomism occupied a much more important place than past commentators usually assumed, and that Odo made new ontological claims about the indivisibles, to the effect that they are kinds of physical parts of the continuum. Odo’s atomism seems to rest on two basic claims: 1) indivisibles are parts prior to the whole they belong to; and 2) it follows from the mereological assertion in 1) that the number of atoms should be finite. To establish these two claims, Odo calls in different physical phenomena, such as the nature of the degrees of heat, intension and remission of light, etc. Rejecting the existence of actual infinities, Odo contends that there must be minima and maxima in natural phenomena. Sander W. de Boer concludes
introduction
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that Odo “consistently uses his atomism in explaining reality, and the application of this atomism to God’s power and to the inner structure of continuous physical processes is not provoked by any mathematical arguments.” More famous than Gerard of Odo is Nicholas of Autrecourt, who is undoubtedly one of the most studied of the fourteenth-century atomists. In his chapter, Christophe Grellard demonstrates that Nicholas did not limit himself to considerations about the existence and nature of indivisibles, but rather that he explored the possibility of forming a complete alternative physics. The main concern of Nicholas was to prove the eternity of the world from atomistic explanations of generation and corruption, i.e. aggregation and segregation, of atoms which eternally exist. Of course, Autrecourt’s standpoint is physical in this context when he constructs the conditions of a local motion in a void, or when he explains condensation and rarefaction and other natural phenomena. But his attitude is also partly metaphysical, when he criticizes, for example, the matter/form couple in order to reduce matter to a mere atomic flux. As Christophe Grellard shows, there is no need of a substratum in change according to Autrecourt; rather, the atomic flux is enough because atoms are not bare particulars, but qualitative entities. They are the basic substances of the world. In some respect, these atoms are more similar to Aristotle’s minima naturalia than to Democritean atoms. How then to explain the unity of a thing composed of atoms? Nicholas takes for granted that there are essential and accidental atoms in a natural compound. The essential ones function as kinds of natural magnets and make the others hold together. Indeed, even if he criticizes Aristotle’s distinction between matter and form, such essential atoms are sometimes called ‘formal atoms’, in the sense that they contain what will be the principle of motion, a sort of virtus. But, since the natural power of these atoms is not always sufficient, an atomic compound can be helped by a celestial influence. Surprisingly enough, this copulatio between atoms and stars is a sine qua non condition for a natural change. For example, procreation requires three conditions: it occurs through a material condition (the sperm), a formal condition (the man) and by the efficiency of a star. Autecourt’s cosmology is therefore purely atomistic, from the explanation of the celestial stars to the natural phenomena in the sensible world. This genuine theory, as Christophe Grellard shows, takes its origin not only in some developments of Aristotle’s corpus itself, especially from the
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De generatione et corruptione and the De caelo, but also from the Arabic atomism of the Mutakallimun, known through the Latin translation of Maimonides’s Guide of the perplexed. At the very same time, around 1330, another philosopher, William Crathorn, developed a similar theory, minus the celestial action on atomic compounds. Aurélien Robert’s aim is to show that Crathorn puts forth the basic foundations for an atomistic physics, which rests upon two distinctive features: a mereological interpretation of the continuum debate, and a systematic use of the notions of space and position. In Crathorn’s theory, indivisibles are conceived as things, actually existing in the continuum as real parts, and occupying a single place in the universe. Moreover, these entities have a certain nature (there are atoms of gold and atoms of lead, for example) and it must be inferred, as Robert shows, that they also have a certain quantity or magnitude. From this reconstruction of the physical or metaphysical structure of atoms, it is demonstrated that Crathorn applied this theory to Aristotle’s arguments, giving a new definition of contiguity and continuity from the arrangement of parts and from the contiguity of places occupied by the atoms. Hence, Crathorn reduces all movement to a local motion of atoms, and explains various physical phenomena with his new analysis of the indivisibles (such as condensation and rarefaction, for example). Finally, even if Crathorn’s attempt to elaborate an atomistic physics is rather original, Aurélien Robert brings out some limits to his analysis due to theological reasons, notably when the Oxford master applies his analysis to the cases of angels or souls. In conclusion, this tends to prove that from mereotopological elements, Crathorn endeavoured to think the possibility of an atomistic physics, where atoms resemble more the minima naturalia than the atoms of Democritus, Epicurus or Lucretius. Jean Celeyrette takes up a lesser-known Parisian dispute between John Buridan and Michel of Montecalerio which took place a short time before and after 1335. Buridan’s question De puncto has been edited by Vladimir Zubov in 1961, but Jean Celeyrette makes its context far more clear for us. Indeed, he provides a new evidentiary basis for reconstructing the whole debate from unedited manuscript material. It appears that the departure point of the confrontation between both masters was a discussion of the Ockhamist view about points. Though Buridan doesn’t agree with Ockham in his commentaries on Aristotle’s Physics, he followed him in his De puncto. Jean Celeyrette then details the different steps of the dispute, showing that there were probably four consecutive disputed questions—and possibly four texts—in which both
introduction
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masters responded to each other. Montecalerio presents an indivisibilist theory very different from the ones examined in the other chapters of this volume, for he doesn’t want to identify points with parts, as Odo, Autrecourt and Crathorn tend to do. Points are considered as accidents existing in a substance as in a subject (subiective), a position similar to Rufus’s view. Incidentally, this chapter presents an interesting standpoint for the general historiographical question posed in this book about the mathematical or physical nature of atomist debates in the Middle Ages, for Jean Celeyrette concludes: “. . . mathematics are roughly absent . . . One finds no allusion, even to challenge their relevance, to the rationes mathematicae very fashionable among English scholars since Scot.” This chapter even demonstrates an appeal to physical practice in Buridan’s text—though he is a divisibilist—when he invokes, for example, experimentation and the work of the Alchemists. Therefore, Celeyrette’s study tends to establish the fact that even in a discussion about the possible existence of points, some medieval thinkers used to consider it not as a purely mathematical problem, but also as a real need for physics. The last atomist philosopher presented in this volume is John Wyclif. The main purpose of Emily Michael’s chapter is to examine how Wyclif tried to make an atomistic view of prime matter compatible with a hylomorphist conception of natural beings. As Michael shows, in Wyclif ’s cosmology, matter is firstly conceived as a composition of a finite number of atoms defined as real entities occupying each possible place in the world. Though indivisible parts of matter have no quantity, nor quality, their contiguity in space defines the total shape and quantity of matter in the world. This theory is very similar to Crathorn’s position, except that there is no void in the world according to Wyclif. If one turns to the reasons for Wyclif ’s adoption of such a corpuscular theory of matter, Michael contends, one should find that his first motivation was theological, for his view is supported by a logical interpretation of Scripture. Wyclif asserts that God has created a finite world with a finite number of atoms in it. Michael thus demonstrates that the whole methodology of Wyclif ’s cosmology is directed by the logic of Scripture and by the interpretation of the Book of Genesis. Afterwards, Michael turns to the compatibility of the atomistic view of matter with a pluralistic hylomorphism, inspired by some of his scholastic predecessors, especially in the Franciscan school. Finally, Wyclif ’s atomism is evaluated from the question of the mixtio of the elements. The traditional view of Aquinas and other scholastics was that in the generation of a new compound, its elements do not remain in the mixture. On the contrary, Wyclif thinks that the elements remain
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in the compound as small atomic particles. As a result of her analysis, Michael establishes that what Wyclif calls minima naturalia comes from such a natural mixing process of the elemental atoms. Therefore, there is a natural hierarchy of beings: indivisibles, i.e. extensionless points; the elemental atoms (air, earth, fire and water), which are determined by an elemental form; minima naturalia (minimal parts of flesh, bones, etc.), which are the fundamental particles of a body composed of elemental atoms; bodies, formed by the composition of those minima naturalia plus substantial forms; and human beings, which are bodies plus the rational soul. This chapter brings us a new, important view of a non-mathematical but metaphysical form of indivisibilism which takes its place in a whole cosmology inspired by Plato’s Timaeus and Augustine’s De Genesi ad litteram. With Joël Biard’s contribution on Blasius of Parma’s attitude towards atomism, we reach the very end of the fourteenth century. It is worth noting that Blasius reveals the permanency of atomistic problematic, even when most atomist philosophers seem to have disappeared. Indeed, from time to time, the Italian philosopher seems ready to use a kind of atomistic point of view. Leaving aside some aspects of Blasius’s thought (the question of the void and of the nature of matter) Biard deals primarily with the two main questions on the continuum and on the minima naturalia. About the first point, Blasius first denies the possible existence of indivisibles, by using classical geometrical arguments. Nevertheless, he seems to admit as rather plausible a kind of indivisibilism, that is infinite indivisibilism. This partial defense of atomism relies on both mathematical and physical arguments. In sum, Blasius tries to accept simultaneously the infinite divisibility of a line and the infinity of points. Without quoting any atomists (such as Henry of Harclay or Nicholas of Autrecourt, both of whom accept the existence of an infinity of indivisibles), Blasius finally defends a kind of indivisibilism, but it is going too far to consider him as an atomist. Indeed, concerning the question of natural minima, he clearly asserts the infinite divisibility of matter. But, once again, atomism implicitly remains: if there is no absolute minimum, Blasius concedes, there should be a minimum in the sense of physical limits of existence; and this limit is determined by the proportion of matter in a being. Finally, we should say that at the end of the century, atomist solutions were still more or less present as a convenient answer in some context between mathematics and physics. Blasius of Parma is an interesting witness to this kind of “regional atomism.”
BEYOND ARISTOTLE: INDIVISIBLES AND INFINITE DIVISIBILITY IN THE LATER MIDDLE AGES John E. Murdoch The basic text for late medieval Latin atomism and its critics was Aristotle’s Physics, especially Book VI. Here the atoms or indivisibles he considered and combatted were extensionless, a conception that can be found in scholastic debate about atoms all the way to Galileo and his atomi non quanti.1 The medieval atomists were clustered in the fourteenth-century,2 as were their Aristotelian critics. Figure 1 provides the basic dramatis personae of the fourteenth-century atomists and their critics. The list of atomists is nearly complete, save for the followers of Wyclif. The list of their critics is naturally less complete, being made up of chiefly those who name their atomist opponents. Yet even without such identification, we can often tell other critics, such as John Buridan and his school, because they oppose specific identifiable atomist arguments. The question of the motives for the late medieval atomism is pretty murky. The motives for Greek atomism are, at least to some extent, an answer to Parmenides’s monism and center in attempts to explain natural phenomena (if not always totally successfully). Equally clear are the motives for the Arabic atomism of the Mutakallimun: namely, to put all causal relations into the hands of God through the mechanism of the doctrine of continuous creation. However, in the case of late medieval atomism there is not such a wholesale application to nature or to a God who creates the universe anew at every instant.
1 Galileo Galilei, Discorsi e dimostrazione matematiche intorno a due nuove scienze, vol. 8, p. 72. There is, of course, the quite separate consideration of minima naturalia that arises out of Aristotle’s criticism of Anaxagoras in Physics, I, ch. 4. For the medieval history, as well as the historiography, of this kind of atomism or corpuscularianism, see Murdoch, “The Medieval and Renaissance Tradition of Minima Naturalia”. 2 For the earlier medieval atomism by the likes of Isidore of Seville, William of Conches, etc., see Pabst, Atomentheorien des lateinischen Mittelalters. For the standard treatments of the medieval atomism of the fourteenth century, see Duhem, Le système du monde, vol. 7, pp. 3–157; Maier, “Kontinuum, Minima und aktuell Unendliches,” In Die Vorläufer galileis im 14. Jahrhundert 2nd ed., pp. 155–215; and, more briefly, Murdoch, “Infinity and Continuity.”
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Dramatis personae INDIVISIBILISTS E N G L I S H
ARISTOTELIANS
Henry of Harclay
William of Alnwick OFM
Walter Chatton OFM
Adam Wodeham OFM
Crathorn OP
Thomas Bradwardine
John Wyclif
William of Ockham OFM Roger Rosetus OFM Walter Burley
C O N T I N E N T A L
Gerard of Odo OFM
John the Canon
Nicholas Bonetus OFM John Gedo Marcus Trevisano Nicholas Autrecourt
Single line arrows represent (named) criticism Double line arrows represent verbatim borrowing
Fig. 1. Fourteenth-Century Indivisibilism and its Critics
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The most frequently occurring “motive” is that of angelic motion, although it sometimes functions as an excuse to discuss at length the atomist or indivisibilist composition of continua.3 Alternatively, Henry of Harclay was convinced that the belief in the possible inequality of infinites was grounds for a related belief in the composition of continua out of indivisibles.4 Yet one feels that the real motive behind such fourteenth-century atomists was the scrutiny and consequent rejection of Aristotle’s arguments against such atomism or indivisibilism. I now want to turn to my major topic: to measure how both the late medieval atomists and their critics went beyond (and not just developed) the Aristotelian base from which they began; beyond in the sense of providing new conceptions and new arguments for their cause. Before that, however, I want to establish that, in coming up with the extensionless indivisibles of Book VI of Aristotle’s Physics, the fourteenthcentury medieval atomists skewed the view of ancient atomism. This meant, of course, the opinion of Democritus, since they either did not have or failed to appeal to Epicurus or Lucretius. For example, citing Aristotle on Book I of De generatione, the late medieval indivisibilists
3 Walter Chatton, Reportatio Super Sententias [ Etzkorn e.a.] Liber II, pp. 114–146: “Et quia non potest sciri de motu angeli utrum sit continuus vel discretus in motu nisi sciatur utrum motus et alia continua componantur ex indivisibilibus, ideo quaero propter motum angeli utrum quantum componatur ex indivisibilibus sive permanens sive successivum.” Then Chatton spends the remaining 32 pages investigating this latter question and never returns to the notion of angelic motion. Similarly Gerard of Odo, Super primum Sententiarum, dist. 37 (MSS Naples, Bib. Naz. VII. B.25, ff. 234v–244v; Valencia, Cated. 139, ff. 120v–125v): “Ad quorum evidentiam querenda sunt quatuor . . . Tertium utrum motus angeli habeat partem aliquam simpliciter primam.” But then on the very next folio he breaks into what is of real interest to him: “Utrum continuum componatur ex indivisibilibus;” he continues this inquiry to the end of the question, only devoting a brief paragraph at its end to the problem de motu angeli. Indeed, two other MSS of Gerard’s question, shorn of its concern about angelic motion, made it appear as if Gerard had written a work on Aristotle’s Physics. Both Walter and Gerard were atomists, but it is worth noting that Duns Scotus espoused an Aristotelian opposition to atomism (and, of course, chronologically preceding these two atomists) and included his discussion of the continuum in the context of angelic motion (Comm. Sent, II, dist 2, Q. 9), perhaps encouraging later atomists to do so (one should note that both Chatton and Odo were also Franciscans). 4 Henry of Harclay, “Utrum mundus poterit durare in eternum a parte post” (which amounts to his Quaestio de infinito et continuo), MSS Tortosa, Cated. 88, ff. 87r–v; Florence, Bib. Naz. Fondo princ. II.II.281, fol. 97r: “Preterea, specialiter contra hoc quod dicitur in auctoritate Lincolniensis: Quod plura sunt puncta in uno magno continuo quam in uno parvo. Contra hoc sunt omnia argumenta que probant continuum non posse componi ex indivisibilibus; probant enim eciam quod in uno continuo non sint plura puncta quam in alio.”
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maintained the essential agreement of Plato and Democritus with respect to the composition of continua out of indivisibles.5 Now the medievalists did not have Theophrastus on Democritus’s account of the variation of tastes through a corresponding variation in the shapes of atoms,6 but they did have the basic passage in the Metaphysics saying that atoms varied in shape, arrangement and position (shape being far and away the most important).7 And they also had the fourth chapter of De sensu where they might have guessed the Democritean account of tastes.8 Accordingly, the Aristotelian critics of medieval atomism correctly recognized that the indivisibles of Democritus have magnitude and have parts.9 Thomas Bradwardine, attempting to refute all sorts of atomism in his Tractatus de continuo, says rightly that Democritus held continua to be composed of indivisible bodies, though he devotes little space to this view and claims that what Democritus really had in mind was composition out of an infinite number of substances. Moreover, he does not properly refute the Democritean opinion since he sometimes takes it
Gerard of Odo, Super primum Sententiarum, I, dist. 37 (MSS citt. Note 3, Naples, fol. 235r; Valencia, fol. 120v): “Quantum ad primum sciendum quod, ut recitatur primo De generatione, opinio fuit Platonis et Democriti quod continuum componitur ex indivisibilibus et resolvitur in indivisibilia. Diversimode tamen, quia Democritus asserebat corpus componi ex atthomis et resolvi in atthomas sive in magnitudines indivisibiles, quod idem est; Plato vero ponebat corpus componi ex superficiebus, superficies ex lineis, lineas ex punctis, et eodem modo resolvi. Convenienebant tamen in hoe quod uterque dicebat primam compositionem continui esse ex indivisibilibus et ultimam divisionem terminari ad indivisibilia.” Much later we find a similar view expressed by the Wyclifite John Tarteys in his Logica (MS Salamanca 2358, fol. 97v): “In ista materia, sicut in omni alia materia naturali et philosophica, est specialiter credendum illi parti pro qua ratio plus laborat inducendo nuda dicta Aristotelis sonantia in oppositum cum tunicis quas texerunt sapientes sequaces Platonis et Democriti qui convincerunt ex ratione infallibili corpora continua ex atthomis, id est, partibus indivisibilibus, integrari.” It is worth noting that Nicholas Bonetus claims to be following Democritus and opts for atomic magnitudes in each species of bodies, surfaces, lines, and points, although he does not cite the passage of Aristotle from De generatione I. On the whole medieval history of this passage (which some historians have held to be as much Aristotle as Democritus), see Murdoch, “Aristotle on Democritus’s Argument Against Infinite Divisbility in De generatione et corruptione, Book I, Chapter 2.” 6 Theophrastus, De sensu, 49–83 (espec. 65). 7 Metaphysics, A, ch. 4, 985b4–22. 8 Aristotle, De sensu, ch. 4. 9 For example, Albert of Saxony, Quaestiones in octo libros physicorum [Paris, 1518], VI, q. 1, f. 64v: “Alio modo capitur indivisibile quod, licet habeat partem vel partes, tamen propter eius parvitatem non sunt abinvicem separabiles; talia indivisibilia posuit Democritus que vocavit corpora atomalia.” Nicole Oresme made a similar distinction among indivisibles. (Cf. his Quaestiones Physicorum, MS Sevilla 7–6–30, fol. 66r). 5
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to be included in his extensive refutation of extensionless indivisibles composing a continuum, be they infinite or finite in number.10 Let us return, however, to the examination of the new notions and arguments beyond the Aristotelian base of Physics VI. One of the most obvious developments in this regard was the geometrical arguments added to support Aristotle’s opposition to indivisibilism. One source for them was clearly the Latin translation of Al-Ghazali’s Metaphysica.11 Fundamentally, these arguments against indivisiblism were based on techniques of parallel or radial projection which entail, if geometrical figures were composed of indivisibles, the equality, for example, of the sides of a square with its diagonal or of two concentric circles. Thus, if parallels were drawn between every indivisible or point in the sides of the square they would cut its diagonal in the same number of indivisibles or points, from which their equality followed. And the same, mutatis mutandis, for concentric circles where all radii are drawn. (Figure 2). These kinds of arguments gained in popularity and prestige when Duns Scotus used them in his own opposition to indivisibilism, even bringing Euclid into the picture as Al-Ghazali had not.12 The fourteenth-century atomists’ replies to these geometrical arguments were almost always highly unsatisfactory. Their answers often employed inappropriately physical ideas into geometry. Thus, Henry of Harclay, the first clearly established atomist on the English scene, claimed that, like two sticks, the parallels between the sides of a square “take more” of the diagonal than they do of the sides.13 Or Walter 10 Thomas Bradwardine, Tractatus de continuo, MS Toruń, Poland, R402, p. 187 (the MS is paginated): “Omnes igitur opiniones erronee specialiter reprobantur, preter opinionem Democriti ponentem continuum componi ex corporibus indivisibilibus, que tamen per illam conclusionem et eius corollarium sufficienter reprobatur. Non tamen est verisimile quod tantus philosophus posuit aliquod corpus indivisibile, sicud corpus in principio est diffinitum, sed forte per corpora indivisibilia intellexit partes substantie indivisibiles et voluit dicere substantiam componi ex substantiis indivisibilibus.” 11 Cf. Al-Ghazali, Metaphysica [ Muckle], pp. 10–13. This is a Latin translation of Al-Ghazali’s Maqāsid al-falāsifa which in turn is taken from Avicenna’s Persian work Dānish-Nāmeh. For the most satisfactory translation of this latter, see Avicenne, Le livre de science [tr. Achena & Massé]. The medieval Latin scholars did not know these details and, in any case, did not have a Latin translation of this work of Avicenna’s. 12 John Duns Scotus, Comm. Sent. II, dist 2, q. 9. English translations are available of relevant passages in both Al-Ghazali and Duns Scotus in Grant, A Source Book in Medieval Science, pp. 314–319. 13 Henry of Harclay (MSS citt. note 4: Tortosa, 90v; Florence, 99r): “Voco autem ‘recte intercipi’ partem linee intercipi inter duas lineas equidistantes facientem cum lineis equidistantibus angulos rectos. Talis porcio est equalis in omni parte equidistancium
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Chatton maintained that drawing all the radii of two concentric circles can not be done due to defectus materiae.14 Moreover, to account for the incommensurability of the diagonal and the side of a square, Harclay amazingly claims (even citing Euclid in the course of his argument) that the ratio of points in the diagonal and side is as two mutually prime numbers.15 One may contrast this with Bradwardine, who cites both Harclay and Chatton in his treatment of the continuum that systematically denies any indivisibilism anywhere, but highlights its inconsistency with mathematics, geometry in particular.16 Alternatively, John Buridan, in a treatment of indivisibilism not nearly so geometrical as Bradwardine’s, nevertheless claims that mathematical atomism would totally annihilate geometry.17 Bradwardine, however, goes a step further in asking whether in using Euclid’s geometry to upend indivisibilism he might be guilty of a petitio. In his questioning, he was in effect inquiring into, we would now say, the independence of axioms or suppositions.18 linearum. Nam illo modo solo debet intelligi equedistancia linearum. Si porcio linee oblique caderet inter lineas equidistantes, multo maior intercipitur quam alia recte cadens. Ita dico quod est de puncto. Nam inter lineas equidistantes et immediate se habentes non posset intercipi punctus secundum situm rectum, et tamen posset secundum obliquum. Et licet istud videtur mirabile de puncto, cum sit indivisibilis, tamen istud est necessario verum.” 14 Walter Chatton, Reportatio super Sententias [ Etzkorn e.a.], II, dist. 2, q. 3, p. 131: “Ad aliud de circulis dico unum generale, quod ubicumque oporteret dividere punctum, ponam lineam interrumpi et non procedere. Et quod arguitur contra eum per communem conceptionem positam, I Euclidis vel petitionem a puncto ad punctum quodcumque lineam ducere, negat illud propter defectum materiae in casu. Unde si protrahas unam lineam a puncto maioris circuli ad centrum et post velis protrahere aliam a puncto proximo mediato prius accepto, illa forte transibit vel veniet ad idem punctum minoris circuli; et ideo si velis protrahere tertiam a puncto intermedio duobus punctis prius acceptis, illa interrumpetur propter defectum materiae quando veniet ad concursum priorum linearum.” 15 Henry of Harclay (MSS citt., note 4; Tortosa, 91r; Florence, 99v): “Ad hoc potest dici quod Euclides in ista proposicione per quam probat quod diameter et costa sunt incommensurabilia, intelligit quod non numerantur communiter per aliquam unam quantitatem vel per aliquod per se divisibile; non quin numerentur per punctum. Et tunc est dicendum quod diameter et costa se habent sicut duo numeri contra se primi, qui non numerantur per aliquem numerum communem, set per solam unitatem.” 16 For a summation of Bradwardine’s procedure, see Murdoch, “Thomas Bradwardine: mathematics and continuity in the fourteenth century.” This article gives the Latin text of the enunciations of the definitiones, suppositiones, and conclusiones of this work of Bradwardine’s. 17 John Buridan, Quaestiones in octo libros Physicorum [ Paris, 1509], VI, q. 2: “. . . et omnino perirent conclusiones et suppositiones geometrie.” 18 Thomas Bradwardine, Tractatus de continuo, (MS Toruń R.40.2, pp. 156, 188). Bradwardine first mentions the possibility of a petitio in a comment relative to his fourth
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Although Aristotle himself on occasion referred to mathematics and geometry in his analysis of continuous magnitudes, this was not central to his discussion. Instead, in Physics VI we find him giving two conceptions or definitions of what it is for something to be continuous. First, things are continuous the parts of which have their extremities as one (ultima sunt unum).19 Secondly, everything that is continuous is divisible into divisibles that are always further divisible, that is, it is infinitely divisible.20 To the latter notion first: Aristotle in Book III of the Physics had given an extensive investigation of the infinite and had distinguished between what came to be called an actual infinite and a potential infinite, holding that the latter was the only kind that was permissible (a distinction that he does not bring up in his Book VI inquiry to the continuum). Yet there is a consideration not brought up at all by Aristotle, but whose investigation fairly bristles in the Middle Ages—especially in the
supposition (which reads: Omnes scientias veras esse ubi non supponitur continuum ex indivisibilibus componi): “Hoc dicit quia aliquando utitur declaratis in aliis scientiis quasi manifestis, quia nimis longum esset hec omnia declarare. Ubi autem tractant de compositione continui ex indivisibilibus non supponit eas veras esse propter petitionem principii evitandam.” He fills this out much later by maintaining: “Posset autem circa predicta fieri una falsigraphia: Avroys in commento suo super Physicorum, ubi dicit, quod naturalis demonstrat continuum esse divisibile in infinitum et geometer hoc non probat, sed supponit tanquam demonstratum in scientia naturali, potest igitur inpugnare demonstrationes geometricas prius factas dicendo: Geometriam ubique supponere continuum ex indivisibilibus non componi et illud demonstrari non posse. Sed illud non valet, quia suppositum falsum. Non enim ponitur inter demonstrationes geometricas continuum non componi ex indivisibilibus nec dyalecticer indigent ubique, quoniam <non> in 5to Elementorum Eudlidis. Et similiter, nec geometer in aliqua demonstratione supponit continuum non componi ex infinitis indivisibilibus mediatis, quia, dato eius opposito, quelibet demonstratio non minus procedit, ut patet inductive scienti conclusiones geometricas demonstrare. Verumtamen Euclides in geometria sua supponit, quod continuum ex [in] finitis et immediatis athomis non componitur, licet hoc inter suas suppositiones expresse non ponat. Si falsigraphus dicat contrarium et ponat aliquam lineam ex duobus punctis componi, Euclides non potest suam conclusionem primam demonstrare, quia super huius lineam non posset triangulus equilaterus collocari, quia nullum angulum haberet, ut patet per 16am et eius commentum. Similiter, si dicat falsigraphus, continuum ex athomis immediatis componi, 4am suam conslusionem et 8am non probat, ambe enim per supositionem probantur. Similiter in probatione 3i. Iste autem conclusiones non demonstrantur per aliquas conclusiones priores, sed ex immediatis principiis ostenduntur. Per has autem conclusiones relique demonstrantur, et ex his 3bus quasi tota geometria Euclidis dependet et in ipsa omnis alia geometria fundatur, quare geometria supponit ex [in]finitis et immediatis athomis non componi.” For more on this problem of a petitio, see the article cited in note 16, pp. 117–119. 19 Aristotle, Physics, VI, 1, 231a22–29 (cf. Physics V, 3, 227a10–12). 20 Aristotle, Physics, VI, 1, 231b12–15.
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fourteenth century. This is whether or not there can be unequal infinites or, put another way, whether there can be infinites that have a part/whole relation to one another. To put it yet another way, must all infinites be equal to one another?21 Initially the possibility (or impossibility) of unequal infinites appeared relative to the problem of an eternal world. For instance, given a past eternity, there would be twelve times as many months as years, therefore, one infinite would be twelve times another infinite (and, consequently, there could not be an eternal world).22 Henry of Harclay, who allowed unequal infinites and made it a central part of his investigation of the infinite and the continuum, deserves credit for being apparently the first to say that past eternity is the mirror of future eternity (which was theologically all right), and that any argument that could be made against past eternity would be effective against future eternity.23 And he also saw (as did many others) that unequal infinites were involved in the infinite divisibility of a continuum (for example, there were more parts in a whole continuum than in its half ).
21 There were other ancient sources for the notion of unequal infinites, but they did not receive, one way or another, translation into Latin. See, for example, Plutarch, De comm. not. Adv. Stoicos, 1097a; Philoponus, De aeternitate mundi contra Proclum, I, 3, [Rabe], p. 11, and Apud Simplicium, Phys, VIII, 1, [ Diels], 1179, pp. 15–27; Alexander Aphrodisias, Quaest. natural., III, p. 12; Proclus, Comm. in Euclidem, Def. 17, Elem. theol., prop. 1; Lucretius, De natura rerum, I, 615–626. Some medievals imagined Aristotle to have something like the notion of infinites having part/whole relations Phys. III, 5, 204a22–27 (but here clearly has in mind quidditative, not quantitative parts). Cf. for example, Walter Burley, Super Aristotelis libros de physica auscultatione commentaria [ Venice, 1589], coll. 288–289. 22 Archetypical is Bonaventure (Sent. II, dist. 1, p. 1, art. 1, q. 2): “Prima est haec. Impossibile est infinito addi—haec est manifesta per se, quia omne illud quod recipit additionem, fit maius; infinito autem nihil maius, sed si mundus est sine principio, duravit in infinitum: ergo durationi eius non potest addi. Sed constat, hoc esse falsum, quia revolutio additur revolutioni omni die: ergo etc. Si dicas, quod infinitum est quantum ad praeterita, tamen quantum ad praesens, quod nunc est, est finitum actu, et ideo ex ea parte, qua finitum est actu, est reperire maius; contra, ostenditur, quod in praeterito est reperire maius: haec est veritas infallibilis, quod, si mundus est aeternus, revolutiones solis in orbe suo sunt infinitae; rursus, pro una revolutione solis necesse est fuisse duodecim ipsius lunae: ergo plus revoluta est luna quam sol; et sol infinities: ergo infinitorum ex ea parte, qua infinita sunt, est reperire excessum. Hoc autem est impossibile: ergo etc.” 23 Henry of Harclay (MSS citt. note 4: Tortosa, 82v; Florence, f. 94v): “Preterea, ad principale videtur quod eadem argumenta que probant mundum non potuisse fuisse ab eterno, eadem possunt fieri ad probandum mundum non posse esse in eternum.”
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Relative to the question of unequal infinites, basically three traditions were operative in the Middle Ages: (1) Unequal infinites are not allowable and, therefore, any situation which implied them is equally untenable (most often such situation as the possibility of an eternal world).24 (2) Given that no infinite is greater than another and yet that some infinites are unequal, one concludes that infinites are incomparable to one another.25 (3) Revise the rules about parts and wholes to include infinite magnitudes and multitudes. This third alternative for the most part begins with Harclay (who finds a predecessor in Robert Grosseteste) and is carried further by William of Ockham and reaches its peak with Gregory of Rimini.26 From the standpoint of understanding 24 For example, Bonaventure (op. cit., note 22), Thomas Bradwardine, De causa Dei contra Pelagium, cap. 1 coroll. 40, espec. pp. 124–125. For many others, see Dales, Medieval Discussions of the Eternity of the World and Dales & Argerami, Medieval Latin Texts on the Eternity of the World. 25 This appears to be a fourteenth-century Parisian tradition. Nicole Oresme, Quaestiones super libros Physicorum, III, q. 12 (MS Sevilla Colomb. 7–6–30, ff. 37v–39v): “Utrum infinitum sit alio maius aut equale sive minus vel utrum esset, si esset infinitum, vel utrum infinitum sit infinito comparabile.” Albert of Saxony, Quaestiones in libros de caelo et mundo, I, q. 8 [Paris, 1518]: “Utrum infinitum posit esse maius vel minus alio, si essent plura infinita, seu utrum sit unum comparabile alteri.” This tradition seems to have a legacy in Galileo, Discorsi . . ., p. 79 and Newton in a 1693 letter to Richard Bentley, in Cohen, Newton’s Papers and Letters on Natural Philosophy, pp. 293–299. 26 Henry of Harclay (MSS citt., note 4: Tortosa, 83v; Florence, 95r): “Dicitur quod infinitum neque est maius neque minus, set maioritas vel minoritas est respectu alicuius finite. Contra: Ista proposicio est per se nota: ‘Omne totum est maius sua parte,’ et hec adhuc magis nota: ‘Illud quod continet aliud et aliquid ultra illud vel preter illud est totum respectu illius.’ Sic est in proposito. Nam totum tempus futurum ab hac die continet totum tempus futurum a crastina die et addit supra illud, igitur est totum respectu illius.” Reference to Grosseteste is occasioned by texts that say that, for example, the infinite number of points contained in (but not, like Harclay, composed out of) a whole line is double the infinite number contained in its half (see Comment. In VIII libros physicorum Aristotelis [ Dales], pp. 91–95 for Ockham, see Murdoch, “William of Ockham and the Logic of Infinity and Continuity.” Gregory of Rimini, on the other hand, carries the analysis of parts and wholes and greater than and less than much further. Cf. Lectura super primum Sententiarum [ Trapp], dist. 42–44, q. 4, vol. 3, p. 458): In one way, he says, everything functions as a whole “which includes something and something else in addition to ( praeter) that something.” But in a second, more restricted way that is a whole “which includes something in the first way and also includes a given amount more times than does that included (et includit tanta tot quot non includit inclusum).” An infinite multitude can, Gregory continues, very well function as a whole with respect to another infinite multitude, if “whole” is taken in sense one; but not in sense two. It seems clear, then, that what Gregory intends is, in our terms, a distinction between whole and part in the sense of set and subset (his first meaning) and whole and part in the sense of unequal cardinality of the sets involved (his second meaning). Should there be any doubt, one need only look at the corresponding distinction he draws for the term “greater than”. In the strict sense (unequal cardinality) “a multitude is called greater which contains one more times or contains more units ( pluries continet
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the infinite, this alternative was most fruitful (although no medieval scholar, as far as I have been able to determine, took the additional step of defining the infinite by means of the equality of part and whole; that was left to the nineteenth century). Returning to the composition of continua, which was at least one of the considerations giving rise to the problem of unequal infinites, we should note that, whether there were an infinite number of indivisibles or merely a finite number of them composing a continuum, they were, once again, inevitably extensionless. This is clear from the moves Aristotle made in Physics VI; but one thing he did not focus on was the existence of such extensionless indivisibles. Not so the fourteenth century. Indeed, almost all those embracing a nominalist ontology held that, in the strict sense, indivisibles did not exist. Ockham, for example, claimed that the term ‘point’ signifies the same as ‘a line of such and such a length’ (linea tante vel tante longitudinis or linea non ulterius protensa vel extensa).27 Many others of nominalist persuasion say similar things.28 On the other hand, it has been objected to this nominalist definition of a point that, translating it into the geometrically true proposition that ‘between every two points there is always another point’ we would get ‘between every two lines of such and such a length there is always another line of such and such a length’, which would be, of course, absurd.29 Not so! It has to do with the definition of a point as a “line of such and such a length” and that is no more absurd than defining a
unum vel plures unitates)”; yet more generally (set/subset only), “every multitude which includes all the units of another multitude and certain other units is called greater than that (other multitude), even though it does not include more units than it (includit unitates omnes alterius multitudinis et quasdam alias unitates ab illis dicitur maior illa, esto quod non includat plures unitates quam illa).” 27 William of Ockham, Tractatus de quantitate et Tractatus de corpore Christi [Grassi ], OTh X, p. 22. Cf. William of Ockham, Expositio Physicorum [ Richter e.a.], III, ad tex. 71, OPh V, p. 585: “Unde non habent dicere quod punctus sit quoddam indivisibile distinctum a linea terminans ipsam lineam, sed debent dicere quod si sit res alia a linea, quod terminat lineam ex quo non potest esse sine linea et non est pars lineae.” 28 John Buridan, Questiones super libros Physicorum [ Paris, 1509], VI, 4, f. 97r–v: “Tunc ergo est dubitari quare punctum dicitur communiter ab omnibus esse indivisibile; respondetur quod hoc non dicitur quia sit ita vel quia sit verum de virtute sermonis, sed uno modo hoc dicitur secundum imaginationem mathematicorum ac si esset punctum indivisibile, non quia debeant credere quod ita sit, sed quia in mensurando revertuntur eedem conditiones sicut si ita esset.” Also, Thomas Bradwardine, Tractus de continuo (MS Torun, R.40.2, p. 192): “Superficiem, lineam sive punctum omnino non esse. Unde manifeste: Continuum non continuari nec finitari per talia, sed seipso.” 29 Kretzmann, Approaches to Nature in the Middle Ages, p. 215.
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point as a pencil of lines (Veronese)30 or as an infinite series of enclosure volumes (Whitehead and others).31 That is to say, once we (Ockham, Buridan, Veronese, Whitehead, etc.) have defined a point, then we can go on to speak of points in a normal way in their many occurrences in mathematics and natural philosophy. The medievals quite well realized this; such normal definitions of points, lines, surfaces, and instants in no way meant this had any effect upon points and the like in geometry and even upon arguments against indivisibilism or atomism of any sort.32 A case in point is at the beginning of Book VI of the Physics: Aristotle argues here that points or indivisibles have no parts and consequently they can only touch whole-to-whole; but if they do, there is no increase in size (non facit maius) of the continuous line they supposedly compose. This was one of the crucial arguments the late medieval atomists had to answer. Points or indivisibles had to have some connecting relation to one another to allow of faciens maius. Thus, the indivisibilist Henry of Harclay says that points can very well cause an increase in size if they touch, or are applied to one another, secundum diversos situs.33 And Gerard of Odo, who is perhaps
Veronese, Fondamenti de geometria. Whitehead, An Enquiry Concerning the Principles of Natural Knowledge and The Concept of Nature. 32 For Ockham, Exp. Phys., III, ad text. 71 (ed. cit. & loc. cit.): “Et si aliquando auctores ponant vocaliter talem propositionem categoricam, per eam intelligent unam ypotheticam. Nunc autem ad veritatem conditionalis non requiritur veritas antecedentis, et ideo ad mathematicas non requiritur quod aliquod infinitum sit, sed requiritur quod ex tali propositione in qua ponitur iste terminus ‘infinitum’ sequatur alia vel sequatur ex alia, et hoc potest contingere sine hoc quod infinitum possit esse. Et sicut est de infinito, ita est de puncto, linea et superficie. Et recte sensientes in mathematica et non transgredientes limites mathematice non asserunt quod punctus sit quaedam res indivisibilis distincta a linea nec linea a superficie nec superficies a corpore, sed ponunt conditionales aliquas in quibus subiicitur ‘punctus’ vel ‘linea’ vel ‘superficies’ sic accepta.” For Albert of Saxony, see his Sophismata [ Paris, 1495], unfol.; MS, Paris, BNF Lat. 16134, f. 43v): “. . . precisius loqui possumus imaginando instantia indivisibilia in tempore, licet talia in rei veritate non sint; nihilominus expedit ea imaginari . . . ita in proposito non plus neque minus dico quod expedit ea imaginari ad explicandum certas et precisas mensuras motuum et mutationum quas sine imaginatione instantium indivisibilium ita precise exprimere non possumus; nec ex hoc sequitur aliquod inconveniens, quoniam sermones de talibus indivisibilibus per alias longas orationes debite exponuntur, propter quas etiam orationes prolixas evitandas expedit tales terminos ponere quos aliqui (ed. antiquos!) crediderunt supponere pro rebus veris indivisibilibus, licet tales res indivisibiles non sint nisi secundum imaginationem.” For Oresme, see his Questiones super libros physicorum (MS Sevilla, Colomb. 7–6–30, 67v): “Quod non est negandum indivisibilia esse, large et equivoce capiendo esse et ymaginando aliter quam mathematicus ymaginatur, quia talia sunt significabilia.” 33 Henry of Harclay (MSS citt., note 4: Tortosa, f. 90r; Florence, f. 99r): “Ex istis 30 31
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the most famous of the continental atomists, similarly claims that parts are distinguishable within indivisibles secundum differentias respectivas loci vel temporis, which are, for points, ante et retro, sursum et deorsum, dextrorsum et sinistrorum, and for instants, initium futuri et finis preteriti.34 On the other hand, in his opposition to indivisibilism Bradwardine grants the devil his due, as it were, and allows the respectable Euclidean notion of superpositio to function as the connecting relation between indivisibles.35 But then he establishes that any geometrical relation of superpositio is absolutely dissociated from continuity (or impositio, as he calls it).36 As an aside, it must be noted that the brilliance of Bradwardine’s geometrical and axiomatic treatment and continuity obscures the give and take of the actual arguments of the indivisibilists and their critics. Thus, though he opposes both Harclay and Chatton and cites them by name, it is difficult, if not impossible, to tell from his account what their detailed notions and arguments were.37 omnibus accipio quod necdum punctum, ymo nec linea nec corpus, facit maius extensive nisi applicetur secundum diversos situs. Ita dico quod duo indivisibilia, sicut puncta, si applicentur ad invicem secundum diversos situs, magis faciunt secundum situm.” 34 Gerard of Odo, Sent. I, dist. 37, MSS citt., note 3; Naples, ff. 238r–v; Valencia, ff. 22r–v) sets forth six deffensiva pro compositione continuorum ex indivisibilibus: “Nunc vero ponenda sunt quedam deffensiva pro opinione ista, que sunt sex in numero. Primum est indivisibile secundum partes est distinguibile et determinabile secundum differentias respectivas loci vel temporis. Istud declare in quinque generibus indivisibilium quantitative. Primo in superficie que est indivisibilis secundum dimensionem profunditatis: Quoniam ipsa distinguitur et determinatur per intra et extra . . . Idem apparet, si sumatur punctus in centro spere, et hoc secundum omnem differentiam localem: ante et retro, sursum et deorsum, dextrorssum et sinistrosum. Quod apparet, quia secundum differentiam circumvolvatur spera, pars que est sursum moveatur ante, pars deorsum movebitur retro, et sic de aliis oppositionibus.” 35 Superpositio also occurs in Averroes, Henry of Harclay and Gerard of Odo, but with a quite different, non-Euclidean, meaning. On all of this, see Murdoch, “Superposition, Congruence and Continuity in the Middle Ages.” 36 Thomas Bradwardine, Tractatus de continuo (MS Toruń R.40.2, pp. 158–160; Erfurt, Amploniana 40 385, ff. 19r–21r): “Conclusiones 8–13: 8. Inter nullas rectas sibi superpositas puncta alica mediare. 9. Lineam rectam secundum totum vel partem magnam recte alteri superponi et habere aliquod punctum intrinsecum commune cum ista non contingit. 10. Linee recte unam partem magnam alie recte imponi et aliam partem magnam superponi eidem vel ad latus distare ab illa impossibile comprobatur. 11. Unius recte duo puncta in alia continuari et per partem eius magnam superponi eidem vel ad latus distare ab illa non posse. 12. Linee recte unam partem magnam recte alteri superponi et aliam ad latus distare ab ista est impossibile manifestum. 13. Unius recte duo puncta alteri superponi vel unum imponi, aliud vero superponi et magnam eius partem ad latus distare ab ista non posse contingere.” 37 Thomas Bradwardine (MSS in previous note, p. 165, ff. 25v–26r): “Pro intellectu huius conclusionis est sciendum, quod circa compositionem continui sunt 5 opiniones
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To continue to speak of the connecting relation between indivisibles, there is, however, another side to the late medieval atomists’ and their critics’ consideration of such a relation. This side involves the order of the constituent indivisibles within the continuum they compose. This question of order was not apparent in Aristotle or Bradwardine or in any of the relations between indivisibles à la Harclay or Odo. Order becomes involved when one asks of the relation of some one indivisible, not to a second indivisible, but to all other indivisibles (which are infinite in number) in the continuum to which they belong. This is brought out neatly by the reply William of Alnwick gives to one of the positive arguments that Harclay provides for his belief that there are (an infinite number of ) indivisibles which are immediate to one another. First the argument of Harclay: For though my intellect does not understand how a continuum is composed of indivisibles that are immediately next to one another, the divine intellect necessarily does. One of my arguments for this view is the following: it is certain that God knows every point that can be designated in a continuum. Take, then, the first inchoative point of a line; God perceives that point and any point in this line different from it. It follows, then, that either another line falls between the more immediate point He perceives or one does not. If not, then God perceives this point to be immediate to another one. If such a line does intercede, then, since points can be assigned in the line (which falls between the first inchoative point and the other point), these mean points have not been perceived by God.38
famose inter veteres philosophos et modernos. Ponunt enim quidam, ut Aristoteles et Averroys et plurimi modernorum, continuum non componi ex athomis, sed ex partibus divisibilibus sine fine. Alii autem dicunt ipsum componi ex indivisibilibus dupliciter variantes, quoniam Democritus ponit continuum componi ex corporibus indivisibilibus. Alii autem ex punctis, et hii dupliciter, quia Pythagoras, pater huius secte, et Plato ac Waltherus modernus, ponunt ipsum componi ex finitis indivisibilibus. Alii autem ex infinitis, et sunt bipartiti, quia quidam eorum, ut Henricus modernus, dicit ipsum componi ex infinitis indivisibilibus immediate coniunctis; alii autem, ut Lyncul , ex infinitis ad invicem mediatis. Et ideo dicit conclusionem: ‘Si unum continuum componatur ex indivisibilibus secundum aliquem modum,’ intendendo per ‘modum’ aliquem predictorum modorum; tunc sequitur: ‘quodlibet continuum sic componi ex indivisibilibus secundum similem modum componendi’.” 38 Henry of Harclay (MSS citt., note 4: Tortosa, f. 88r; Florence, f. 98r): “Licet enim meus intellectus non comprehendit quomodo continuum componitur ex indivisibilibus immediate se habentibus, tamen intellectus divinus hoc necessario comprehendit. Cuius est una racio hec: Certum est quod Deus modo intuetur omne punctum quod possit signari in continuo. Accipio igitur primum punctum in linea incoativum linee; Deus videt illum punctum et quodlibet aliud punctum ab isto in hac linea. Usque ad illum punctum inmediaciorem quem Deus videt intercipit alia linea aut non. Si non, Deus videt hunc punctum esse alteri inmediatum. Si sic, igitur cum in linea possint
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Harclay’s argument stated in slightly different terms amounts to: (0) God furnishes a manner of actualizing or specifying all the points in a given line (He is always conveniently on call to perform such tasks). (1) God knows or perceives the initial point of the line and all others in the line. (2) Consequently, God knows the relation of the initial point to all others. (3) If all such relations are of distance, then God does not know all others, contra hypothesim. (4) Therefore, one such relation must be (not that of distance) but of contact, which is to have indivisibles immediate to one another. We then turn to William of Alnwick’s reply: I reply in brief that this is true: (1) ‘between the first point of the line and every other point of the same line known by God there is a mean line’. For any singular [of this universal ] is true, and, moreover, its contradictory is false. And this is so because the term ‘mean line’ in the predicate immediately following the universal sign [ i.e., ‘every’] has merely confused supposition. On the other hand, this is false: (2) ‘there is [some one] mean line between the first point and every other point of the same line perceived by God’, since there is no [one] mean line between the first point and every other point perceived by God. For there cannot be any such mean line, for if there were, it would fall between the first point and itself; nor would that line be perceived by God. And therefore, when it is inferred: “if there is [such a mean line], then, as points can be assigned in the line, etc.,” the term ‘line’ there has particular supposition. And hence an inference is made affirmatively from a superior to an inferior and thus the fallacy [of affirming] the consequent is committed.39
signari puncta, illa puncta media non erant visa a Deo. Probacio huius consequencie: Nam per positum linea cadit inter hunc punctum primum et quodlibet aliud ab hoc puncto quod Deus videt; et ideo, per te modo inventum punctum medium Deus non videbat.” The term ‘immediaciorem’ is puzzling, since being immediate is not susceptible of degrees. 39 William of Alnwick, Determinatio 2 (MS Pal. lat. 1805, f. 14r–v): “Dico autem breviter quod ista est vera: ‘Inter primum punctum linee et omnem alium punctum eiusdem linee cognitum a Deo est linea media.’ Quelibet enim singularis est vera, et eius eciam contradictoria est falsa. Et hoc ideo est, quia ‘linea media’ in predicato sequens mediate signum universale stat confuse tantum. Hec tamen est falsa: ‘Est linea media inter primum punctum et omnem alium punctum eiusdem linee visum a Deo,’ quia nulla est linea media inter primum punctum et omnem alium punctum visum a Deo. Non enim contingit dare aliquam talem lineam mediam; sic enim mediaret inter primum punctum et seipsam, nec illa linea esset visa a Deo. Et ideo cum infertur: ‘Si
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The crucial point in Alnwick’s reply is that there is a difference in supposition that accounts for the fact that proposition (1) is true while proposition (2) is false. Thus the term ‘mean line’ has merely confused (confuse tantum) supposition and, if we look in our “logical primer” about terms having this kind of supposition,40 we learn that no disjunctive descent can be made from such terms. That is, given proposition (1) ‘between the first point of a line and every other point of the same line known by God, there is a mean line’, we cannot make a logical descent to the disjunction ‘either this mean line is between the first point and every other point or that mean line is between the first point and every other point or that other mean line is, etc.’ On the other hand, the false proposition (2), where the term ‘mean line’ has particular or determinate supposition, specifically allows such a disjunctive descent, causing the falsity of proposition (2) on grounds that any of the disjuncts is false (or to put it in Alnwick’s terms, there is, running disjunctively throughout the ‘mean lines’ involved, ‘no [one] mean line between the first point and every other point’). If, now, we translate what is being said in the medieval language of supposition into the notions of quantifiers in modern logic, we can interpret the distinction between these two propositions as follows: True (1) for all y there is an x such that x falls between the first point and y. False (2) there is an x such that for all y, x falls between the first point and y.41 Here the universal and existential quantifiers are reversed in the two propositions and we would say that the truth of (1) and the falsity of (2) derives from the fact that it is a case of multiple quantifiers involving a
sic, igitur cum in linea possent puncta signari, et cetera,’ ibi ‘linea’ stat particulariter; et ideo arguitur a superiori ad inferius affirmative et sic facit fallacia consequentis.” 40 For instance, Ockham’s Summa totius logicae, I, ch. 68, conveniently appearing in English translation with facing Latin text in his Philosophical Writings, ed. & tr. Philotheus Boehner, revised by Stephen Brown, pp. 70–74. 41 That is, in the standard notation: (y)( ∃x) 1<x autem et quantum est de se ab intellectu causato.” Compare Speculum animae 4 (Q312, f. 109va): “nam omnis creatura [est] vere intelligibilis, et ab intellectu Primo et ab intellectu creato, nisi sit defectus a parte nostri intellectus, propter quem scilicet non possit ipsa principia prima intelligere—quae principia quantum in se ipsis est maxime intelligibilia sunt.” 42 43
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rega wood DMet 10: Prime matter is the origin of all quantities. Hence it is the origin of every dimension of continuous quantity whatever. For when posited under a single position, it makes a point, but when replicated under position in a single direction infinitely often, it makes a line. . . . Thus matter as a potentially quantified entity is the proper measure of any quantity whatever; as a potentially quantified entity in one dimension it is the measure of a line. Moreover so disposed it pertains to the same category as that which it measures.45
Here, it looks rather as if Rufus is trying to explain how something dimensionless can measure dimensions. Prime matter is one and unextended, lacking any determinate dimensions, but when it is disposed for position, it is potentially extended and divisible. The suggestion seems to be that when prime matter’s potential for quantity is actualized in infinitely many different positions, this results in extension. This seems a somewhat uncritical response to Grosseteste. Fortunately, therefore, in his Oxford lectures Rufus has a second look. This time he is both considerably more critical and at the same time seemingly more committed to one of Grosseteste’s most controversial views. Rufus explicitly endorses Grosseteste’s claim that the infinity of points in a short line is less than the infinity of points in a longer line. Let us start our examination of the Oxford discussion by looking at the dilemma as Rufus presents it. It seems that the numbers succeeding 10 are fewer than the numbers succeeding 1. And nothing prevents indeterminate quantities from being greater than or lesser than each
45 DMet 10 (Q290, f. 32ra): “Sed alio modo potest responderi quod materia prima est origo omnium quantitatum . Unde ipsa est origo cuiuslibet dimensionis quantitatis continuae. Ipsa enim sub uno situ posita producit punctum; ipsa autem infinities replicata sub situ in unam partem est causa lineae. Ipsa autem infinities replicata secundum duas dimensiones producit superficiem. Ipsa autem secundum triplicem dimensionem producit corpus. Sic igitur materia [ut] ens in potentia quanta est mensura propria cuiuslibet quantitatis, ut ipsum ens in potentia quanta secundum unam dimensionem est mensura <mensura lineae] mensurabile E> lineae; ipsa [autem] sic disposita est eiusdem praedicamenti cum eo <eius E> cuius est mensura, et ita mensura et mensuratum sunt unigenea.” For a similar discussion see MMet 10.5 (Q290, f. 52ra): “Ad quod dicendum sine oppositione quod materia, ens in potentia quanta, est unum et minimum et mensura rerum in quantitate exsistentium, sed haec diversificatur per differentias reales. Prout enim est considerata sub situ sic est subiectum puncti; prout vero non sub situ, sic unitatis. Haec eadem iterum materia, prout sub situ considerata, infinities replicata secundum unam extensionem gignit lineam; secundum vero duas, superficiem; secundum vero tres, corpus. Et sic patet qualiter materia est subiectum puncti, unitatis, numeri, lineae, superficiei et corporis.”
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other; one not precisely measurable pile can be greater than another. So it seems that one infinity can be greater than another. Rufus asks: SOx 1.2H: [ I ]n one line there are infinitely many lines, and in half of it there are infinitely many lines, and is this infinity more than that? Again, numbers increase infinitely from 10; they also increase from one. Is this infinity greater than that? Is that infinite greater than this by the ten added to it? Again, the account (ratio) of finite and infinite pertains to quantity. Great, small, greater, lesser are indeterminate quantities, and none of them conflicts with the account (ratio) of the infinite, therefore nothing prohibits one infinity’s being greater than another.46
Next come quotations of Grosseteste and Augustine supporting this claim, followed by what looks like a rejection of these authors. They do not understand the account of infinity; they seem to have confused the account of infinity with the account of all, as in God sees all things. But to see all is to see a whole; so if God sees all, what he sees is finite not infinite, since an infinite is not a whole but incomplete. SOx 1.2H: These [thinkers] do not appear correctly to comprehend the account (ratio) of infinity. For “beyond which there is nothing” is not the account of infinity, but rather this is the account of that which is all; however, all and whole and perfect are the same [account,47 and] hence ‘all’ indicates the finite. Therefore, the foregoing seems rather to be the account of the finite than the infinite.48
Rufus then explains that ‘what contains everything within itself ’ is not a correct description of the infinite, rather something is infinite if whatever quantity we assign to it, there will be a further quantity. To be beyond an infinite [series] is impossible, since such a series is unending. And therefore, we expect Rufus to conclude that one infinity cannot exceed another. Though he does not state it explicitly, Rufus is
SOx 1.2H (B62, f. 22rb): “Sed contra hoc videtur: in una linea sunt infinitae lineae, et in eius medietate sunt infinitae lineae. Et nonne haec infinita sunt plura illis infinitis? Item, ascendat numerus in infinitum a denario, ascendat etiam et ab unitate. Nonne istud infinitum est maius illo? Nonne habet decem unitates additas illi? Item, quantitati congruit ratio finiti et infiniti. Magnum, parvum, maius, minus sunt quantitates et indeterminatae, ergo neutri illorum repugnat ratio infiniti, ergo nihil prohibet infinitum esse maius infinito.” 47 Cf. Aristot., De Caelo 1.6.268a20. 48 SOx 1.2H (B62, f. 22rb): “Non videntur isti recte accipere rationem infiniti. Non est enim haec ratio infiniti ‘extra quod nihil’. Sed est haec potius ratio eius quod est omne; omne autem et totum et perfectum idem, quare ‘omne’ finitum dicit. Ergo praedicta potius est ratio finiti quam infiniti.” 46
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committed to this conclusion. He holds that exceeding or being outside (extra) the infinite is a contradiction in terms. SOx 1.2H: Again, according to the Philosopher [ Phys. 3.6.207a7–8] what contains everything within itself is not the account of the infinite, but rather “something is infinite, if [whatever] we take as its quantity there is always something further (extra).” It is pointless to say that ‘the infinite is that outside (extra) which there is something’, for ‘outside’ finishes and terminates, hence it conflicts with (repugnat) the infinite, and the phrase ‘beyond (extra) the infinite’ is a contradiction in terms.49
In this respect Rufus’s solution is preferable to Ockham’s, since Ockham, at least when he is not expressing himself carefully, allows that one infinity exceeds another.50 Harder to understand is the concession Rufus makes to Grosseteste: one infinite can be greater than another, though one infinite cannot exceed another, SOx 1.2H: Again, the infinite is not a whole, the infinite is not a part, and yet an infinite is greater than an infinite.51
Rufus explains his concession by reference to a simile found in De anima. The common sense as it judges sensible species from different senses is described as a point using the termini of two paths: 3.2.427a10–15. Rufus compares the common sense to a point at the center of a circle that is numerically one by substance and subject, yet infinitely many in being and account (rationem). SOx 1.2H: Again, in a circle there is a point at the center, and it is numerically one in its subject, yet in being and account (ratio) it is as multiple and as many as the lines terminated at it are many (Cf. DAn 3.2.427a9–14). Therefore the point itself is (as it were) infinitely many points, though only in
49 SOx 1.2H (B62, f. 22rb): “Item, non est haec ratio infiniti quod continet in se omne, sed haec est ratio infiniti, secundum Philosophum: ‘Infinitum est cuius quantitatem accipientibus semper est aliquid extra sumere’. Nec est aliquid dictu ‘infinitum est extra quod est aliquid’; nam ‘extra’ finit et terminat. Unde opponitur infinito, et est oppositio in adiecto ‘extra infinitum’.” 50 William of Ockham, Quaestiones variae 1 [ Etzkorn & Kelley], OTh VIII, p. 80: “Tamen revolutiones lunae sunt plures infinitates quam revolutiones solis. Et ideo posita hypothesis debet concedi quod infinitum est maius infinito et exceditur ab infinito.” More cautiously in Quodlibet 2.5, Ockham claims “tot sunt ista et adhuc sunt multa.” However, he still does not absolutely deny that one infinity can exceed another, just that such an excess can be determinate (certo numero). 51 SOx 1.2H (B62, f. 22rb): “Item, infinitum non est totum, infinitum non est pars (cf. Physica, 3.6.207a26–28), et tamen infinitum est maius infinito.”
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its being and account, and yet by substance and subject it is single (unicus). And therefore it is not true that a single point would contain as many points as a maximal line or as many as the world machine.52
Rufus tells us that points can be numbered either by substance or account. There are not as many points at the center of the circle as there are in a maximal line. But he does not tell us whether this is because there is only one substantial point at the center of a circle, or because the being or account (ratio) of the point at the center of the circle can be counted in fewer ways than the points in a maximal line. Going from a circle to a straight line, Rufus again concludes that since single substantial points can be many in being, there are more in longer than in shorter lines. SOx 1.2H: Points can be numbered in two ways, as is already evident, namely either by substance and subject or by being. At the extremities of a single line there are two points, two in reality (rem) and subject, but in the line itself any one point is one by number and subject, [ yet] twofold by being and account (rationem), in that it is the beginning of one line and the end of another. In this manner (modum), there are fewer points in the shorter line and more in the longer, yet there are infinitely many in both.53
Since this conclusion, and in particular the phrase “in this manner,” is hard to understand, we should look at Rufus’s De anima commentary for further clarification. Of the six early De anima commentaries I know (and not many more survive) it is the only one which explains Aristotle’s example in terms of the distinction between the substance of points and their account (ratio) and being, the distinction that is key to Rufus’s Oxford explanation of how one infinity can be greater than another.54 52 SOx 1.2H (B62, f.22rb): “Item, in circulo est punctus qui est centrum, et est unicus numero secundum subiectum, tam multiplex tamen sive tam multi secundum esse et rationem quam multae sunt lineae ad ipsum terminatae. Est igitur ipse punctus quasi infiniti puncti, sed solum secundum esse et rationem, tamen substantia et subiecto unicus est. Et ideo non est verum quod unicus punctus contineat tot punctos quot et maxima linea sive quot et mundi machina.” 53 SOx 1.2H (B62, f.22rb): “Dupliciter enim est numerare punctos, ut iam patet, scilicet secundum substantiam et subiectum, aut secundum esse. In extremitatibus unius lineae duo puncti sunt, duo secundum rem et subiectum, in ipsa vero linea quivis unus punctus unus est numero et subiecto, duplex secundum esse et rationem, eo quod principium est unius lineae et finis alterius. Secundum hunc modum sunt in breviore linea pauciores puncti et in longiore plures, infiniti tamen in utraque.” 54 Others consulted use somewhat different terminology, sometimes not naming the sense in which the point is many. See Anonymous, Sententia super II et III De anima [Bazán], 2.26, pp. 343–347: essence and being (hereafter, Anonymous Bodley). Anonymous Erfurt II, In Dan 2, Q312.65va; subject. Anonymous, Lectura in librum de anima a quodam discipulo
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Aristotle, and Rufus following him, employ the analogy to explain how the common sense can simultaneously be aware of sensibles received by two distinct senses—yellow and sweet, for example. In DAn 2.12.E5: But the common sense is not in [ just] any matter whatever one and diverse by account (rationem), but it is one and indivisible as it is in itself one and indivisible; and because it is indivisible in this manner, it is one discerning [subject] at the same time. And just as the same point as a whole [and ] in itself pertains in account (ratione) to diverse things in so far as it is the terminus of diverse lines meeting (concurrentium), so similarly the common sense, since it is one indivisible by substance, as a whole [and] in itself pertains in account to diverse things in so far as it is the terminus of two diverse paths leading from the particular senses. And in this manner its being does not pertain to one indivisible by account, since the soul uses one indivisible by substance twice at the same time, in so far as it is the terminus of two paths leading from some two senses. And so in this way it uses the same terminus according to substance as two, namely [directed] toward two paths of two senses, [and] it judges the diverse sensibles of two senses. In so far as it is one by substance it judges these at one and the same time.55
Controversially, Rufus claims that because the common sense is indivisible and unextended, it can simultaneously receive two distinct sensibles, unlike an extended body which cannot at the same time be white and black.56 Here we may have switched from the common sense to the sense of vision, but that will not matter for Rufus’ claim: though a reportata [Gauthier], 2.25, p. 419: substance and apprehension. Adam Buckfield, In DAn 2, [ Powell ], p. 190: subject; grateful thanks to Miss Powell for permission to cite Adam. Ps. Buckfield, In DAn 2, Merton College 272.17va, subject or substance. 55 In DAn 2.12.E5 (M3314, ff. 78vb–79ra): “Consequenter solvit hanc rationem dicens: Sed sensus communis non est quocumquemodo unum et secundum rationem diversum, sed est unum et indivisibile sicut punctus in se est unus et indivisibilis; et quia sic est indivisibile, est unum discernens et in eodem tempore. Et sicut idem punctus est secundum se totum in ratione diversorum, prout est terminus diversarum linearum concurrentium, similiter sensus communis cum sit unum indivisibile secundum substantiam, est secundum se totum in ratione diversorum secundum quod est terminus diversarum duarum viarum ductarum a sensibus particularibus. Et secundum hoc esse eius non est in ratione unius indivisibilis, quia anima utitur uno indivisibili secundum substantiam in eodem tempore bis, secundum quod est terminus duarum viarum a duobus aliquibus sensibus ductarum. Et secundum quod sic utitur termino eodem secundum substantiam tamquam duobus, scilicet ad duas vias duorum sensuum, sic duorum sensuum sensibilia diversa iudicat. Inquantum autem est unum secundum substantiam, sic uno eodemque tempore haec iudicat.” 56 Anonymous Bodley, In DAn 2.26, takes this to be Aristotle expounding an opinion with which he disagrees. According to Anonymous Bodley the common sense is entirely indivisible, and it is impossible that it should be divisible in accordance with the diverse sensibles it apprehends (ed. Bazán, pp. 343–347).
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body cannot be both white and black at the same time (and in the same respect), a point can. Because unextended entities as a whole can pertain in account to diverse things, we can simultaneously sense black and white. In DAn 2.12.Q2: And by his saying that the common sense is one and diverse, as is a point (3.2.427a9–12), we should understand that he solves the aforesaid doubt sufficiently. For in this way it is evident that the common sense and a body are not similar. For if it were possible that some body as whole in itself should have diverse accounts at once, so that it could by one account receive whiteness and according to another account blackness, it would be possible for the same body to be white and black at once. But now that is not possible, but the common sense can be so, pertaining in account to diverse things at once by itself as a whole. . . .57
When Rufus asserts that because our senses are unextended as points are, contrary qualities can simultaneously be predicated of them, he cannot be referring to something conceptual. When he speaks about numbering points according to their capacity for different accounts, what is differently numbered will pertain to the external world. In the case of two spheres colored white and black, for example, the part of their touch that occurs at a point is at a point that is simultaneously the limit of something white and the limit of something black, but uncolored because unextended. Just how this solves the problem of how one infinity can be greater than, without being able to exceed another, is still not clear, however. Here is the first of three alternatives: Perhaps Rufus is suggesting that there will be more points that both begin and end a one inch line in a four inch than in a three inch line, more connecting points about which we can claim that they are the beginning and end of one inch lines. 57 In DAn 2.12.Q2 (M3314, f. 79ra): “Et intelligendum quod per hoc quod dixit sensum communem esse unum et diversum sicut punctus [3.2.427a9–12], sufficienter dissolvit dubitationem praedictam. Quia <Et M> per hoc patet quod non est simile de sensu <sensi M> communi et de corpore; si enim esset possibile aliquod corpus secundum se totum simul se habere secundum diversas rationes, ita quod possit secundum unam rationem recipere albedinem et secundum aliam rationem nigredinem, esset possibile idem corpus simul esse album et nigrum. Nunc autem non est illud possibile, sed sensus communis potest esse sic in ratione diversorum secundum se totum simul. Intelligatur enim locus quidam in corpore in quo est situm instrumentum ipsius sensus communis a quo instrumento exeunt et extenduntur venae sive viae diversae ad organa singulorum sensuum. Et in isto organo in quo concurrunt huiusmodi viae radicatur sensus communis, qui manens unus et idem secundum substantiam secundum quod ad ipsius organum terminatur via ducta ab organo visus, secundum se totum immutatur et recipit visibile.”
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That is to say in a two inch line, there is only one point that connects two one inch lines. In a three inch line, there will be potentially infinitely many such points, since every point between the one inch and the two inch mark will do so. In a four inch line, there will be even more such points, since there will be infinitely many such points between the two inch mark and the three inch mark, as well as between the one inch mark and the two inch mark. If this is correct, Rufus’s notion of numbering by being or account will result in claims for the differential greatness of various infinities that are parasitic on the different finite quantities associated with them, their included parts. Nonetheless, it is the kind of thing that might make a difference. So far we have looked at intensive infinities that arise in an unending process of division. Now consider an extensive infinity, produced by a process of addition or multiplication. The example proposed by Nicholas Denyer is an infinitely long prison sentence. Given the choice of two such sentences, each of which is for an unlimited number of years, we prefer a sentence of one day a year in hell rather than a sentence of 364 days a year,58 since any finite part of that sentence includes more days. Neither sentence extends beyond the other, however. Indeed, since the two sentences can be put in oneto-one correspondence, they have the same cardinality and hence are equal. But since the one is a proper subset of the other, there is also a sense in which one is greater than the other.59 The first interpretation credits Rufus with insight into this second sense of greatness. In the case that concerns him, neither line can be further divided than the other, but there will be more of given size line lengths in the longer than the shorter line, and hence the number of points corresponding to the connecting points in the shorter line will be a subset of the number of connecting points in the longer line. A second interpretation is possible, and it seems more likely. Rufus may not have anything in mind like aliquot parts that divide a line without remainder, since he does not mention such parts. In fact both in his Oxford lectures and in his De anima commentary, he speaks of points that are twofold in account (rationem). This suggests that he is counting and comparing two infinities of points with actual common end points, and perhaps in comparing one to another, superposition
58 59
Sorabji, Time Creation and the Continuum, p. 218. Maddy, “Proper Classes”, p. 114.
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plays an important role. Perhaps Rufus is thinking of comparing two unequal lines, each of which is composed of infinitely many points: call them AC (shorter) and AD (longer).60 Intermediate points in both lines will be both the end of lines beginning at the left and the beginning of lines ending at the right (or vice versa). If, however, the shorter is superimposed on the longer, intermediate points in the longer line (AD) overlapped by the shorter line (AC) will begin both lines that end where AC ends and lines that end where AD ends. Since those points can be counted as the termini of more lines, there will be more accounts of points in AD. Since we can count them as connecting lines to more actual end points, points in AD will be greater in account than points in AC. And the same will hold for any superimposed or superimposable infinities. I suppose that Rufus considers only lines with actual end points, because he refers to the intermediate points as the beginning and end of only two lines. As in the previous interpretation, the sense in which one infinite is greater than another depends on their finite relationship. However the sense in which one is greater than the other will differ; and there is no sense in which the relationship could be considered proportional, which is an advantage of this interpretation. A third interpretation suggests that by saying that the point is one by substance and subject but multiple by being and account, Rufus may be making a distinction like that between extension and intension.61 The infinity of points in a longer line does not exceed the infinity of points in a shorter line extensionally, but it might be considered greater intensionally, in virtue of the way the infinities are conceived or represented, by using them as endpoints of line segments or measuring them in some other way. Against this suggestion there are considerations related to medieval and modern philosophical usage: Rufus has at hand medieval technical 60 I owe much of this interpretation to class discussion and particularly to Joshua Snyder. He and Shawn Burns wrote a paper based on this interpretation of Rufus, “Rufus on the Comparison of Infinities,” which may subsequently appear in print. The example of line segments comes from Josh. A similar suggestion was made by Giorgio Pini: given a shorter (AC) and a longer line (AD), point C at the end of the shorter line will be one in account, since it serves only as the end of AC. But the point corresponding to C in AD will be two in account in AD, since it can be counted both as the end of AC and the beginning of CD. Thus there will be at least one more point in account in AD than in AC. 61 I owe this suggestion to Gary Ebbs and much of the discussion to Timothy O’Connor and Krista Lawlor.
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terminology to describe such distinctions and does not use it here. On a variety of topics, Rufus distinguishes between signification and supposition or appellation, where signification corresponds roughly to sense, and appellation to extension or reference. Similarly, Rufus speaks of formal predication when he wants to distinguish different natures in the same real subject—for example, intellect and will are both identified as the rational soul, but not with each other, so will and intellect differ in formal predication or definition. Rufus makes reference to neither distinction here. Nor does Rufus’s discussion of ways of counting provide the kind of explanation normally provided by the intension-extension distinction today. Moderns often use the distinction between intension and extension when they want to explain changes in reference despite a fixed intension. Such variation is explained in terms of different concepts. For example, the description ‘animal with heart’ and ‘animal with kidney’ are coextensive—that is they pick out the same creatures; the intensions of the two descriptions differ, however. Or for a medieval Aristotelian, ‘featherless biped’ and ‘rational animal’ are conceptually distinct descriptions with the same supposition or appellation. What Rufus seems to want to explain, however, are not conceptual differences, but differences in the external world. So for example, I think he wants to explain the different ways the point at the center of the world can be numbered if two lines are drawn from it to the circumference rather than three. In favor of the suggestion is that Rufus seems to think that what varies is how we count things. So, for example, he seems to want to explain how the common sense is one when we only see an object, but two when we both see and touch it. The common sense counts as two if it is receiving sensible species from two senses simultaneously. Unlike many modern usages, it is not our knowing more or less that seems salient here. Rather, the point serves more or fewer functions in counting or measuring. Will this explain in what sense the point at the center of a circle counts as less than all the points in a maximal line, though infinitely many lines can meet at any point? A point at the center of a circle is potentially infinitely many and so are the points in a maximal line. There are in fact more points in a line than at the center of a circle, if only because there is more than one point in any line, more in subject and substance. But, surely, Rufus wants us to understand a sense in which taken together the points in the line are more in account. So perhaps
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he is saying that more things will actually be measured by reference to the points in a line than to a point at the center of the circle. Again what will determine how great a point is is not the potentially infinite number of lines that could meet at it, but the lines we actually measure in reference to it. The “greatness” of a point in this sense will depend on how often it is used in measurement. Whether this should be described as intensional I must leave to others more versed in the modern literature. If we describe as intensional what we use in measurement, perhaps it does. We do not yet, and we may never, have enough evidence to decide between these three interpretations, though I am inclined to think that the second is most likely. In any case, however, the emphasis on the claim that one incomplete infinity cannot exceed another suggests that the sense of greater-than Rufus wants to admit will involve counting and comparing the completed parts of infinities, as do each of the suggested interpretations. It looks as if Rufus wants us to compare the parts that correspond to each other in different infinities to get an acceptable sense in which one infinity can be greater than another. In the first interpretation, it will take more cuts to reach points at any given distance from each other in a longer than a shorter line. And similarly, points in AD will count as beginning more lines than points in AC, and points that appear in three measurements will be greater than those in two. Rufus’s emphasis on actual cuts or intersections suggests that he is deliberately looking for a finite number of diverse accounts for a point and avoiding the incomprehensibility medievals believe would be involved in considering infinitely many accounts of a point. Hence the example of the common sense that presumably counts as three when it judges that honey is yellow, sweet, and sticky as the terminus of the senses of touch, taste, and sight, but only as two if we are blind-folded. Here having come to a sticky point, we should stop. 4. Conclusion What have we seen? We have seen that Rufus is sure that points as mathematical entities are in the world, and equally certain that points are not quantitative parts. Both are aspects of agreement with Aristotle but on which Rufus’ exposition shows some progress in the sense of increased clarity. We have also seen that Rufus does not get beyond certain problems in Aristotle; his discussion of intelligible matter seems
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equally obscure. On the other hand, it may have been useful to try to explain how points can be origins or parts of a line. Also an attempt has been made to provide a consistent account of the troublesome definition of point provided by the Posterior Analytics. The influence of mathematics, with its indivisibilist assumptions, was as unhelpful to Rufus as to Aristotle.62 But Rufus has been more careful not to commit himself to problematic assertions based on mathematics. Spheres touch only partly at a point; not points but lines flow (In Phys.). Lines are composed not of points but of matter arranged pointwise; points are only quasi origins of the line (DMet). These may not be entirely felicitous solutions, but at least they reflect a consistent awareness of the commitments of the philosophical position. Finally, possibly on account of his Christian commitments, Rufus has a new problem to deal with: how to find an acceptable sense in which to affirm that though one infinity does not extend beyond another, nonetheless one infinity can be greater than another. Whether it had much influence, we cannot tell at this point. As John Murdoch has pointed out, however, Olivi may have been aware of a similar position.63 But no doubt Grosseteste exercised more influence than Rufus. Still, Rufus provides an interesting and credible response and a useful starting point for debate. And this is true for his answers to all three of our questions.
See Michael White and Wilbur Knorr, as cited by White, “Aristotle on the NonSupervenience of Local Motion,” pp. 154–155. 63 Murdoch, “The ‘Equality’ of Infinites in the Middle Ages,” pp. 171–174; Peter of John Olivi, Quaestiones in II Sent. [ Jansen], pp. 30–40. 62
RICHARD KILVINGTON ON CONTINUITY* Elżbieta Jung Robert Podkoński Although with his solutions to the problem of the possible existence of indivisibilia Richard Kilvington seems to fit into the main stream of the fourteenth-century considerations, which leaned toward the refutation of atomism, he attacks and solves the problem in an original manner. In this paper we will focus on two of Kilvington’s questions, respectively from his De generatione et corruptione and Sentences commentaries, where he presents geometric proofs for the infinite divisibility of a continuum. Richard Kilvington’s commentary on De generatione et corruptione is a set of ten fully developed questions.1 They were written around 1324–1325
* We want to express our gratitude to Chris Schabel for his help with English. 1 All ten questions are contained in Mss: Bruges 503, ff. 20vb–50vb (along with Kilvington’s questions on the Ethics and the Sentences); Erfurt SB Amploniana O–74, ff. 35ra–86va, Sevilla Bibl. Columbina 7.7.13, ff. 9ra–29rb, Paris BNF lat. 6559, ff. 61ra–119va. Part of the set is to be found in Cambridge Peterhouse 195, ff. 60r–69r and Krakow Bibl. Jagiellonska, cod. 648, ff. 40ra–53rb. In Ms. Vat. lat. 4353, the manuscript, where Maier (cf. Maier, Ausgehende Mittelalers, pp. 253–54) ‘found’ Kilvington’s commentary on the Physics, there are 40 lines of the fourth question listed below. This is a list of questions contained in Ms. Paris BNF lat. 6559: 1. ff. 61ra–65rb: Utrum augmentatio sit motus ad quantitatem (q. 3 in Mss. Krakow BJ. 648 and Bruges 503, Erfurt SB Ampl. O–74). 2. ff. 65va–68va: Utrum numerus elementorum sit aequalis numero qualitatum primarum (q. 7 in Mss. Bruges 503, Erfurt SB Ampl. O–74). 3. ff. 68va–71rb: Utrum ex omnibus duobus elementis possit tertium generari (q. 9 in Mss. Bruges 503, Erfurt SB Ampl. O–74). 4. ff. 71rb–88rb: Utrum in omni generatione tria principia requirantur (q. 10 in Mss. Bruges 503, Erfurt SB Ampl. O–74; part of the question contained in Vat. lat 4353, f. 125r). 5. ff. 89ra–97vb: Utrum continuum sit divisibile in infinitum (q. 2 in Mss. Krakow BJ 648, Bruges 503, Erfurt SB Ampl. O–74). 6. ff. 97vb–101va: Utrum omnis actio sit ratione contrarietatis (q. 5 in Mss. Krakow BJ 648, Bruges 503, Erfurt SB Ampl. O–74). 7. ff. 101va–105vb: Utrum omnia elementa sint adinvicem transmutabilia (q. 7 in Mss. Bruges 503, Erfurt SB Ampl. O–74). 8. ff. 105vb–112vb: Utrum mixtio sit miscibilium alteratorum unio (q. 6 in Mss. Bruges 503, Erfurt SB Ampl. O–74). 9. ff. 112vb–119va: Utrum omnia contraria sint activa et passiva adinvicem (q. 4 in Mss. Krakow BJ 648 and Bruges 503, Erfurt SB Ampl. O–74). 10. ff. 131ra–132vb: Utrum generatio sit transmutatio distincta ab alteratione (q. 1 in Mss. Krakow BJ 648 and Bruges 503, Erfurt SB Ampl. O–74).
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and were well known to his contemporaries.2 Kilvington’s last work, Quaestiones super libros Sententiarum, is a set of eight fully developed questions and four subordinate problems, which are also composed as questions.3 The most probable date for Kilvington’s Sentences lectures is 1332–1334. The problem of the division of a continuum was debated by Kilvington at length in the question Utrum continuum sit divisibile in infinitum (the fifth question in our list) and was later recapitulated in the Sentences, in the question Utrum unum infinitum sit maius alio.4 In Kilvington’s time, the most popular geometrical proofs against atomism were those of John Duns Scotus, which were later adopted by William of Ockham and then developed by Thomas Bradwardine.5 John Duns Scotus presents two anti-atomistic geometrical arguments. He begins the first one with a construction of two concentric circles on
2 The question on reaction (the ninth in our list) inspired Heytesbury and gave him an impulse to debate the problem (on the discussion on the issue see Caroti, “Da Walter Burley al Tractatus sex inconvenientium: la tradizione inglese della discussione medievale De reactione,” pp. 279–331). Maier suggests that Wodeham’s references are a report of Richard FitzRalph’s arguments against Kilvington’s theory of infinity (on FitzRalph’s polemic with Kilvington, cf. Maier, Die Vorläufer Galileis im 14. Jahrhundert, pp. 208–211; Courtenay, Schools and Scholars in Fourteenth-Century England, pp. 76–78; K. Walsh, A Fourteenth-Century Scholar and Primate: Richard FitzRalph in Oxford, Avignon and Armagh, pp. 19–20). 3 The work, whole or in parts, is contained in the following manuscripts: Bruges 503, ff. 79vb–105rb; Bruges 188, ff. 1–56; Bologna, Archiginnasio A–985, ff. 1a–52a; BAV, Vat. lat. 4353, ff. 1–60; Florence, Bibl. Naz., Magliabecchi II. II 281, ff. 43–50, Paris, BNF, lat. 15561, ff. 198–228; Paris, BNF, lat. 17841, f. 1r–v, Erfurt, CA 2o 105, ff. 134–81; Prague, Univ., III. B. 10, ff. 191–227; Tortosa, Cat. 186, ff. 35r–66r. For detailed information on secondary literature cf. Kretzmann, The Sophismata of Richard Kilvington, p. XXVI, n. 35. The titles of the questions are as follows: 1. Utrum Deus sit super omnia diligendus; 2. Utrum per omnia meritoria augeatur habitus caritatis quo Deus est super omnia diligendus; a. Utrum aliquis possit augmentare peccatum alteri; 3. Utrum omnis creatura sit suae naturae cum certis limitatibus circumscripta; a. Utrum aliquod corpus possit simul et semel esse in diversis locis; b. Utrum unum infinitum sit maius alio; 4. Utrum quilibet actus voluntatis per se malus sit per se aliquid; 5. Utrum peccans solum per instans mereatur puniri per infinita instantia interpellata; a. Utrum voluntas eliciens actum voluntatis pro aliquo instanti debeat ipsum actum per aliquod tempus necessario tenere; 6. Utrum aliquis nisi forte in poenam peccati possit esse perplexus in hiis quae pertinent ad salutem; 7. Utrum omne factum secundum conscientiam ab aliquo sitt meritorium; 8. Utrum peccatum veniale aggravet mortale mortaliter. 4 For detailed information about Kilvington’s works and secondary literature see Jung-Palczewska, “Works by Richard Kilvington,” pp. 184–225. 5 Murdoch, “Thomas Bradwardine: Mathematics and Continuity in the Fourteenth Century,” pp. 104–110; Podkoński, “Al-Ghazali’s Metaphysics as a Source of AntiAtomistic Proofs in John Duns Scotus Sentences Commentary,” pp. 614–618.
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the basis of the third postulate of book I of Euclid’s Elements.6 Then, assuming that the circumferences of the circles are composed of points, Scotus indicates two points of the circumference of the greater circle that are immediately adjacent to one another. Next, he draws a line from each of those points to the centre of the circles, again invoking the appropriate postulate from the Elements.7 Further, he posits a question whether these lines intersect the circumference of the smaller circle at one or at two points. If one accepts the latter answer, one must conclude that there are as many points on the circumference of the smaller circle as on the circumference of the greater one, which is obviously absurd. When one agrees, however, that the supposed two radii intersect the circumference of the smaller circle at the same point, then let us draw—Scotus argues—a tangent to the smaller circle from this very point. One of Euclid’s postulates assures us that the tangent is perpendicular to each of the radii.8 Consequently, we obtain two right angles that are unequal, which is also absurd (fig. 1). William of Ockham, who generally neglected rationes mathematicae in his philosophical inquiry, brings up a simplified version of Scotus’s argument in one of his Quaestiones Quodlibetales entitled Utrum linea componatur ex punctis (Whether a line is composed of points).9 If we draw all of 6 John Duns Scotus, Ordinatio, [ Balic], Liber Secundus, dist. II, pars II, quaestio 5, pp. 278–350: Utrum angelus possit moveri de loco ad locum motu continuo. Actually, Scotus referred here to the second postulate and it might have been numbered so in the copy of Elements he had at hand, but in modern editions of Euclid the postulate he invoked is the third one (cf. Ibid., note T3). Cf. also Euclid, Elements [trans. Heath], vol. 1, p. 199. 7 John Duns Scotus, Utrum angelus. . . ., op. cit., p. 292: “Super centrum quodlibet, quantumlibet occupando spatium contingit circulum designare, secundum illam petitionem 2 I Euclidis. Super igitur centrum aliquod datum, quod dicatur a, describantur duo circuli: minor, qui dicatur d,—et maior b. Si circumferentia maioris componitur ex punctis, duo puncta sibi immediata signentur, quae sint b c,—et ducatur linea recta ab a ad b et linea recta ab a ad c, secundum illam petitionem I Euclidis ‘a puncto in punctum lineam rectam ducere’ etc. Istae rectae lineae, sic ductae, transibunt recte per circumferentiam minoris circuli. Quaero ergo aut secabunt eam in eodem puncto, aut in alio?” 8 John Duns Scotus, ibid., pp. 292–293: “Si autem duae rectae lineae ab et ac secent minorem circumferentiam in eodem puncto (sit ille d), super lineam ab erigatur linea recta secans eam in puncto d, quae sit de,—quae sit etiam contingens respectu minoris circuli, ex 17 III Euclidis. Ista, ex 13 I Euclidis, cum linea ab constituit duos angulos rectos vel aequales duobus rectis,—ex eadem etiam 13, cum linea ac (quae ponitur recta) constituet de angulos duos rectos vel aequales duobus rectis; igitur angulus ade et etiam angulus bde valent duos rectos,—pari ratione angulus ade et angulus cde, valent duos rectos. Sed quicumque duo anguli recti sunt aequales quibuscumque duobus rectis, ex 3 petitione I Euclidis; igitur dempto communi (scilicet ade), residua erunt aequalia: igitur angulus bde erit aequalis angulo cde, et ita pars erit aequalis toti!” 9 William of Ockham, Quodlibeta Septem [ Wey], Quodlibet I, Quaestio 9, pp. 50–65, Utrum linea componatur ex punctis.
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elbieta jung & robert podkodski an indivisible line right angles
b c
e
d
a tangent to the smaller circle
a D B
Fig. 1 Indivisible lines
Fig. 2
the radii from the centre of any two concentric circles to each of the indivisibles that constitute the circumference of the outer circle—says Ockham—these radii should intersect both circles in the same number of constituent indivisible points. Therefore any two such circles must be equal in circumference, which is obviously false (fig. 2).10 10 William of Ockham, ibid., pp. 54–55; Cf. also: Podkoński, “Al-Ghazali’s Metaphysics as a Source of Anti-Atomistic Proofs in John Duns Scotus Sentences Commentary,” pp. 614–615.
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Indivisible lines
Fig. 3
The second of Scotus’s anti-atomistic geometrical arguments concerns the incommensurability of the diagonal and the side of a square. Generally, the construction employed in the following part of the proof is similar to the one presented in Roger Bacon’s Opus Maius, written in 1266 or 1267. We find here the following reasoning: [ If ] the world is composed of an infinite number of material particles called atoms, as Democritus and Leucippus maintained . . . the diagonal of the square . . . and its side would be commensurable . . . For if the side has ten atoms, or twelve or more, then let the same number of lines be drawn from those atoms to the same number in the opposite side, the sides of the square being equal; . . . therefore since the diagonal passes through those lines, and no more can be drawn in the square, the diagonal must receive a single atom from each line, and thus they have an aliquot part as a common measure, and the side has just as many parts as the diagonal, both of which conclusions are impossible.11 (fig. 3).
In the beginning of his proof the Subtle Doctor invokes again the postulates from the Elements that define the notion of geometrical commensurability.12 First, he considers the case when parallel lines intersect
Roger Bacon, Opus Maius [trans. Burke], p. 173. John Duns Scotus, Ordinatio, [ Balic], Liber Secundus, dist. II, pars II, quaestio 5, pp. 297–298. 11 12
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the diagonal of a square at every point of its length. Next, he posits a hypothesis that there are points on the diagonal that do not belong to any of the parallel lines. If we accept this—Scotus argues—then let us draw a line from any of these points that is parallel to the nearest of the parallel lines assumed before. This new line necessarily crosses the side between the points that constitute it. Consequently, one can indicate a point that lies between two immediately adjoining points. This way one arrives at a contradiction, therefore one must deny the hypothesis that any continuum is composed of immediately conjoined indivisible entities (fig. 4).13 William of Ockham, in the above-mentioned question, limits himself to a short presentation of Bacon’s argument: [ If a line were composed of points]—Ockham argues—then a side of a square would be equal to its diagonal and the diagonal would be commensurable with the side. The consequence is obvious, because one can draw a line from any point of one side [of a square] up to any point of the opposite side . . . and each of these lines contains a certain point of the diagonal. Consequently, there exists a line between any point of the
13 John Duns Scotus, ibid., p. 298: “Secunda probatio est ex 5 sive ex 9 X Euclidis. Dicit enim illa 5 quod ‘omnium quantitatum commensurabilium proportio est ad invicem sicut alicuius numeri ad aliquem numerum’, et per consequens—sicut vult 9—‘si lineae aliquae sint commensurabiles, quadrata illarum se habebunt ad invicem sicut aliquis numerus quadratus ad aliquem numerum quadratum’; quadratum autem diametri non se habet ad quadratum costae sicut numerus aliquis quadratus ad aliquem numerum quadratum; igitur nec linea illa, quae erat diametri quadrati, commensurabilis erit costae illius quadrati. Minor huius patet ex paenultima I, quia quadratum diametri est duplum ad quadratum costae, pro eo quod est aequale quadratis duarum costarum; nullus autem numerus quadratus est duplus ad alium numerum quadratum, sicut patet discurrendo per omnes quadratos, ex quibuscumque radicibus in se ductis. Ex hoc patet ista conclusio, quod diameter est assymeter costae, id est incommensurabilis. Si autem lineae istae componerentur ex punctis, non essent incommensurabiles (se haberent enim puncta unius ad puncta alterius in aliqua proportione numerali); nec solum sequeretur quod essent commensurabiles lineae, sed etiam quod essent aequales,—quod est plane contra sensum. Accipiantur duo puncta immediata in costa, et alia duo opposita in alia costa,—et ab istis et ab illis ducantur duae lineae rectae, aequidistantes ipsi basi. Istae secabunt diametrum. Quaero ergo aut in punctis immediatis, aut mediatis. Si in immediatis, ergo non plura [sunt] puncta in diametro quam in costa; ergo non est diameter maior costa. Si in punctis mediatis, accipio punctum medium inter illa duo puncta mediata diametri (illud cadit extra utramque lineam, ex datis). Ab illo puncto duco aequidistantem utrique lineae (ex 31 I); ista aequidistans ducatur in continuum et directum (ex secunda parte primae petitionis I): secabit costam, et in neutro puncto eius dato, sed inter utrumque (alioquin concurreret cum alia, cum qua ponitur aequidistans,—quod est contra definitionem aequidistantis, quae est ultima definitio posita in I). Igitur inter illa duo puncta, quae ponebantur immediata in costa, est punctus medius.”
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Immediate points in a side of a square
a “mediate” point in a side of a square
a “mediate” point in a diagonal of a square
Fig. 4 diagonal and any point of the side. Therefore, if there were six points composing the diagonal, there would necessarily be six [points] in each of the sides.14
Kilvington, however, does not mention any of these constructions in his works. Among twelve principal arguments from his question Utrum continuum sit divisibile in infinitum, which appeal to the problem of infinite divisibility from mathematical, physical, and metaphysical points of view, one finds three strictly geometrical proofs. In these arguments Kilvington deals with the following examples: an angle of tangency (angulus contingentiae), “a cone of shadow” and a spiral line. For this reason, in order to expose his theory of continuity we will present his detailed deliberations on these three study cases. Since Kilvington goes back to his geometrical proofs only once in his later work (in his questions on the Sentences), we will also attempt to answer the question about the consistency of his theory.
14 William of Ockham, Quodlibeta Septem [ Wey], Quodlibet I, Quaestio 9, p. 51: “Si sic, tunc costa esset aequalis dyametro et esset diameter commensurabilis costae. Consequentia patet quia a quolibet puncto dyametri ad costam contingit protrahere lineam rectam. Quod patet quia a quolibet puncto costae unius ad quodlibet punctum costae alterius contingit protrahere lineam rectam, immo ita esset de facto posita hypothesi; et quaelibet talis linea protrahitur per aliquod punctum dyametri; igitur a quolibet puncto dyametri ad costam est aliqua linea recta. Si igitur sint sex puncta in dyametro, erunt necessario sex in utraque costa.”
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elbieta jung & robert podkodski 1. An Angle of Tangency
Kilvington begins all his analyses of the concept of continuity with the claim that every continuum, especially a mathematical one, is infinitely divisible. In the eleventh principal argument he claims that one of the geometrical “entities” introduced by Euclid himself does not fit this Aristotelian concept of continuity. The case considered is an angle of tangency. In fact, there is only one definition within Euclid’s work that is devoted to this “species” of angles, i.e. proposition 16, Book III. It reads: The straight line drawn at right angles to the diameter of a circle from its extremity will fall outside the circle, and into the space between the straight line and the circumference another straight line cannot be interposed; further the angle of the semicircle is greater, and the remaining angle less, than any acute rectilinear angle.15
Consequently Euclid, as it seems, introduces an infinitely small mathematical being that seems to be an indivisible. While referring to the above definition, Kilvington does not cite it verbatim, but gives his own interpretation, saying that “an angle of tangency is not divisible by a straight line but by a circular one.”16 First, Kilvington tries to convince the reader that Euclid is wrong, and in order to do so he sets up the following geometrical construction. Let’s take two contiguous circles, one of which is two times greater than the other, and a line that is contiguous to both of them in the point of contact. When the line is rotated around the point it will first cross this bigger circle without crossing the smaller one. This will be so because—argues Kilvington—all the points of the bigger circumference are closer to the line than the points of the smaller one.17 Therefore Euclid, Elements [trans. Heath], vol. 2, p. 37. Richard Kilvington, Utrum continuum sit divisibile in infinitum, Erfurt SB Ampl. O–74, f. 41vb: “Si quaestio foret vera, igitur angulus contingentiae foret divisibilis in infinitum. Consequens falsum et contra conclusionem 14 III Euclidis, ubi dicitur quod angulus contingentiae non est divisibilis secundum lineam rectam sed circularem.” 17 Richard Kilvington, ibid., f. 41vb: “Probo, quod sit divisibilis secundum lineam rectam, quia capio duos circulos quorum unus sit duplus ad alium et contingant se. Et capiatur linea contingens illos circulos in eodem puncto in quo circuli se contingant, et pono quod illa linea quiescat secundum illum punctum et moveatur secundum aliud extremum. Quo posito, arguo sic: si illa linea secet utrumque circulorum praedictorum, et propinquior est maiori circulo secundum omnia sua puncta quam minori, igitur citius secabit maiorem circulum quam minorem. Quo concesso arguo sic: haec linea secat circulum maiorem et non minorem, igitur illa dividit angulum contingentiae contentum a circulo minori.” 15 16
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α
Fig. 5
we will come up with a rectilinear angle that seems to be smaller than an angle of tangency (fig. 5). Kilvington’s own response to this argument reveals that he is absolutely aware that the conclusion is false. He simply says that the line will cross both circles, the bigger and the smaller, simultaneously.18 Although Kilvington does not offer any explanation, it seems that he knows that every straight line that crosses the point of tangency and forms an angle with a tangent is a secant (fig. 6.). Consequently, no rectilinear acute angle is smaller than an angle of tangency. This is, most likely, why he concludes that an angle of tangency can be divided only by circular lines.19 Next, Kilvington observes that both an angle of tangency and a rectilinear angle are infinitely divisible. Evidently, Kilvington’s statement stems from the following reasoning: since both angles are infinitely divisible, one can recognize them as infinite sets of infinitely small parts that constitute the angles; and in accordance with Aristotle’s opinion it was commonly accepted that all infinities are equal, so in this sense an angle
18 Richard Kilvington, ibid., f. 43rb–va: “Et dico, quod acceptis duabus lineis circularibus, quarum maior contineat intrinsecus minorem, et capiatur linea in puncto contactus et moveatur secundum aliud extremum, dico quod non prius secabit illa linea circulum maiorem quam minorem.” 19 Richard Kilvington, ibid.: “Ad undecimum principale, quod angulus [contingentiae] est divisibilis secundum lineas circulares et non rectas.”
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α Fig. 6
of tangency and a right angle are equal; therefore, one would say that there is a proportion between them, namely an equal proportion.20 But in his answer Kilvington states that there is no proportion between any rectilinear angle and an angle of tangency, because: “this angle is an infinite part of a right angle, like a point is an infinite part of a [finite] line”.21 Again, Kilvington leaves the readers with the difficulty of reconstructing the possible reasoning that underlies his conclusion. The above statement is in accordance with Campanus of Novara’s claim that “any rectilinear angle is greater than an infinite number of angles of contingency.”22 And in this case, as it seems, Kilvington denies the existence of any proportion between the multitudes of rectilinear acute angles and of curvilinear angles in order to avoid any method of constructing the acute angle that would be equal to the angle of tangency. If we accepted that there are as many “parts” of the right angle as “parts” of an angle of tangency, we might recognize some kind of correspondence between rectilinear acute angles and curvilinear ones. And consequently, the “most acute” of these angles would equal the “smallest” of the curvilinear angles—only when it is agreed that the “smallest” angles exist. But Kilvington is of the opinion that any
20 Richard Kilvington, ibid., f. 41vb: “Item, si sic, cum angulus rectus sit divisibilis in infinitum secundum lineas rectas proportionaliter, igitur aliquis angulus rectus haberet proportionem ad angulum contingentiae, et ita angulus rectus et angulus contingentiae forent aequales.” 21 Richard Kilvington, ibid.: “Item, si angulus contingentiae foret divisibilis secundum lineam circularem, igitur angulus contingentiae haberet aliquam proportionem ad angulum rectum. Consequens falsum, quia iste angulus est infinita pars anguli recti, sicut punctus infinita pars lineae.” 22 John Campanus of Novara, [in:] Murdoch, “The Medieval Language of Proportions: Elements of the Interaction with Greek Foundations and the Development of New Mathematical Techniques,” p. 243.
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continuum is infinitely divisible, and consequently there is no last and “smallest” part of it.23 Kilvington accepts Ockham’s definition of a continuum, according to which every continuum is regarded as a set containing in actu infinite subsets of smaller and smaller proportional parts.24 In the case considered a right angle is such a continuum that is divisible into smaller and smaller acute rectilinear angles. At the same time, each of them is bigger than an angle of tangency, and an angle of tangency is also infinitely divisible into proportional parts. The fact that both angles should be considered as an infinite set and subset allows us to state that one is bigger or lesser than the other, but it does not allow us to establish any proportionality between them.25 This claim is also in accordance with Ockham’s concept of relations between actual infinities that must be unequal.26 Evidently, Kilvington recognizes an angle of tangency as an actually infinitely small geometrical “entity,” which can be divided, however, in infinitum.27 23 Richard Kilvington, Utrum continuum . . ., Ms. Paris, BNF lat. 6559, f. 95ra: “Ad rationem, quando quaeritur et cetera, dico, quod continuum est duplex sicut quantum, quia aliquod est continuum per se et aliquod per accidens. Continuum per se est illud, quod per se est quantum et illud est tale, quod habet divisiones quae sunt accidentia sua. Alio modo sumitur continuum per accidens, et sicut dicimus quod albedo est continuum. Divisio etiam accipitur dupla. Uno modo pro illo, cuius partes possunt actualiter dividi sive separari per divisionem. Alio modo pro eo, quod habet partes quae possunt separari ab invicem sive per divisionem sive non, et sicut dicimus quod coelum est continuum et non divisibile quia partes eius non possunt ab invicem separari. Sed primo modo accipiendo continuum et hoc modo continuum qualitercumque intelligendo quaestionem universaliter quaestio est falsa, accipiendo secundo modo quaestio est vera.” 24 For a detailed explanation of Ockham’s conception of infinity, see Goddu, The Physics of William of Ockham, pp. 159–176. Kilvington’s considerations on infinity are presented in Podkoński, “Thomas Bradwardine’s Critique of Falsigraphus’s Concept of Actual Infinity,” pp. 147–153. 25 Richard Kilvington, Utrum continuum . . ., Erfurt, SB Ampl. O–74, f. 41vb: “Item, si sic, cum angulus rectus sit divisibilis in infinitum secundum lineas rectas proportionaliter, igitur aliquis angulus rectus haberet proportionem ad angulum contingentiae, et ita angulus rectus et angulus contingentiae forent aequales. Consequentia probatur. Sequitur, quod nullus angulus sit maior angulo recto, et per consequens sequitur, quod angulus rectus sit infinitus, cum habeat infinitas partes proportionales quarum nulla pars unius est pars alterius, et quaelibet est maior angulo contingentiae.” 26 William of Ockham, Comm. Sent. II, q. 8, as quoted in Murdoch, “William of Ockham and the Logic of Infinity and Continuity,” p. 170: “concedo quod infinita essent excessa, sicut probat ratio, et quod unum infinitum esset maius alio.” 27 Ricardus Kilvington, Utrum continuum . . ., Erfurt, SB Ampl. O–74, ff. 42rb–43va: “Ad undecimum principale, quod angulus est divisibilis secundum lineas circulares et non rectas. Et nego consequentiam: igitur angulus contingentiae habet certam proportionem cum angulo acuto vel recto. Et dico, quod acceptis duabus lineis circularibus,
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elbieta jung & robert podkodski 2. “A Cone of Shadow”
At the beginning of the ninth principal argument Kilvington says that according to Plato there is a kind of figure that is indivisible.28 As a matter of fact, in his Timaeus Plato claims that all beings are made up of solids and solids are made up of indivisible triangles that form their sides.29 First, Kilvington states that there is a triangle whose apex is contingent to its base.30 In order to prove his assumption, Kilvington presents the following mental experiment. Let us imagine that a lucid body A illuminates an opaque, circular, flat body B that is smaller than A. In effect, we obtain a cone of shadow—C. Then, let’s presume that while A increases in size, external parts of B are continuously becoming transparent. The process of transmutation of B occurs according to its proportional parts, i.e in the first period of time one half of all radii of B diminishes, and in the next period of time one half of the remaining parts of radii diminishes, and so on (fig. 7).31 Then Kilvington simplifies the case taking into account only one of the vertical sections of the cone C: a triangle formed by one of the diameters of the remaining part of B and two rays of light tangent to it. Thus the height of this triangle is continuously decreasing until B is wholly transparent. Now, it is easier to consider the case as a series of smaller and smaller triangles (fig. 8). Eventually, Kilvington observes that, quarum maior contineat intrinsecus minorem, si accipiatur linea contingens utrumque circuli et quiescat in puncto contactus et moveatur secundum aliud extremum. Dico quod non prius secabit illa linea circulum maiorem quam minorem.” 28 Richard Kilvington, ibid., f. 41ra: “Aliqua superficies est indivisibilis sicut Plato ponit.” 29 See Plato, Timaeus, 53c. 30 Richard Kilvington, Utrum continuum . . ., Erfurt, SB Ampl. O–74, f. 41ra: “aliquis est triangulus cuius unus punctus est immediatus eius basi, et omnia puncta eius sunt immediata.” 31 Richard Kilvington, ibid., f. 41 vb: “Igitur radii incidentes a partibus circumferentialibus ipsius a per partes circumferentiales ipsius b concurrunt. Consequentia patet, quia illae lineae non sunt aeque distantes, et cum illae non concurrant in b nec citra b, igitur concurrunt ultra b. Capio igitur piramidem ex partibus illarum linearum quae sunt ultra, qua piramidis sit c. Tunc c est obumbrata quia nullae lineae incidunt ab a ad aliquod punctum intrinsecum ipsius c. Tunc sic: si b continue corrumpetur in corpus dyaphanum, et prius secundum partes circumferentiales quam centrales, et a continue quiescat non auctum nec transmutatum, igitur partibiliter illuminatur. Consequentia patet, quia lineae incidentes ab a per partes b erunt infra lineas incidentes ab a per puncta extrinseca b, igitur erunt breviores illis. Et secabunt se in aliquo puncto c, et cum in quolibet instanti post initium in quo incipit b corrumpi erunt lineae incidentes ab a per partes b; igitur in quolibet instanti postquam b inceperit transmutare erit plus illuminatum de c.”
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r r/2 r/4
B
Fig. 7
C B
A
Fig. 8
if the above-described process terminates, one of these triangles must be the last and as such it is the smallest and indivisible. It is obvious that the smallest triangle consists of three points—the apex and two extremes of the basis—that are immediately adjacent to one another.32 It is clear that this assumption is based on the concept of discontinuity stemming from Aristotle’s Physics, that any two immediately adjacent points are contingent and do not constitute a unity.33 In the next paragraph, Kilvington asks whether it is possible for cone of shadow C to disappear totally when there remains some parts of B.
32 Richard Kilvington, ibid., f. 41rb: “Capio tunc aliquod dyametrum partis non corruptae de b, tunc dyameter cum partibus linearum incidentium per extrema illius dyametri causant unum triangulum, qui non est divisibilis, quia tunc esset aliqua pars medii ultra b non illuminata, quod est contra positum.” 33 Cf. Aristotle, Physics, VI, 1, 231a–b.
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He considers the case in a manner that is typical of his other works, establishing a kind of adequacy between proportional parts of a certain period of time, namely one hour, and succeeding stages of transmutation of A and of B. Again, he simplifies the case examining separately the growth of A, B remaining unchanged, and the diminishing of B, when A does not change its dimensions.34 In his answer Kilvington states that the final result is the same in both instances: there must always be a cone of shadow left. Consequently, when A and B are changing simultaneously, as long as B exists there is a cone of shadow, no matter how small it is.35 Eventually, Kilvington concludes that the whole case is founded on a false assumption, because no surface is indivisible. He does not present, however, any explanation referring to his—above-described—mental experiment. Most likely he does so because it is obvious for him and his audience that, although there will finally be a cone of shadow formed by immediately conjoined points, it does not mean that its section could be recognized as an
Richard Kilvington, Utrum continuum . . ., Erfurt, SB Ampl. O–74, f. 41rb: “Et probo, quod totum c illuminabitur antequam b corrumpatur, quia b corrupto et a non aucto in eodem corrumpetur b et illuminabitur c. Igitur a aucto et corrupto b, prius illuminabitur c quam b corrumpatur. Antecedens de se patet, et probatur consequentia, quia ex corruptione b tantum illuminabitur de c in uno tempore sicut in alio sibi aequali, et ex augmentatione similiter a, igitur tantum est illuminatum de c per augmentationem a et corruptionem b in uno tempore sicut in tempore sibi aequali. Ponatur igitur, quod b corrumpatur in hora. Tunc sic: in medietatae horae erit plus quam medietas c illuminata per augmentationem a, igitur corrumpitur b et uniformiter illuminabitur c post medietatem horae sicut in prima parte. Igitur in minori tempore quam sit medietas horae illuminabitur pars residua de c. Consequentia patet. Et antecedens probo, quia si non, tunc maioretur. Et tunc in medietatae horae esset medietas c illuminata, et sic plus erit illuminata propter maiorationem a, igitur in eodem tempore erit plus quam medietas illuminata. Antecedens patet, quia si a non augmentetur tunc illuminabitur totum c in hora et c uniformiter illuminabitur; igitur in medietate temporis erit medietas illuminata, igitur erit illuminata propter maiorationem a. Patet, quia si in principio corrumpatur medietas c illuminata sive tanta pars per quantam corruptionem illuminabitur c et deinde maioretur a, tunc per maiorationem a erit aliquid illuminatum de c et tantum erit illuminatum. Si augeretur quando b corrumpetur, igitur et cetera.” 35 Richard Kilvington, ibid., f. 43rb: “Et dico, quod isto casu posito, quod non prius terminabitur c quam corrumpatur b. Et nego istam consequentiam: a non aucto et b corrupto, c illuminabitur in hora, igitur a aucto et b corrupto illuminabitur c ante finem horae. Et causa est quia augmentatio ipsius a non facit c citius illuminari secundum se totum, quam illuminabitur post corruptionem b. Sed quod ante finem horae plus illuminetur per a, si augeretur, et tamen non sequitur, quod c citius illuminabitur per augmentationem a et corruptionem b, quam per corruptionem b tantum.” 34
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extended surface. In the other part of this question Kilvington states explicitly that two immediate lines do not enclose a surface between them.36 3. A Spiral Line The third purely geometrical case, Kilvington debates, is based on the following statement: each infinite line, as continuous, is infinitely divisible. This claim stands against the commonly accepted opinion that an infinite line cannot exist, because, if it did, each of its parts would be infinite and thus a part would equal the whole. First, Kilvington presents a procedure for creating an infinite line. Let’s take a column—says Kilvington—and let’s mark out all its proportional parts: a sequence of halves of its height. And then we draw a spiral line, winding around this column, starting from a point on a circumference of its base, in such a way that each succeeding coil embraces one proportional part, i.e. the first coil the first half of a column, the second one fourth, the third one eighth, and so on in infinitum (fig. 9). It is obvious that each coil is longer than a circumference of the column, and there are infinitely many coils forming one line. This line is evidently continuous because an ending point of one coil is the beginning of the next coil. Consequently, the line is actually infinitely long, for it can be regarded as a sum of infinitely many parts, each of them possessing a certain longitude.37
36 Richard Kilvington, ibid., f. 38ra–b: “aliqua est linea quae ducitur a puncto assignato ad duo puncta immediata, vel non sed duae. Non secundo modo quia forent immediatae. Sequitur quod duae lineae immediatae claudunt aliquam superficiem—quod est impossibile.” 37 Richard Kilvington, ibid., f. 39rb–va: “Si quaestio est vera, tunc linea infinita foret divisibilis in infinitum. Consequentia patet, quia continuum est divisibile in infinitum et linea est continua, igitur et cetera. Minor patet, scilicet quod aliqua linea sit infinita, quia sit aliquod corpus columpnare a, tunc in a est aliqua linea infinita. Quod probo sic: quia capio aliquam lineam gyrativam ductam super primam partem proportionalem ipsius a, quae sit b; b ergo est quantitas continua cuius convenit addere maiorem partem in infinitum quarum nulla est pars alterius nec econverso, igitur convenit devenire ad aliquam lineam infinitam actu. Quod probatur: consequentia prima per Aristotelem III Physicorum et Commentatorem, commento 64, ubi probant additionem in continuo per partes aequales in infinitum, et arguant sic: si talis additio sit possibilis, convenit devenire ad aliquam aliam magnitudinem infinitam in actu. Sic arguo in propositio. Et primum antecedens probo, quia convenit addere ipsi b lineam girativam secundae partis proportionalis, tertiae et quartae et sic in infinitum, quarum quaelibet est
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Next Kilvington notes that it is impossible to construct an infinite line in the described way, because a column circumvolved by a spiral line is of a finite height. Consequently the spiral line must have two extremes, i.e. its beginning and end points, and as such it must be finite. Thus, Kilvington attacks the problem of labeling an end point of a spiral line. In the first step he takes, he proves that a spiral line has to be immediately adjacent to the upper surface of the column, because if it were not, there would be some proportional parts of the column not circumvolved by the spiral line. Consequently, the spiral line would be finite, because it would consist only of a finite number of coils. But if a spiral line is immediately adjacent to the upper surface, it should be possible to label its end point. And if there were an end point the line would be finite, which is against the main proposition of this argument.38
continua alteri, igitur convenit sibi addere lineas infinitas aequales, quarum quaelibet est maior c, et quarum nulla pars unius est pars alterius. Consequentia patet, quia cuiuslibet partis proportionalis linea girativa est maior linea circulari secundum quam attenduntur girationes corporis.” 38 Richard Kilvington, ibid., f. 39va: “Item, hoc probo per rationem quod impossibile
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Kilvington proves that although there is “no distance” between the spiral line and the upper surface of the column, there is also no determined point ending the line. In fact, he observes, one can consider any of the points on the circumference of the upper surface of the column as an end point of the spiral line. And if it is so, it has an infinite number of end points.39 Therefore, there is no end point, and the line is infinite and immediate to the circumference of the upper surface of the column. In his answer Kilvington affirms the last conclusion and says that the spiral line has two limits. One of them is intrinsic—and this is the starting point of the line. The other, however, is an extrinsic limit—and this is the circumference of the upper surface of the column, which does not belong to this line. The only possible explanation is that Kilvington considers the spiral line to approach this circular line asymptotically (fig. 10). Kilvington repeats the above-presented construction of an infinite spiral line in his question Utrum unum inifnitum potest esse maius alio from his commentary on Peter Lombard’s Sentences. It serves as one of many obvious examples of actual infinities that are to be found or are possible in the created world. The difference is that Kilvington shows a method of constructing the spiral line that is infinite with respect to both of its extremes. He draws two spiral lines, both starting from the same point in the middle of the height of a column and going into
est aliquam lineam esse infinitam. Quia pono tunc quod talis foret in corpore columpnari, et sit illa b. Capio igitur lineam circularem in extremo a corporis circularis, versus quod sit progressio partium proportionalium—qua sit c, tunc si b sit linea infinita est immediata c extremo. Quia si b et c distarent aliqua esset proportionalis pars inter b et c—et sic hoc solum componeretur ex partibus finitarum partium proportionalium et sic b foret finita—quod est contra positum.” 39 Richard Kilvington, ibid., f. 39va–b: “Sed probo quod b et c non sunt immediata, quia b terminabitur ad aliquod punctum ipsius c et non est maior ratio quare magis ad unum quam ad aliud; igitur b terminatur ad infinita puncta. Huic dicitur quod b terminatur ad punctum tantum, qui terminat lineam rectam a quam incepit. Verbi gratia, posito quod prima giratio incepisset in d puncto de lineae, tunc necessario terminabitur ad punctum e terminum eiusdem lineae. Sed contra, probo per rationem, quod terminabitur ad quodlibet punctum, quia giratio primae partis proportionalis secat omnem lineam rectam in superficie illius corporis extrema protensam ab uno extremo in aliud. Capio igitur aliquam linearum—et sit illa linea a, igitur et ponatur quod secet eam in hoc puncto fa lineae. Tunc in hoc puncto incipit una giratio quae terminabitur ad eandem lineam et punctus girans non recedet a fa linea nisi iterum accedat ad ipsam. Igitur, si ille punctus omnino girat a corpus per modum puncti, sequitur quod in fine sit d punctus in f puncto fa, igitur b linea terminabitur ad f punctum, et per idem potest probari quod terminaretur ad quolibet punctum.”
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opposite directions toward its upper surface and base.40 The laconic manner of presenting this construction suggests that Kilvington presumes that this argumentation is familiar to his audience. As it was already proven in the question Utrum continuum, both halves of the line would lack an end point, and consequently the whole line would be infinite utroque extremo. 4. Conclusions It is clear at the outset, that in his question on the continuum Kilvington does not take part in a discussion on indivisibilism. Although Kilvington, like John Duns Scotus, William of Ockham and Thomas Bradwardine, employs geometry, he is instead only interested in revealing paradoxes resulting from the Aristotelian definition of continuity. If we take for granted that a continuum is infinitely divided into proportional parts, we have to accept that there is no last proportional part. Consequently, the process of dividing cannot be completed and lacks its limit.
40 Ricardus Kilvington, Utrum unum infinitum potest esse maius alio, Ms. BAV, Vat. lat. 4353, f. 40r–v: “linea sit infinita utroque extremo, ut patet de linea gyrativa in corpore columpnari quae per utriusque suae medietatae girat singulas partes proportionales versus extrema illius corporis. Et quod talis sit infinita patet, quia additio fuit sibi per partes aequales in infinitum, igitur ibi est infinitum tale et in actu.”
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All three of the above geometrical examples show that the Archimedean principle of continuity is not valid here. This principle, repeated later on by Euclid, states that: Two unequal magnitudes being set out, if from the greater there be subtracted a magnitude greater than its half, and from that which is left a magnitude greater than its half, and if this process be repeated continually, there will be left some magnitude which will be less than the lesser magnitude set out.41
In the first case discussed, Kilvington shows that there is no transition between an angle of tangency and a rectilinear one, although both are certain geometrical magnitudes. The second case—“a cone of shadow”—demonstrates that if a process of the diminution of a magnitude is continuous, it cannot end. It seems that in the third case discussed one finds the results of the first two, since it employs both a proportional division and a transition between two different kinds of geometrical entities—a spiral and circular lines. It also shows that we cannot come to the end, because we cannot find the last point of a spiral line. These examples are modifications of Zeno’s paradox, namely the paradox of dichotomy. Even though Aristotle was certain that while introducing isomorphism of different kinds of continua he eliminated the paradox,42 Kilvington makes it clear that Aristotle failed. As a matter of fact, the Aristotelian definition of continuity seems to be in accordance with Zeno’s statement that infinite division into proportional parts cannot be completed. But Kilvington is not able to solve this paradox. He only notices contradictions that derive from accepted principles, and he leaves the readers—as it is apparent—with the difficulty of interpretating his mathematical arguments. Kilvington, however, does not accept the alternative solution according to which the process of the division of a continuum can be completed because there are indivisible entities. But he explicitly argues for the commonly accepted Aristotelian concept of continuity. Only the last of Kilvington’s above-presented geometrical constructions exercised the interest of other medieval thinkers. One finds the debates on properties of a linea girativa in the works of e.g. Roger Roseth,
41 42
Euclid, Elements [trans. Heath], vol. 3, X, prop. I, p. 258. Cf. Aristotle, Physics, VIII, 10, 266b2.
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John Buridan, Benedict Hesse and John Major. Most of them, however, took into account only one aspect of Kilvington’s discussion, asking whether a spiral line is actually or potentially infinite.43
43 Cf. Roger Roseth, Utrum aliqua creatura possit esse infinita, in Lectura super Sententias, Quaestiones 3, 4 & 5 [ Hallamaa], pp. 266–272; John Buridan, Utrum linea aliqua gyrativa sit infinita, et semper accipio infinitum categorematice, in: Quaestiones super libros Physicorum, Liber III, Quaestio 16, edited in Thijssen, John Buridan’s ‘Tractatus de infinito,’ pp. 23–33; Benedict Hesse, Utrum aliqua linea gyrativa sit infinita, accipiendo ‘infinitum’ categorematice, in Quaestiones super octo libros Physicorum Aristotelis [ Wielgus], pp. 384–387; John Major, De infinito [ Élie], pp. 12–52.
THE IMPORTANCE OF ATOMISM IN THE PHILOSOPHY OF GERARD OF ODO (O.F.M.)* Sander W. de Boer Introduction The Franciscan theologian Gerard of Odo (Giraldus Odonis) was born c. 1285 in the village of Camboulit, near Figeac in the South of France, and died in 1349.1 He lectured on the Sentences in the Franciscan studium in Paris in the period 1326–1328.2 Odo wrote an influential commentary on Aristotle’s Nicomachean Ethics (to which he owes his name of Doctor moralis).3 Even though he did not write more commentaries on the works of Aristotle, Odo did have a great interest in logical and natural-philosophical topics. There are several separate questions or tracts in these fields, most of them anonymous, that have been ascribed to him. Most of this material can also be found in some form in his commentary on the Sentences.4 Since Odo has not written any commentary on the
* I would like to thank Prof. Paul J.J.M. Bakker and Prof. Hans M.M.H. Thijssen for their helpful comments on an earlier version of this article. 1 For biographical details see: Schabel, “The Sentences Commentary of Gerardus Odonis, O.F.M.”; De Rijk, Giraldus Odonis O.F.M.: Opera Philosophica I: Logica, pp. 1–5 and Weijers, Le travail intellectuel à la Faculté des arts de Paris: textes et maîtres (ca. 1200–1500), III, pp. 79–83. 2 These Parisian lectures were actually the second time Odo lectured on the Sentences. The first time was in Toulouse in the late 1310s. Parts of these Toulouse lectures must have found their way into the Parisian commentary, but it is unknown how much. For a detailed description of Odo’s commentary on the Sentences, cf. Schabel, “The Sentences Commentary of Gerardus.” 3 This influence can, for example, clearly be traced in John Buridan’s commentary on the Ethica as James Walsh has demonstrated in Walsh, “Some Relationships between Gerald Odo’s and John Buridan’s Commentaries on Aristotle’s ‘Ethics’.” The commentary survives in about 17 Mss. For a list of the Mss and early prints of this commentary see Lohr, ‘Medieval Latin Aristotle Commentaries. Authors G–I’, p. 164. The Venice edition (1500) is accessible on Gallica (http://gallica.bnf.fr/). 4 Cf. De Rijk, “Works by Gerald Ot (Gerardus Odonis) on Logic, Metaphysics and Natural Philosophy Rediscovered in Madrid, Bibl. Nac. 4229.” For examples of this connection between the tracts in the Madrid Ms and the Sentences commentary, cf. Bakker, “Guiral Ot et le mouvement. Autour de la question De motu conservée dans le manuscrit Madrid, Biblioteca Nacional, 4229” and De Rijk, Giraldus Odonis O.F.M.: Opera Philosophica II: De intentionibus.
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Physics, these separate tracts combined with his commentary on the Sentences are the only sources we have to determine his views on topics of natural philosophy. In this article I want to examine his position on the question in natural philosophy that he is most famous for, both in his own time and ours, namely the question of the structure of the continua: space, time and motion. Understanding the structure of continua was so important to Odo, that he dedicated two extensive questions to it in his commentary on the Sentences. In addition, there are two separate tracts on this issue that are closely related to these questions in the Sentences. All his treatments of the problem have a very similar structure and the core of his solution is always the same: continua are composed of a finite number of non-extended indivisibles that touch each other whole to whole. The reason why indivisibles can compose something that is extended in this way, is that they have, as Odo calls it, certain differences of either place or time.5 When indivisibles touch each other whole to whole, but not according to every difference, they can compose something extended. Besides this notion of ‘difference’, Odo also introduces the principle that there can be local motion without the moving thing changing position. This occurs, for example, when a sphere is rotated around its centre, according to Odo. In such a situation only the differences of the point in the centre would “move”. With this solution, Odo is the first of the Parisian atomists in the fourteenth century.6 After the pioneering research on fourteenth-century atomism by Pierre Duhem and Anneliese Maier, there have been two scholars in particular who have significantly contributed to our knowledge of Odo’s atomism.7 The first was Vassili Zubov who in 1959 published an article 5 “. . . quod indivisibile secundum partes quantitativas est distinguibile et determinabile secundum differentias respectivas loci vel temporis.” (Ms Madrid, Bibl. Nac., 4229, f. 183vb) 6 This group includes: Nicholas Bonetus, Marc Trivisano, John Gedeonis, Nicholas of Autrecourt. Nicholas Bonetus includes many parts of Odo’s text almost verbatim in the part on quantity in his Liber predicamentorum (Venice, 1505), even if he eventually reaches a somewhat different version of atomism; cf. Zubov, “Walter Catton, Gérard d’Odon et Nicolas Bonet.” Another follower is Marc Trivisano, who includes large parts of Odo’s text in book 2 of his tract ‘De macrocosmo’; cf. Boas, “A Fourteenth-century Cosmology.” The otherwise unknown John Gedeonis, to conclude, as John Murdoch pointed out, also keeps referring to the arguments of a certain magister (undoubtedly Odo) when he develops his atomistic position in Ms Vat. Lat. 3092, ff. 113v–124r. 7 Duhem and Maier could only consult Odo’s tract on the continuum that is contained in Ms Vat. Lat. 3066. The Ms contains only the recto side of the first folium of a question on the structure of the continuum. In order to determine Odo’s position,
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on the atomism of Gerard of Odo, Walter Chatton, and Nicholas Bonetus.8 Zubov was mainly interested in the atomist replies to a series of mathematical arguments against the possibility of atomism. To give an example of one such argument against atomism: given a square and its diagonal, we can draw a line from each point on the side of the square, through the diagonal, to its corresponding point on the opposite side. The next step in the argument is to ask what would happen if we were to draw all the lines from all the points on the side. Within an atomistic conception of magnitude, there are only two options. If each such line intersected precisely one point of the diagonal, the side and the diagonal would not only be commensurable but would be exactly the same in size. If, on the other hand, there were points on the diagonal that had not been intersected after drawing all the possible lines, a line could be drawn through these non-intersected points on the diagonal from one side of the square to the other. However, in that case, the assumption that all possible lines have been drawn, is false. Thus, a magnitude cannot consist of atoms. These mathematical arguments gained their fame through Duns Scotus’s commentary on Peter Lombard’s Sentences.9 All these arguments, which derived from the Arabic tradition and entered the Latin tradition through Al-Ghazali’s summary of Avicenna’s critique of atomism, point to the incompatibility of atomism with the truths of Euclidean geometry.10 All late medieval atomists felt they had to respond to them. The second scholar who has made a major contribution to our understanding of Odo is John Murdoch, in studies devoted to latemedieval atomism.11 Even though the focus of his research has been
they therefore had to rely mainly on refutations of Odo’s views, in particular by John the Canon in book VI of his commentary on the Physics. Cf. Maier, Die Vorläufer Galileis im 14. Jahrhundert, pp. 162–163, and Duhem, Le système du monde: histoire des doctrines cosmologiques de Platon à Copernic, VII: La physique parisienne au XIV e siècle, pp. 403–412. 8 V.P. Zubov, “Walter Catton, Gérard d’Odon et Nicolas Bonet.” 9 Scotus, Ordinatio [ Balic e.a.], dist. 2, pars 2, q. 5: “Utrum Angelus possit moveri de loco ad locum motu continuo.” The corresponding question in the Reportata Parisiensa gives the arguments in an abbreviated form. The arguments are not given in the corresponding question in the Lectura. 10 The arguments are given in the first part of the capitulum de diversitate senciendi de composicione corporis; Algazel, Metaphysica [ Muckle], pp. 10–13. 11 Important publications (the list is not exhaustive) are: Murdoch, Geometry and the Continuum in the Fourteenth Century: A Philosophical Analysis of Thomas Bradwardine’s Tractatus de Continuo; idem, “Superposition, Congruence and Continuity in the Middle Ages;” idem, “Naissance et développement de l’atomisme au bas Moyen Âge latin”; idem, “Infinity and Continuity”; idem, “Atomism and Motion in the Fourteenth Century;” Murdoch
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on the atomists in Oxford, he has written about Odo as well. Murdoch has classified fourteenth-century atomism as a doctrine that is not the result of a physical analysis, but rather of a purely intellectual reaction to Aristotle’s analysis of continuous quantity.12 This would not only explain the fact that the atoms were thought of as similar to mathematical points, but also the fact that even the relations between these atoms were conceived in mathematical terms. This view also leads to the conclusion that fourteenth-century atomism is not a description or explanation of reality, as was the case in Greek atomism. Because Murdoch focused on those parts of Odo’s tract that illustrated the late-medieval application of propositional and mathematical analysis the other parts were not discussed. In particular, Murdoch studied the responses of Odo and other atomists to the (often mathematical) arguments against their atomistic position. As a result, Odo’s positive arguments in favour of atomism have never been examined in detail. It is precisely on this point that I hope to contribute to our knowledge of his atomism. Starting my analysis with Odo’s arguments in favour of atomism, I intend to complement the picture of Odo’s atomism that we had so far, and also bring out its ontological ramifications. In this article I will focus on the separate tract on the continuum that is found (only) in the Ms Madrid, Biblioteca Nacional, 4229, to which I will refer in the rest of this article as De continuo.13 The tract is closely related to Odo’s treatment of the continuum in book II of his commentary on the Sentences.14 1. My Theses In this paper, I hope to show two things about the position and importance of atomism in Odo’s philosophy, namely, first, that his atomism occupies a much more important and central place in his philosophy & Synan, “Two Questions on the Continuum: Walter Chatton (?), O.F.M. and Adam Wodeham, O.F.M.” 12 Murdoch, “Naissance et développement de l’atomisme,” p. 27. 13 I have also looked at Odo’s other texts on the continuum. Although there are some interesting differences between the different versions, they have no implications for the conclusions of this article. 14 The precise relations between the different versions of Odo’s questions on the structure of continua are complex. I’m currently preparing an article on this topic which will also include a critical edition of the De continuo tract from the Ms Madrid, Bibl. Nac. 4229.
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than we assumed, and, secondly, that this atomism is not just a purely intellectual response to Aristotle’s treatment of continuous quantity, but also makes an ontological claim. More precisely, in my view Odo intended his atomism to be both an accurate description and an explanation of real continuous physical processes and structures. To substantiate these claims, I also want to propose a new interpretation of his atomism in which the two following principles play an important role. (1) In Odo’s atomism there is an ontological priority of the part over the whole, i.e. the whole is seen as nothing more than the sum of its parts, and every property of the whole can be reduced to the properties of the parts. (2) The necessity of a finite number of indivisibles follows from the ontological primacy of the part and therefore is not motivated by the necessity of a limit to division, but by the composition of continua out of prior parts combined with the (Aristotelian) idea that the infinite cannot be traversed. To make clear what I mean by this second principle, let me make a distinction between what I would call a strong and a weak reading of the term `composed’ in the proposition ‘a continuum is composed of indivisibles’. In the weak reading this proposition only means that a continuum can be divided into indivisibles. Therefore, a continuum is in some way composed of them since these indivisibles had to be somehow (at least potentially) contained in the continuum prior to the division. This weak reading always takes the whole existing continuum as its starting point, and therefore never implies a primacy of the indivisible parts over the whole. It is in exactly this same way that the non-atomist will claim that a continuum is composed of parts that are always further divisible, without implying in any way that these parts exist prior to the whole continuum.15 That is, if we divide an existing continuum, we can always divide the resulting parts further ad infinitum. The strong reading, on the other hand, does imply a primacy of the part. In this reading a continuum is composed, that is formed, by a continuous joining of prior existing part to part. It is this strong reading that describes the position of Odo. To avoid any confusion on what this primacy entails, we could say the following. The ontological primacy of the part, however crucial in understanding Odo’s atomism, does not imply any form of Democritian atomism where all the atoms first exist separately. It does imply that the answer to the question “how
15
Cf. Aristotle, Physics VI, 232b24–26.
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do the indivisible parts of the continuum come into being?” is not “by division of the continuum,” but is “they come into being, one by one, when the continuum is composed”. It is important to note that even though an atomism that is an explanation of the physical world, such as the atomism of Democritus or Epicurus, needs some sort of primacy of the indivisible part, an atomism that is only the result of an intellectual analysis of the structure of continuous quantity does not. Such an “analytical” atomism could be motivated solely by the need for a limit to divisibility. 2. The ‘De continuo’ Tract Let me now turn to Odo’s De continuo tract. In this text Odo gives six arguments in favour of his atomism as well as six arguments against it. Here I will discuss two of his arguments in favour of atomism, the first and the sixth. 2.1. The Distinctions between Act-Potency and Quantitative-Proportional The first argument in De continuo is also the most important one, because it introduces a number of distinctions that play a major and recurrent role in Odo’s refutation of a number of counter-arguments. The argument also shows the primacy of the part in Odo’s atomism. The basic argument is very brief and runs as follows: every whole composed of an infinite number of magnitudes, just as a cubit is composed of two semi cubits, is an actual infinitely large magnitude. And since an actual infinite magnitude is impossible, no continuum can be infinitely divisible.16 The phrasing of the argument is important here. Where the first premise speaks of “being composed” (compositus), the conclusion speaks of “being divisible” (divisibilis). This implies, if the argument is valid, a parallelism between composition and divisibility, in the sense that something is divisible in the same number of parts as it is composed of. Given this parallelism the continuum indeed cannot be infinitely
De continuo, ff. 179rb–va: “Omne totum compositum ex magnitudinibus multitudine infinitis, sicut componitur cubitus ex duobus semicubitis, est magnitudo actu infinita. Sed non est dare magnitudinem actu infinitam. Ergo nullum continuum est divisibile in infinitum.” 16
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divisible, since an infinite number of composing parts would make the continuum infinitely large.17 The addition of the clause “as a cubit is composed of two semi cubits” is crucial for this line of reasoning, as we will see. In its basic form the argument is far too crude, as Odo himself also realizes. He therefore introduces two objections, both of which argue that some distinction needs to be made. The first objection states that being composed of parts can be understood in two ways. In the first way we understand the parts to be actually present, and in the second way we understand the parts to be merely potentially present. The infinite number of parts in a continuum must be understood in the second, potential, way.18 Odo’s analysis of this distinction between act and potency is best seen in the passage where he distinguishes between two meanings of a potentiality of parts. . . . this division by act and potency either distinguishes between the manner in which the infinite number of parts exist in the continuum, in the sense that the infinite number of parts do not actually exist in the continuum but only potentially, or distinguishes between the manner of multiplication of the parts of the continuum, in the sense that all the parts of the continuum taken together are not to be actually multiplied in infinity, but in potency only, because they are not actually multiple given the fact that they are not actually divided.19
I will start with the second meaning, which Odo calls “the multiplication of parts”. In this case we take all the parts together, that is we start from the unity of the continuum, and say that there is no actual infinity of parts. The core of Odo’s defence is that this second reading no more denies an actual infinity of parts than it denies an actual
17 There is one hidden premise, which is that there is a smallest part in this infinity. In the way Odo thinks about composition, a composition from a collection of parts where there is no smallest one is ruled out, as will be seen. 18 De continuo, f. 179va: “Ad hanc rationem dicentur duo secundum duas distinctiones communes. Primo dicendo quod componi aliquid ex magnitudinibus multitudine infinitis potest intelligi dupliciter. Primo actu, secundo potentia. Nunc autem ita est quod continuum est compositum ex magnitudinibus multitudine infinitis in potentia, non tamen in actu. Et ideo non oportet continuum esse magnitudinem actu infinitam.” 19 De continuo, f. 179va: “. . . haec divisio per actum et potentiam vel distinguit inesse partium infinitarum, ita quod sit sensus quod partes infinitae non insunt actu continuo sed potentia tantum, vel distinguit multiplicationem partium continui, ita quod sit sensus quod omnes partes continui simul sumptae non sunt actu multiplicandae in infinitum sed in potentia, quia non sunt actu multae exquo non sunt actu divisae.”
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duality or triplicity.20 In other words, we take the unity of the continuum and claim that there is no actual multitude. Odo simply dismisses this reading as not responding to his own argument, since this reading does not speak of parts but only of unity. It is important to note that the reason why he can so easily dismiss the objection taken in this sense is precisely his phrasing of his own argument in such a way that it starts from the priority of the parts. This priority is secured by the addition of the clause “as a cubit is composed of two semi cubits”.21 The second reading of the difference between actual and potential in the argument, does start from a primacy of the part. In this reading the potentiality concerns the manner in which the infinity of parts is present in the whole. Odo’s response to this reading is surprisingly short. He immediately claims that in this reading the objection is false, because an infinite number of parts would make the whole infinitely large. Although he gives no explanation here, we can reconstruct the underlying idea. For what could the potency of the part mean, if a continuum is composed out of prior existing parts? It could mean nothing more than the parts being continuously joined, and therefore not actually being distinguishable as parts, since they do not exist as actually separate from the whole continuum. Interpreted in this way, the difference between act and potency of the part cannot solve anything, since an infinite number of parts joined together constitutes an infinite whole, whether the original composing parts are distinguishable in the whole or not. To summarize, the validity of Odo’s whole argumentation against the distinction between act and potency is based on the assumption that continua are composed of ontologically prior parts. For if the two semi cubits were not prior but only arose from the division of the cubit, Odo could no longer reject the counter-argument that the infinity of parts in the continuum is merely potential. Recall that the only reason why he could so easily reject this reading of the distinction between act and potency, was that it started from the unity of the continuum and therefore did not respond to his argument.
20 De continuo, f. 179vb: “Non ergo plus vitatur per illam solutionem infinitas partium quam dualitas vel quaternitas. Quare illa solutio non valet.” 21 Of course the distinction I made between a weak and a strong reading of “being composed” could also be applied to this clause. It is, however, clear that Odo takes the clause in the strong reading where we first have two semi cubits and only after combining those a cubit. Otherwise his argument would make no sense.
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His imaginary opponents, however, have another way out. This is the Aristotelian distinction between two types of division, namely between quantitative and proportional division.22 Where in a quantitative division a whole is divided into a certain, always finite, number of equally sized parts, in a proportional division, a whole is divided according to a certain factor, usually the factor two, in a potentially infinite number of parts decreasing ever in magnitude, but without a last and minimal part. This distinction gives Odo’s opponents a powerful objection, since it concerns the manner of division of the continuum and therefore always starts from the unity of the continuum. Surprisingly, in his response to the objection, Odo denies that there is a difference between these two ways of dividing. To understand why he denies this, we must look at the peculiar way in which he understands the proportional division. For Odo, a proportional division means that I take the whole and divide it into two parts. Then I take both parts and divide them both into two parts. Then I take the resulting four parts and again divide each into two parts, and so on.23 Now it is evident that the result of this procedure (at any stage of the division) is a finite number of equal parts. And taken this way, a proportional division is little more than an unnecessarily complicated way of describing a quantitative division. Also, since a proportional division now amounts to the same as a quantitative division, an infinite proportional division would result in an infinite number of parts of equal magnitude. And this would imply, as Odo says, that the whole continuum would be infinite in size.24 The emphasis on the resulting equal magnitude of the parts is meant to exclude the possibility of a proportional division in the
22 De continuo, f. 179vb: “Alio modo dicetur ad rationem dicendo quod aliquid componi ex magnitudinibus multitudine infinitis contingit intelligi dupliciter. Primo quod infinitae magnitudines illae sint eiusdem quantitatis. Vel secundo: eiusdem proportionis. Et secundum hoc dicitur quod compositum ex magnitudinibus multitudine infinitis, si sint eiusdem quantitatis, est infinitum actu. Si vero non, sed eiusdem proportionis, non erit magnitudo infinita. Nunc autem ita est de continuo quod componitur ex magnitudinibus infinitis eiusdem proportionis, non eiusdem quantitatis. Ideo non est magnitudo infinita actu.” 23 De continuo, f. 179vb: “. . . quia infinitae magnitudines eiusdem proportionis necessario sunt eiusdem quantitatis. Quod patet, quia accipiatur una quantitas et dividatur in duas quantitates aequales; iterum illae dividantur in alias equales et sic in infinitum, semper multiplicatio secundum illam proportionem dividetur secundum eandem quantitatem inter se.” 24 De continuo, f. 179vb: “Omne compositum ex magnitudinibus secundum quantitatem aequalibus et secundum multitudinem infinitis, sicut cubitus componitur ex duobus semicubitis, est magnitudo actu infinita.”
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Aristotelian sense. Of course, if my interpretation of Odo’s atomism is correct, such proportional division has to be excluded on the grounds that it has no last part, and therefore the parts could never be prior to the whole but would always be posterior. In conclusion, we have seen that Odo’s first argument is explicitly formulated as an argument that starts from the composition of the continuum out of prior parts of equal magnitude. Without the addition of the phrase: ‘as a cubit is composed of two semi cubits’ his argument would fail. In his response to the objections, all distinctions are reduced to a resulting finite number of parts of an equal magnitude. 2.2. Degrees of Heat To show that this priority of the parts is fundamental for the whole of Odo’s atomism and not just implied in his first argument, I want to discuss a second argument he gives in favour of his atomism. It is the sixth and last argument in De continuo. It discusses what occurs in the intension of heat.25 Here Odo argues that given an infinite divisibility of the continuum, heat would also be infinitely divisible; and therefore there would be an infinite intensity of heat. For heat is caused by a qualitative motion, and this motion, being continuous, would include an infinite number of “having changeds” (mutata esse). In each of these mutata esse, the intensity of the heat would increase, no matter how little. In a similar manner as in the first argument, Odo concludes that this infinite number of increases of intensity would result in the final intensity of the heat being infinitely great.26 The phrasing of the argument is again far from innocent. The premise stating that in each of the mutata esse the intensity of heat will increase implies first of all that there can be motion in a single moment, something Aristotle explicitly denies;27 and secondly it also seems to
25 De continuo, ff. 182ra–b: “Sexta ratio principalis est haec: si continuum esset divisibile in infinitum, calor esset divisibilis in infinitum et esset actualiter infinitus. Utrumque consequens est impossibile. Ergo et antecedens. Quod primum consequens sit falsum: dicit Philosophus De sensu et sensato quod nulla passio sensibilis est in infinitum divisibilis. Aliud consequens est manifeste impossibile.” 26 De continuo, f. 182rb: “Arguo sic: cuicumque calori additi sunt infiniti calores facientes unum cum ipso, est actualiter calor infinitus. Sed si motus calefactionis <esset> divisibilis in infinitum habens infinita mutata esse per quae sunt acquisiti infiniti gradus caloris, necesse est quod primo calori sint additi infiniti gradus et per consequens infiniti calores. Ergo quilibet calor intensus per motum esset actualiter infinitus.” 27 Aristotle, Physics [ Barnes], VI, 241a15–16: “Again, since motion is always in time and never in a now, and all time is divisible (. . .).”
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imply an even stronger claim, namely that a change or movement in a certain time-interval is only possible when there is motion or change in each of the moments in that interval; and therefore that the properties of a continuum originate from the properties of its indivisible parts. In other words, if there were no change in each indivisible part of the motion, there could be no change in the whole motion. The parallel with the first argument for atomism will be clear. Again, Odo tries to show that an infinite number of parts in a continuum will always constitute an infinite whole. And just as in the first argument Odo lets his opponents object with the distinction between actual and potential parts. The primacy of the parts is perhaps most clearly stated in the following passage: I argue against this: I accept that all the degrees that are acquired by movement are actually acquired and actually exist in the heat. I accept from the other part that these degrees of form are actual. Then as follows: an infinite number of actualities that are actually acquired render that in which they are actually infinite. But as is clear from what was presupposed, these degrees are actual, are actually acquired and are infinite in number. Therefore they render something actually infinite, because this absence of distinction does not remove the infinity. In fact, if there were an infinite number of distinct cubits, if afterwards they were joined and became indistinct, such an absence of distinction would not at all prevent that this infinite number of cubits would render the quantity actually infinite.28
In this fragment Odo responds to the objection that we need to distinguish between act and potency, and that the parts in the intension of heat are only potential parts. According to Odo, this distinction cannot solve anything, since the infinite number of degrees are at some moment actually received. And from that moment on they are all contained in the unity of the resulting heat. That the resulting heat is a unity, in which the composing degrees are no longer distinguishable does not detract anything from the fact that, even as undistinguished, they all contribute to the intensity of the resulting unity. And to leave
28 De continuo, ff. 182rb–va: “Contra istud arguo: accipio quod omnes gradus acquisiti per motum sunt actu acquisiti et actu insunt calori. Accipio ex alia parte quod isti gradus formae sunt actuales. Tunc sic: infinitae actualitates numero actu acquisitae reddunt istud cui insunt actu infinitum. Sed ut patet per supposita, isti gradus sunt actuales et actu acquisiti et secundum multitudinem infiniti. Ergo ipsi reddunt actu aliquid infinitum, quia illa indistinctio non tollit infinitatem. Si enim essent infiniti cubiti distincti, si postea coniungerentur et essent indistincti, talis indistinctio minime prohiberet quin illi cubiti infiniti redderent quantitatem infinitam actu.”
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no doubt, Odo once again brings his example of a cubit into play. If I were to combine an infinite number of cubits into a longer length, then, even supposing that the individual cubits are not distinguishable in the resulting length, this resulting length will still be infinite. Again we see the ontological priority of the part appear in this argument. The importance of this primacy will become clear in the remainder of this article where I intend to show the important role of atomism in Odo’s philosophy and theology. Still, we might ask at this stage why this peculiar way of looking at the relations between parts and wholes in a continuum has not been noted earlier in the scholarly literature? The answer seems to be that it only becomes apparent in the arguments Odo gives in favour of atomism. And those were the arguments that had for understandable reasons not yet received any attention. As for the examined parts of Odo’s atomism, that is his responses to the various counter-arguments, these parts are, as far as I can see, indifferent to the question whether the part or the whole of a continuum is primary. What is also remarkable about this second argument is that it seems to describe a concrete physical process, which is something we would not immediately expect if Odo’s atomism were indeed primarily motivated by a conceptual analysis of continuous quantity. However, it is yet too soon to draw any conclusions here about possible ontological commitments of Odo’s atomism, or its explanatory powers, since the argument occurs in a tract that deals with continua in general and could therefore just as well be a merely hypothetical example. 2.3. A Missing Argument: God’s Omnipotence There is one final aspect of De continuo I want to draw attention to in this context, namely the lack of arguments invoking God’s omnipotence, that were both common and important in the fourteenth-century atomism debate, for example in the writings of the Oxford atomists Walter Chatton and Henry of Harclay.29 In De continuo there are no such
29 For Chatton, cf. Quaestio de continuo [Murdoch & Synan], § 36, pp. 58–59, 61, 68, 72. Also, William of Alnwick attributes two arguments for atomism to Henry of Harclay, in his Determinatio II, both of which invoke God’s omnipotence. As far as I know the Determinatio II is unpublished, but J. Murdoch gives a partial translation (including these arguments) based on his own private edition in Grant (ed.), A Source Book in Medieval Science, pp. 319–324.
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arguments.30 Omnipotence arguments were powerful tools for atomists to make their atomism plausible. For example, from the argument that God can perceive any point on a given line, it could be concluded that the line was composed of points and therefore had an atomistic structure. Why does Odo not use such powerful arguments? The common structure of the arguments that start from God’s omnipotence is that even if we cannot effectuate a complete division of the continuum or enumerate every indivisible in it, God can. Therefore a possible (partial) explanation of the lack of such arguments in Odo would be the following. If Odo is indeed convinced of the primacy of the part in continua, as I have argued, then the arguments starting from God’s omnipotence become much less relevant. If the part is always primary, there is no need for a supernatural power to arrive at all the indivisible parts of the continuum, since these indivisible parts are already there, each contributing to the whole. The parts are only potential in the sense that they are not distinguished from each other and do not exist apart from the whole continuum. Of course, this explanation about the lack of arguments deriving from God’s omnipotence can never be more than a hypothesis. However, that Odo has little need to introduce them to arrive at the indivisible parts of a continuum is clear. 3. Other Contexts Now that we have a global picture of the manner in which Odo argues for his atomism, and especially of the importance of the presupposition of the ontological primacy of the indivisible part, I want to show that this atomism and this way of looking at the relation between parts and wholes is not limited to Odo’s question(s) on the continuum. If it could
30 This applies to Odo’s other texts on the continuum as well. The only minor exception can be found in the question on the continuum in book I of his Sentences commentary, where we can find one small argument invoking God’s omnipotence. The argument only plays a minor role as a (partial) argument to support the larger argument that claims there can be no order between the divisions of the continuum that would limit its divisibility (also found as the 3rd argument in De continuo). “Tertio arguitur ex eadem via sic: omnem realitatem potest Deus separare a quacumque re quae non est illa res, nec dependet ab ea in esse partis. Ergo Deus potest separare quamlibet partem continui ab alia. Et confirmatur quia: nulla potentia passiva est in rebus naturalibus excedens omnipotentiam Dei. Sed continuum est potentia passiva ad dividi. Ergo non excedit potentia illa potentiam Dei.” (Ms Sarnano, Bibl. Com., E. 98, ff. 103rb–va).
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be shown that Odo introduces an atomistic structure of real continua in texts and arguments that do not deal with continua as their main topic, this would indicate that in the particular case of Gerard of Odo we must qualify Murdoch’s general assessment of fourteenth-century atomism. In the remainder of this article I will examine a total of three contexts, taken from Odo’s commentary on the Sentences and from another separate tract, in which atomism plays an important and sometimes even crucial role. The first of these contexts consists of the questions that deal with infinity. 3.1. Infinity Odo discusses infinity several times in his commentary on the Sentences. His most detailed exposition is found in a question on the possibility of eternal motion.31 Odo’s answer to this question is affirmative, to the extent that motion could have existed from eternity. In his response to some of the objections he refines both the concept of ‘equal things’ (aequalia) and the concept of ‘infinite magnitude’ (magnitudo infinita). According to Odo, things can be equal in two ways. First, by being limited at the same points (conterminari ); second, in a negative formulation, by not exceeding each other (non excedi). Infinities can only be equal in the second way of not exceeding each other. The notion of ‘infinite magnitude’ can even be understood in three senses. The infinity can result from the absence of a beginning, from the absence of an end, or from the absence of both. Motion can then be infinite in the sense of the absence of a beginning.32 What this solution shows is that Odo did have some conceptual tools to deal with the paradoxes that result from comparing infinities. It also
Sentences II, dist. 2, q. 2 (Ms Valencia, Cab. 200, ff. 17rb–18ra): “Utrum motus potuerit esse ab aeterno.” 32 Ibid. (Ms Valencia, Cab. 200, f. 18ra): “Modo dico quod nulla magnitudo infinita per exclusionem ultimi potest esse actu pertransita, quoniam esse actu pertransitum imponit ei terminum, sed non imponit sibi primum. Magnitudo vero infinita per exclusionem primi tantum, non tamen per exclusionem ultimi, potest esse actu pertransita, dum tamen non fuerit totaliter pertranseunda, sicut, si dicetur tempus ab aeterno, praeteritum ponetur infinitum per exclusionem primi tantum; et ideo non repugnaret sibi esse pertransitum. Futuro autem repugnaret esse pertransitum, si ponetur infinitum per exclusionem ultimi; eodem modo de magnitudine. Dico igitur quod, si motus fuisset ab aeterno, magnitudo infinita per exclusionem primi, non per exclusionem ultimi, fuisse potuisset pertransita.” 31
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shows that he was not troubled by the possible or hypothetical existence of infinities. This indicates that his atomism does not result solely from his incapacity to deal with the notion of infinity. More important for my present purpose, however, is another question on infinity entitled: “Whether the universe could be infinitely large”.33 The answer that Odo gives here is negative. In itself this is not surprising since most philosophers at that time would deny it. What is surprising, however, is the way in which Odo responds to the well known argument that God in his omnipotence could create an infinite magnitude and also both an infinite multiplicity and intensity.34 For, as the argument runs in Odo’s version of it, all that God can create in a single day he can create in a single moment; and all he creates, he can sustain afterwards. In this way God can create an infinite multiplicity and an infinite magnitude since each day he could create a single stone and therefore in an infinity of days he could create an infinite number of stones, which he can also join together to create an infinite magnitude. And if he could create this infinity in an infinite number of days, he could also create it in an infinite number of moments. There are several ways of dealing with such an argument, for example by pointing out that a physically realized infinite magnitude is an incoherent notion, since it would occupy a place, and place implies limitation. But Odo takes a very different and unique route as can be seen in the following fragment: To this I say that just as an act is incompatible with an infinite magnitude, so it is incompatible with an infinite multitude; hence there cannot
33 Sentences II, dist. 44, q. 1 (Ms Valencia, Cab. 200, ff. 97vb–98va): “Utrum machina mundialis possit esse infinita magnitudine”. 34 Ibid. (Ms Valencia, Cab. 200, ff. 98rb–va): “Sed in oppositum arguitur quia: magnitudo infinita et multitudo infinita et virtus infinita sunt possibiles; ergo mundiali machinae inquantum magnitudo est non repugnat infinitas; quare ipsa poterit esse infinita magnitudo. Consequentia est evidens. Sed antecedens probo quia: quaecumque et quantacumque et quocumque Deus potest [potest] producere in diebus infinitis, <potest> producere in instantibus infinitis, et illa producta conservare, supposito quod quodlibet illorum sit possibile in instanti. Hoc enim patet, quia quod Deus posset facere uno die, posset facere in instanti, supposita conditione instantanea factionis. Sed Deus posset facere infinitum magnitudine et multitudine in diebus infinitis. Quod patet, quia quolibet die posset facere unum lapidem, et per consequens in infinitis diebus infinitos lapides, ex quibus resultaret multitudo infinita. Posset etiam omnia illa copulare continuatione, et esset magnitudo infinita. Posset etiam quolibet die producere unum calorem, et in infinitis infinitos, qui in unum redacti facerent virtutem infinitam. Quare Deus in instantibus infinitis posset producere infinitam multitudinem, infinitam magnitudinem et infinitam virtutem.”
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Odo denies the existence of an infinite number of moments! Even if God in each moment creates a stone or a degree of heat and preserves and joins them, the result will always be finite, since the number of moments available for this creation is always finite. The impossibility of an infinite multitude is deduced from the non-existence of an infinite number of moments, that is, from the atomistic structure of time. This means that even from the perspective of God, time has an atomistic structure. And if even God is limited by the atomistic structure of time, interpreting Odo’s form of atomism as solely the result of an analysis of the Aristotelian concept of continuous quantity seems too limited. In this context, Odo uses his atomism as a description of real space and as a partial explanation of the fact this real space cannot be infinite. That is, his atomism seems to be a physical atomism. 3.2. Intension and Remission The second context I want to discuss is that of the intension and remission of forms. The relevant questions occur in Odo’s Sentences commentary, but also circulated as a (very long) separate tract, just as the questions on the continuum. Here, I will use the separate tract found in Ms Madrid, Biblioteca Nacional, 4229. In the first question of this tract, Odo treats the intension of light.36 He proceeds by first stating the opinion of a certain (unnamed) doctor, almost certainly Walter Burley, and then giving his own solution.37 35 Sentences II, dist. 44, pars II, q. 1 (Ms Valencia, Cab. 200, f. 98va): “Ad illud dico quod sicut repugnat actus infinitae magnitudini, sic repugnat infinitae multitudini; quare non possunt esse infinita instantia, ut minor rationis supponebat. Ad principale dico quod minor est falsa. Nec probatio valet, quia non concedo quod quodlibet continuum sit compositum ex partibus infinitis, nec sit divisibile in semper divisibilia, ymo dico quod componitur ex indivisibilibus et resolvitur in indivisibilia finita, non infinita.” 36 De continuo (Ms Madrid, Bibl. Nac., 4229, ff. 133ra–135vb): “De augmento formae: utrum lumen augeatur per adventum novae partis ad priorem, utraque manente.” 37 Walter Burley (c. 1275–c. 1346) was a contemporary of Odo and was also (from 1310–1326) connected to the University of Paris. His commentary on the Physics contains an extensive criticism of Odo’s atomism. Also, Burley was one of the most
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The opinion of Burley, as described by Odo, is that the intension of light does not occur by the addition of light to light, where both would remain. The argument that is used to disprove such an addition theory is that of a light source continuously moving toward an object in which light is caused. For the continuous movement would mean that in an infinite number of moments an infinite number of parts of light is added; and since all the parts would remain, the result would be a light of an infinite intensity. Just as in the text on the continuum the objection is introduced that the parts exist only potentially. And this objection is again dismissed on the grounds that the resulting intensity is actual and so the composing parts must be actual as well. Ultimately, Odo accepts Burley’s position, that light is not intensified by an addition of part to part, but not without some critical remarks. Odo says that although Burley’s solution is true and provable, his argument is only ad hominem and not ad rem.38 Now why is the argument only ad hominem? We can infer the reason from the following passage: “Secundam conclusionem, scilicet quod iste doctor demonstraverit conclusionem istam ad hominem concedentem quod continuum sit divisibile in infinitum, probo.”39 The argument is directed against a position that accepts the infinite divisibility of the continuum, and, so we may add, therefore assumes an infinite number of moments in a time-interval. The argument cannot be ‘ad rem’ since according to Odo there is only a finite number of moments. After discussing the special case of light, in the next question Odo discusses the intension and remission of qualities. Here Odo’s use of atomism is even clearer. In this question Odo wants to prove, among
prominent defenders of the so-called succession theory in the debate about the intension and remission of forms; a position that Odo will ascribe to the doctor in the rest of his tract. Burley defended this position in a tract called De intensione et remissione formarum [Venice, 1496], which is dated in the 1320’s shortly before Odo’s commentary on the Sentences. Finally, the scribe of the Ms Madrid, Bibl. Nac., 4229 inscribed the name Gal Burley in the margin on f. 142r. For Burley as a defender of the succession theory and for the date of his tract, see Dumont, “Intension and Remission of Forms from Godfrey to Burley” (forthcoming). 38 Tractatus de augmento formae: utrum lumen augeatur per adventum novae partis ad priorem, utraque manente (Ms Madrid, Bibl. Nac. 4229, f. 134va): “Nunc tertio pro evidentia solutionis rationum doctoris pono quinque conclusiones. Prima est quod conclusio sua est vera et demonstrabilis ad rem. Secunda quod est demonstrata per eum ad hominem. Tertia quod non est demonstrata per eum ad rem. Quarta quod, dato etiam quod demonstraret, demonstratio sua non esset ad propositum. Quinta quod non respondet ad argumentum factum.” 39 Tractatus de augmento formae . . . (Ms Madrid, Bibl. Nac. 4229, f. 134vb).
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other things, that a form is not intensified by addition of degree to degree in an infinite number of moments. As evidence he gives an example of hot water heating iron.40 According to the addition-theory, at every moment a degree of heat will be caused in the iron. Since the heat in the water is unnatural, the water will continuously cool down, until finally it causes a last and minimal (!) degree of heat in the iron and then the heating stops. Now, if there were an infinite number of moments, and if in each of these moments the water caused a higher degree of heat than the last minimal degree, then according to Odo there would have to be an infinite number of degrees of heat in the iron when the heating stops. At this point he has already reached his desired conclusion: that there will be an infinite intensity of heat in the iron and that therefore one of the premises must be wrong. What is interesting is that the argument continues. In the final step of the argument Odo once again reduces these degrees to equal parts, by saying that an infinity of degrees, all of which are higher than the last minimal degree, must also imply an infinity of equal degrees. For the greater, says Odo, is always equal to the smaller plus something extra. Therefore there must be an infinite number of equal and minimal degrees. Note that this final step has only one function, and that is to return to an atomism of minimal parts composing a continuum. Odo also states the argument in the formal way of the syllogism: I argue as follows: every form that includes an infinite number of degrees of the same quantity is infinite; this is such; therefore it is infinite. The conclusion is false. Therefore one of the premisses . Not
40 Tractatus de augmento formae . . . (Ms Madrid Bibl. Nac. 4229, f. 139rb): “Tertiam conclusionem, scilicet quod forma non intendatur per additionem gradus ad gradum per infinita instantia, probo sic: ponatur aqua calida quae calefaciat ferrum vel aliquam rem neutram, quae non magis sit frigida quam calida; secundum te in quolibet instanti addit gradum alium; et cum aqua habeat calorem innaturaliter et violenter continue minoratur in calore, quia omnis motus violentus fortior est in principio quam in fine; minuitur ergo continue in calore, et per consequens in virtute calefaciendi; et ita inducit primo maiorem gradum, et tandem in fine non auget amplius calorem; ergo est devenire ad gradum quem ultimo inducit; et iste est minus. Modo si in quolibet instanti inducitur maior gradus, et sint infinita instantia inter primum instans et ultimum, sequitur quod infiniti erunt gradus maiores isto ultimo, qui est minimus; sed ubi est dare infinitos gradus maiores, ibi est dare infinitos gradus aequales, ut patet per Philosophum, quarto Physicorum, quia omne maius est divisibile in partem aequalem et in partem excessus; et sic erit dare infinitos gradus eiusdem quantitatis praecedentes gradum minimum. Et his premissis, arguo sic: omnis forma includens infinitos gradus eiusdem quantitatis est infinita; ista est huiusmodi; ergo est infinita. Conclusio est falsa.”
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the maior premiss. Therefore the minor premiss, that follows from this: that between the first and last <degree> there are an infinite number of degrees; this follows from another, namely this one: that a form is enlarged by the addition of degree to degree throughout an infinite number of moments; hence this is false.41
The major premise: every form including an infinite number of degrees of the same quantity is itself infinite; the minor: this form (of heat in the iron) is such; and the conclusion: so this form is infinite. The conclusion is false, so therefore one of the premises, namely the minor. This minor, that the form of heat in the iron has an infinite intensity, follows itself from the premise that between the first and last degree there is an infinite number of other degrees. And this in turn follows from the form being intensified by addition of degree to degree in an infinite number of moments. This last premise then, is false. There is only a finite number of moments. Again Odo’s analysis is consistent with his views on the continuum in De continuo. He consistently analyses concrete physical continuous processes as having a finite number of mutata esse, and as occurring in a finite number of moments. The topic of the tract in which these passages occur is not continua, but intension and remission. The introduction of atomism in this tract must therefore be interpreted as an explanation and description of the structure of physical reality. 3.3. God’s Omnipotence Perhaps it could be objected at this stage that it might well be the case that Odo uses atomism in contexts that are very closely related to De continuo, like infinity and intension and remission, but that claiming that it is important for the whole of his views, or even the whole of his natural philosophical views, is making too large a claim. To strengthen my conclusions, let me therefore give one final example of how deeply rooted Odo’s atomism actually is. The title of the question I want to discuss, taken from book I of his Sentences commentary,
De continuo (Ms Madrid, Bibl. Nac., 4229, f. 139rb): “. . . arguo sic: omnis forma includens infinitos gradus eiusdem quantitatis est infinita; ista est huiusmodi; ergo est infinita. Conclusio est falsa. Ergo aliqua premissarum. Non maior. Ergo minor, quae sequitur ex isto quod inter primum et ultimum sint infiniti gradus; illa vero ex alia, scilicet ista quod forma intendatur per additionem gradus ad gradum per infinita instantia; quare hoc est falsum.” 41
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is: “on the assumption that God’s omnipotence is infinite, is it infinite in respect to an infinite number of acts or in respect to an infinitely intensive act?”42 There is no need to discuss the arguments given for both types of infinity, but it is important to point out that we have already seen all these arguments in the previous texts I discussed. One of the arguments, claiming that possibilities that have no order among themselves can all be actualized at the same time, is even found in the De continuo tract as one of the six positive arguments in favour of atomism. As we have already encountered these arguments, it is clear what Odo’s answer must be if he is to be consistent. And indeed he denies both forms of infinity saying the only infinity that pertains to God’s actions is an infinity in the sense that no matter how many acts he performs, he can always do more.43 And after explaining this last form of infinity, Odo concludes with the following passage: I see what can be answered. For all hold in common that in whichever instant the luminous body is in another place. Secondly, that in whichever instant there is another ray, and it is certain that God can preserve and unite all these rays; hence, because there are an infinite number of them, one infinite ray will result. For that reason it seems to me that we must say that in a magnitude there are not an infinite number of points, nor in motion an infinite number of having changeds, nor in an hour an infinite number of moments.44
There is no compelling reason to introduce atomism in a question on God’s infinity. Odo, however, examines the (hypothetical) results of God using his omnipotence in nature in a way similar to that in which he
42 Sentences I, dist. 44, q. 2 (Ms Sarnano, Bibl. Com., E. 98): “Supposito quod omnipotentia Dei sit infinita fundamentaliter, utrum sit respectu actuum infinitorum multitudine vel unius intensive infiniti.” 43 Ibid. (Ms Sarnano, Bibl. Com., E. 98, f. 115ra): “Pro solutione quaestionis, pono tres conclusiones. Quarum prima est quod omnipotentia non potest elicere actus multitudine infinitos. Secundo quod nec actum aliquem extensive vel intensive infinitum. Tertio quod omnipotentia potest aliquo modo infinita, quia quotiscumque et quantiscumque datis adhoc, potest in plura et in maxima.” The Ms gives ‘infinite’, which I have corrected to ‘infinitum’. 44 Ibid. (Ms Sarnano, Bibl. Com., E. 98, f. 115rb): “Video quod possit responderi. Omnes enim communiter tenent quod in quolibet instanti corpus luminosum est in alio situ. Secundo quod in quolibet instanti est alius radius, et certum est quod Deus potest conservare et unire omnes illos radios; quare cum sint infiniti, resultabit unus radius infinitus. Ideo videtur mihi dicendum quod in magnitudine non sunt infinita puncta, nec in motu infinita mutata esse, nec in hora infinita instantia.”
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examines normal natural processes. Nowhere in this question is this approach qualified by a statement like ‘I only speak here as a natural philosopher’ or something of the sort. It seems to me that we can only conclude that Odo was convinced of the real atomistic structure of continua, and that he intended his atomism to be an explanation and accurate description of physical reality. 4. Conclusions In conclusion, Odo’s atomism turns out to be a constant factor in his philosophy and theology. He consistently uses his atomism to explain reality, and the application of this atomism to God’s power and to the inner structure of continuous physical processes is not provoked by any mathematical argument. On the contrary, mathematics only play a role in countering the common arguments against atomism, as Odo does in De continuo. The main role of Odo’s atomism is to explain what occurs in concrete continuous processes. Given that Odo considers these processes to take place by addition of part to part, where each part contributes to the resulting quality of the whole continuum, it is not surprising he should be convinced that there must be a finite number of these basic indivisible parts in each given continuum. These observations notwithstanding, Murdoch’s general description of atomism in the 14th century as using both mathematical atoms and mathematical relations between them, still is substantially applicable to Odo. His atoms are similar to mathematical points, and the relations between them are at least semi mathematical. This results in a tension between a mathematical model and a physical function; a tension that for example becomes clear in the strange and awkward physico-mathematics he uses to counter some of the arguments against his atomism. The interpretation of Odo’s atomism that I propose also gives rise to the following observation. We know that in Paris another atomist, Nicolas Bonetus, takes substantial parts of his treatment of the continuum from Odo, but sides himself explicitly with Democritus.45 We also know that Nicholas of Autrecourt defends a very physical version
45
Cf. Zubov, “Walter Catton, Gérard d’Odon et Nicolas Bonet,” p. 267.
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of atomism.46 From this perspective it would be interesting to see to what extent their positions could be explained as putting more and more emphasis on the physical and ontological side of atomism; a side already clearly present in Odo.
46 Cf. Grellard, Croire et savoir: les principes de la connaissance selon Nicolas d’Autrécourt, in particular the second part.
NICHOLAS OF AUTRECOURT’S ATOMISTIC PHYSICS Christophe Grellard In the second chapter of his book Identity and reality, Emile Meyerson, the early twentieth-century French philosopher, provides a picture of what he considered to be some of the perennial characteristics of any atomistic physics.1 His aim is to show that the mechanist conception of natural phenomenona always existed in the history of science. Nicholas’s of Autrecourt figured prominently in the list of medieval thinkers who ushered in a new-wave of atomism. Carefully separating Gerard of Odo’s mathematical atomism from Nicholas’s physical atomism, Meyerson’s basic intuition was sound.2 Unlike most medieval atomists, Nicholas did not deploy his atomism in order to solve problems associated with the concept of the continuum.3 His aim was to find a mechanical and reductionist answer to the problem of generation and corruption and, finally, to the question of the eternity of things in the world.4 For Nicholas, problems connected with the void and continuum are subordinated to his mechanism. I have claimed elsewhere that Nicholas’s atomism is quite unique, original, especially when compared to other medieval thinkers.5 In this paper, I will demonstrate how atomism functions within Nicholas’s physics and how he believes it can resolve some of the basic problems of medieval natural philosophy.
1 Meyerson, Identité et Réalité, p. 90. For a comprehensive study of Meyerson’s conception of the history of science, and especially atomism and mecanism, see Fruteau de Laclos, La philosophie de l’intellect d’Emile Meyerson. De l’épistémologie à la psychologie, pp. 42–47 & pp. 62–66. 2 Nevertheless, perhaps should we moderate the mathematical label in the case of Gerard of Odo. See S. de Boer’s contribution in this volume. 3 The mathematical dimension of medieval atomism (seen as a purely intellectual reaction to Aristotle’s conception of continuum) is Murdoch’s main thesis. See Murdoch, “Naissance et développement de l’atomisme au bas Moyen Age latin” and his contribution in this volume. Nevertheless, the cases of Odo, Crathorn, Autrecourt, Wyclif, and even Burley, seem to suggest that we should be more cautious on this point. 4 Cf. Kaluza, “Eternité du monde et incorruptibilité des choses dans l’Exigit ordo de Nicolas d’Autrécourt”. 5 Cf. Grellard, “Les présupposés méthodologiques de l’atomisme: la théorie du continu chez Nicolas d’Autrécourt et Nicolas Bonet”; “Le statut de la causalité chez Nicolas d’Autrécourt.”
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Ultricurian atomism begins with the explanation of the eternity of the world. The Exigit ordo’s first chapter deals immediately with this problem and relies on an atomistic conception of nature. Atomism allows Nicholas to criticize Aristotle’s definition of generation and corruption as the movement from being to non-being. Nicholas’s atomism is primarily physical and only secondarily mathematical. In the chapter dedicated to the continuum (called De indivisibilibus by O’Donnell and De continuo by Nicholas himself ),6 Nicholas makes use of the theory of atomic motion attributed to Mutakallimun, according to whom atoms jump from one place to another and atomic velocity is related to the amount of time an atom rests. While it is not useless to study the behaviour of individual atoms or indivisibles, Nicholas is much more interested in giving an account of generation and corruption in terms of the local motions of atoms as they aggregate and disaggregate: Thus in the natural things there is only local movement. When this movement results in an assembly of natural bodies which gather together and require the nature of a subject, this is called generation. When they separate, it is called destruction. When through local movement atomic particles are joined to a certain subject, particles of such a kind that their arrival seems unrelated both to the movement of the subject and to what is called its natural functioning, that is called alteration.7
Nicholas could have found this theory attributed either to Democritus in Aristotle’s writings, or to the Mutakallimun in Maïmonide’s Guide for the Perplexed.8 As we shall see, the Lorain was probably influenced by 6 Cf. Exigit ordo, p. 219, 27, in O’Donnell, “Nicholas of Autrecourt” (The title of the work will be abbreviated as EO). All translations of Autrecourt’s work are from Universal Treatise [trans. Kennedy e.a.]. 7 Universal Treatise, p. 63, EO, pp. 200, 48–201, 6: “Sic ergo in rebus naturae non est nisi motus localis; sed quando ad talem motum sequitur congregatio corporum naturalium quae colliguntur ad invicem et sortiuntur naturam unius suppositi dicitur generatio; quando segregantur, dicitur corruptio, et quando per motum localem corpora atomalia cum aliquo supposito quae sunt talia, quod nec adventus ipsorum fieri videtur ad motum suppositi, nec ad illud quod dicitur operatio naturalis ejus, tunc dicitur alteratio.” 8 See, Moses Maimonides, Dux seu director neutrorum sive perplexorum [ Venice, 1516], p. 1a, c. 72, f. 32r: “Mundus universaliter, scilicet omne corpus quod est in eo est compositum ex partibus valde parvis, que non habent partes prae nimia sui parvitate, et nullo illarum particularum habet quantitatem ullo modo, et cum una coniuncta fuerit aliis, compositum ex eis habebit quantitatem et tunc erit corpus et si coniuguntur duae de particulis illis, tunc utraque pars esset corpus et fierent duo corpora secundum quosdam illorum. Omnes autem illae particulae sunt similes sibi invicem et nulla diversitas est inter illas: et dixerunt quod nullum corpus potest esse [om., ed.] nisi compositum ex istis particulis similibus positione et loco. Et secundum eos, generatio
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both texts, even if he modifies and adapts them. It is worth noting that this claim is central to Nicholas’s physics. It allows him to develop a comprehensive account of nature that is both mechanist and reductionist. All natural phenomenona (even psychological phenomena) can be explained by atomic movements.9 I will try here to give an account of the principles (or elements) of Nicholas’s natural philosophy and the modes of atomic compositions. 1. Matter and Atom The theory of atoms, in Nicholas’s mind, is a weapon against Aristotle’s theory of generation and corruption. Indeed, the atomistic conception of natural change is linked to the denial of the matter-form couple. Nicholas’s aim is first to show that the matter-form distinction is a kind of metaphysical construction useless for natural philosophy. 1.1. Matter as an Atomic Fluxus The elaboration of Ultricurian atomism relies mostly on the usual claims attributed by Aristotle to the antiqui. Nicholas never tries to identify them, as if all natural philosophy before Aristotle were atomistic. It is enough for him that the antiqui should offer a means of criticizing Aristotle. Hence, from a careful reading of the first book of the Physics Nicholas retains two important notions: minima naturalia and materia prima. Adapting the former to his atomism allows him to reject the latter. Nicholas often evokes the notion of prime matter as Aristotle’s solution to the problem of generation and corruption. But Nicholas judges this alleged solution to be a mere fiction, one that cannot claim to be better than the solution the antiqui offer. Indeed, Nicholas contends that Aristotle has no necessary argument to prove the simple generation, the passage from non-being to being: From this conclusion, indeed, it can be concluded that the assertions of Aristotle in various places are false, and something in certain places there is only fiction. For what he says about prime matter is neither relevant
est congregatio et corruptio segregatio neque nominant corruptionem et generationem, sed segregationem et congregationem, motum et quietem.” 9 The scope of this study will not allow to give a detailed account of Nicholas’s psychological atomism. See the fifth chapter of my book, Croire et savoir. Les principes de la connaissance selon Nicolas d’Autrécourt, pp. 121–149.
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For Nicholas, the last remark is most important. Once it is demonstrated that Aristotle’s system is not evident, but only probable, it is legitimate to search for alternative solutions.11 After he examines and rejects the arguments in favour of the prime matter, Nicholas will elaborate his own conception of atomism. A first argument, called ratio aristotelis, is based on a comparison between accidental and substantial change: But there is no necessity for <prime> matter to exist. For this necessity would result chiefly from two arguments. The first would be Aristotle’s, as it seems: A substantial change is comparable to an accidental change, but in the latter there must be something acting as subject to the termini of the change. For example, if something changes from whiteness to blackness, there is given a surface which acts as subject to both whiteness and blackness.12
If an accidental change requires a material substratum, we can conclude that substantial change (that is, generation and corruption) also requires a substratum. When Socrates’s hair whitens as he ages, Socrates is the substratum of the change. The concrete individual substance, that is the material substance, remains the same through modification, and allows these accidental modifications. But can we conclude that there is a substratum which remains the same when Socrates passes from non-being to being? Nicholas denies it. Indeed, the only evidence for accidental change is the Aristotelian definition of accident as what
10 Universal Treatise, p. 68, EO, p. 204, 14–19: “Ex hac siquidem conclusione possunt concludi de dictis Aristotelis in diversis locis esse falsa, et interdum in quibusdam est solum fictio. Non enim habent locum nec sunt vera quae dicta sunt ab eo de materia prima quia fundamentum in illa inquisitione est quod res transeunt de esse non esse et e converso. Et videte quod nullo modo Aristoteles removit causam dubitandi antiquorum.” 11 On this topic, see Grellard, Croire et savoir . . ., chap. 4 (pp. 94–113) & 7 (pp. 192–210); Kaluza “La convenance et son rôle dans la pensée de Nicolas d’Autrécourt,” pp. 83–126. 12 Universal Treatise, pp. 48–49, EO, p. 192, 12–17: “Nunc vero non est necessarium esse materiam <primam> quia hoc esset maxime propter duas rationes quarum prima esset ratio Aristotelis ut videtur: sicut est in transmutatione accidentali, sic est in transmutatione substantiali; sed in illa est dare aliquid quod subicitur terminis mutationis, ut si aliquid mutatur de albedine in nigredinem est dare superficiem quae subicitur et albedini et nigredini.”
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cannot exist by itself, but only in a subject. Even if we accept this definition, accidental change still differs from substantial change in a significant way: But, admitting that in accidental change a subject is necessary, this argument requires the positing of matter only because accidents, according to Aristotle, are beings only in a relative sense, so that they can have no independent existence. It does not follow from this that the same holds true in substantial generation. For Aristotle also in Book 7 of the Metaphysics, seems to mean that accidents are beings only because they belong to a being.13
Nicholas attributes the second argument in favor of substantial change to Averroes.14 It consists in a reductio ad absurdum: if we deny the existence of prime matter understood as the substratum of change, we must accept either that a thing is changed without changing, or that change rests upon on non-being. We are left with two untenable positions. Either there is no change and then we cannot explain how a thing passes from non-being to being or there is a change without prime matter, in which case there is either no substratum or, if there is, the substratum is one of the termini, that is to say the terminus a quo or the terminus ad quem. All these possibilities are absurd, Averroes contends, therefore we need to posit prime matter as a subject. Nicholas’s criticism is methodological. Averroes, Nicholas contends, presupposes as evident ( per se notum) the passing from non-being to being, but this fact is denied by those who defend the eternity of the world. Hence, prime matter is not necessary in order to explain substantial change, since the proposition “this being is changed into a substance” only means “this being exists (that is, is appearing) and didn’t exist before (that is, was not appearing).” Nicholas wants to show that atomism can give an account of this proposition in
13 Universal Treatise, p. 49, EO, p. 192, 18–22: “Sed ista ratio cogit ponere materiam quia, si in transmutatione accidentali requiratur subjectum, hoc non est nisi quia accidentia secundum Aristotelem sunt entia secundum quid ita quod non sunt nata existere per se; non ex hoc sequitur quod sic sit in generatione substantiae; unde idem Aristoteles in 7 Meta. Videtur intendere quod accidentia non sunt entia nisi quia entis.” 14 EO, p. 192, 23–31: “Alia ratio ad probandum materiam primam esse videtur esse Commentatoris; nam si non esset materia prima sequeretur alterum duorum, vel quod transmutatum esset sine transmutatione, vel quod transmutatio fundaretur in non ente quia vel est transmutatio, vel non est; si non sit, et certum est quod aliquid est transmutatum de non esse in esse; ergo transmutatum erit sine transmutatione; si sit transmutatio, vel ergo habet subjectum non ens, et sic alterum inconveniens; vel terminum a quo vel terminum ad quem; et utrumque est falsum quia isti sunt termini transmutationis; ergo aliquid praeter illa, et illud vocatur materia vel subjectum.”
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a more economical way than the Aristotelian metaphysical construction does. The only fundamentum in ente needed is the atom. Nicholas can answer both arguments by opposing the movement of atoms to the notion of prime matter. Qualitative atoms gather and separate themselves by a local movement, and there is a mutual compensation of atomic movements in the universe taken as a whole: For in their view, when something is said to decay, there seems to be a certain withdrawal of atomic particles; when it is generated, there is a gain of others in addition. So they said that nothing decays into nonbeing, nor is anything generated from non-being, as is reported in Book 1 of the Physics, and Book 1 of On Generation.15
Nicholas claims to give the real meaning of the antiqui’s thesis ex nihilo nihil fit which simply means that there is a general order in the universe such that atomic movements mutually compensate for each other. When one compound is generated, another is corrupted.16 In order to explain this fact, Nicholas uses the model of light. When light is corrupted (i.e. by night), light does not pass into the state of non-being, it only passes to the other hemisphere. The notions of being and non-being, act and potentiality, which justify the need for first matter, are senseless. Nicholas explains the appearance and disappearance of objects by a strictly mechanist and reductionist theory. Finally, Nicholas accepts the thesis attributed to Democritus by Albert the Great that generation is merely the passing of an object from being hidden to being visible.17 Beyond this adhesion to a kind of Democritean atomism, Nicholas’s theory presents some original aspects. Unlike Democritus, he defends a qualitative conception of the atom as an answer to the ratio aristotelis: since Aristotle makes a comparison between accidental and substantial changes, it is enough to demonstrate that all sort of change is merely accidental. This reduction requires Nicholas to lodge a significant chalUniversal Treatise, p. 68, EO, p. 204, 21–24: “Quando aliquid dicitur corrumpi secundum eos, videtur quidam recessus corporum atomalium; quando generatur accessus etiam aliorum, et ideo dicebant quod nihil corrumpitur in non ens nec aliquid generatur ex non ente ut in 1 Phys. Et 1 De Gen. recitatur.” 16 EO, p. 193, 1–5: “Si antiqui per hanc propositionem voluerunt denotare ordinem naturalem qui est inter entia, nam quando unum ens generatur aliud corrumpitur et ita nihil generatur quin praecesserit aliquid ad quod illud quod fit habebat ordinem naturalem in fieri; sic intellectus eorum esset verus secundum illam opinionem.” 17 Albert the Great, De Caelo et mundo [Hossfeld], III, 2, 6, p. 233: “Et si quidam dicant eam actu esse intus, tunc ponunt latentiam formarum et generationem nihil esse nisi exitum occulti actu existentis ad apertum, sicut Democritus et Empedocles et Anaxagoras dicunt.” 15
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lenge against Aristotle. According to Aristotle accidents cannot exist by themselves. For Nicholas accidents are verae entitates, that is to say atoms, and can exist by themselves. However they can only be perceived when compounded or combined with other atoms. 1.2. A Qualitative Atom What is the origin of this notion of qualitative atoms? It seems that Nicholas derives this notion from the Aristotelian text itself, by assimilating Democritus’s atoms with Aristotle’s minima naturalia and Anaxagoras’s homeomeron. Indeed, when Nicholas first alludes to something like an atom in the Exigit ordo, he does not use the term “atoms,” but “minima naturalia,” as if Nicholas wanted to make the atomist’s most basic assumption acceptable to an Aristotelian: For natural forms are divisible into their smallest units in such a way that these, when divided off from the whole, could not perform their proper action. And so, though they are visible when existing in the whole, they are not visible when dispersed and divided or separated. For this is true even according to the mind of Aristotle when he says that natural beings have maximum and minimum limits.18
For Aristotle, the quantity of a substantial form is determined between two limits, one minimal, the other maximal, since for any given substance there are physically impossible sizes.19 Nicholas adopts this theory but gives it a new and different meaning. Aristotle does not admit the existence of discrete corpuscles and, more importantly, according to him, minima only have a potential existence. These minima cannot exist separately and have no physical existence in act.20 Nevertheless, the Aristotelian theory remains embryonic and limited. The Stagirite does not use it to explain natural phenomenona and he seems to have the refutation of Anaxagoras as its main goal. Nicholas takes advantage of this unfinished nature of the theory. He uses the concept of minima to
18 Universal Treatise, p. 60, EO, p. 199, 42–46: “Nam formae naturales sunt ita divisibiles in minima quod seorsum divisa a toto non possent habere actionem suam et ita licet ipsa existentia in toto videantur, dispersa tamen et divisa seu segregata non videntur. Hoc enim veritatem habet etiam secundum intellectum Aristotelis dicentis: entia naturalia esse terminata ad maximum et minimum.” It’s the first occurrence if we accept Kaluza’s reconstruction which puts the end of the first prologue in the first chapter. See Kaluza, Nicolas d’Autrécourt. Ami de la vérité, pp. 160–161. 19 See Physics, I, 4, 187b 14–21. 20 See Pyle, Atomism and its Critics. From Democritus to Newton, pp. 214–217.
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introduce two main features of the atom; the atom can act only inside an atomic compound and, when separated, the atom is not visible. Hence, the atom can be known only by its action inside a compound. Aristotle never gave such a property to the minima. The assimilation of atoms to minima is not unique to Nicholas and can already be found in the writings of Albert the Great. When Albert presents the antiqui’s theories about the number and nature of the elements, he curiously mixes Anaxagoras’s homeomeron and Democritus’s atoms. Indeed, he credits Democritus with the thesis according to which (1) atoms are the smallest elements of natural entities, (2) atoms are similar to these entities (atoms of flesh or bone are similar to flesh or bones), and (3) if we try to divide the atom, the compound will not be able to act.21 This account of atomism is interesting since it stresses the atom’s capacity to act inside a whole and the incapacity of this whole to act when atoms are subtracted (that is, when we try to divide them). This explicit assimilation of atoms to minima naturalia is an important link to understand how we can pass from the Democritean unqualitative atom to the Ultricurian qualitative atom. Nicholas is not at all a Democritean when he claims that atoms are qualitative.22 Nevertheless, Nicholas is never explicit on this point. The
21 Cf. Albert the Great, De generatione et corruptione [ Hossfeld], p. 120, 44–55: “Democritus autem videbat quod omnia naturalia heterogenia componuntur ex similibus sicut manus ex carne et osse et huiusmodi, similia vero componuntur secundum essentiam ex minimis quae actionem formae habere possunt, licet enim non sit accipere minimum in partibus corporis, secundum quod est corpus, quod autem non accipi minus per divisionem, tamen est in corpore physico accipere ita parvam carnem qua si minor accipiatur, operationem carnis non perficiet, et hoc est minimum corpus non in eo quod corpus, sed in eo quod physicum corpus, et hoc vocavit atomus Democritus.” Minima have the role of the form according to Albert, but this problem is not solved in Nicholas’s theory. The assimilation of atoms and minima can also be red in Nicholas Bonetus, OFM, De Quantitate, in Nicholae Bonetti vir perspicassimi quattuor volumina: Metaphysicam videlicet, naturalem philosophiam, praedicamenta, necnon theologiam naturalem [Venise, 1505] f. 81rb: “Respondet tibi Democritus quod non, sed omne continuum actu finitum potest resolvi usque ad indivisibilia simpliciter, et in hoc videtur concordare Aristoteles de continuo naturali quoniam in primo physicorum 3 commento et 2 de anima 42 dixit quod est devenire usque ad minimam carnem.” 22 The other ancient atomism known to medieval philosophers, the Epicurean one, also claims that atoms have no quality. See Cicero, De natura deorum, [Van den Bruwaene], vol. 2, II, 94, p. 119: “Isti autem quemadmodum adserverant ex corpusculis non colore, non qualitate aliqua quam poiotèta Graeci vocant, non sensu praeditis sed concurrentibus temere atque casu mundum esse perfectum, vel innumerabiles potius in omni puncto temporis alios nasci, aliso interire. Quod si mundum efficere potest concursus atomorum cur porticum, cur templum, cur domum, cur urbem non potest quae sunt minus operosa et multo quidem faciliora.”
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first time he deals with this question, he simply asserts that atoms have different natures: If the question is raised whether the atoms are of the same kind or are of different kinds one must say, of differents kinds. But the means of proving the different kinds will perhaps become apparent later.23
Unfortunately, Nicholas never fully explains what this means. Only once he repeats his assertion without offering further details.24 On at least two occasions, he explicitly describes two varieties of qualitative atoms: white atoms and fire atoms.25 Moreover, when dealing once again with the question of atomic differences, Nicholas provides some precious interpretative keys: It should be observed that the eternity of things could be understood in one of two ways. One is that they would always remain integral as some composite whole, just as they are now. For example, in Socrates there are many realities of different natures joined together, such as flesh, bone, and soul.26
23 Universal Treatise, p. 69, EO, p. 205, 15–20: “Si autem quaeratur de illis atomalibus, an sint unius rationis vel alterius, dicendum quod alterius; sed ex quibus probetur diversitas rationum inferius forsitan apparebit.” We may assume that atoms by themselves have no quality but when put in the compound, they change their nature and become active. 24 Cf. EO, p. 251, 5–8: “Unde de qualibet re non erit nisi punctus et sicut torchia fit non nisi sicut aggregatum ex pluribus diversarum rationum, sic lumen est aliquid aggregatum ex pluribus diversarum rationum.” We must admit that it is hardly imaginable that light is compounded from atoms different by nature. This text would attest a Democritean atomism. But the following is not at all Democritean. 25 Cf. EO, p. 189, 26–29: “Sic hic habeo media satis probabilis ad concludendum quod conclusio de aeternitate rerum est probabile, sed quia non possum ostendere illas modiculas albedines ad modum granorum ire et venire, aliqui forsan discrederent; non tamen propter hoc est negandum.”; p. 259, 3–8: “Propter quod sciendum est quod ut innui aliqualiter supra virtus calefactiva perfectissima copulatur quantum ad operari cum igne perfectissimo, ita quod operatur ubi est ignis perfectissimus, si sit materia disposita quam corpora ignita subintrant, et quanto magis subintrant, ei penetrant, supposita identitate materiae, tanto virtus calefactiva perfectior operatur.” 26 Universal Treatise, p. 141 (translation modified), EO, p. 251, 44–48: “Et advertendum quod secundum alterum duorum posset intelligi aeternitas rerum vel quod remanerent semper sub integritate alicujus totius copulati sicut nunc sunt, ut verbi gratia, in Socrate sunt multae realitates diversarum rationum copulatae ut caro, os et anima”. The second part of the alternative opened by the ‘vel’ is the following, p. 252, 6–10: “Alius esset modus intelligendi aeternitatem in rebus secundum viam segregationis ut nullicubi esset Socrates per modum totius copulati, sed alicubi esset albedo ejus causata, alibi ejus virtus et sic de aliis, et tandem revoluto circulo magni orbis, iterum fieret congregatio; et horum hororum recipe probabiliorem”. The problem under discussion here is about eternity. See Kaluza, “La récompense dans les cieux. Remarques sur l’eschatologie de Nicolas d’Autrécourt,” p. 90, particularly the note 15 which deals with these questions.
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We already know that the soul is an atom. This was also the case for Democritus.27 What is new is the existence of atoms of flesh and bone. In other words, Nicholas identifies atoms with homeomeron, as we have already said, and this offers a key for understanding the shift toward a qualitative atomism. We have seen how Albert in his commentary on De Generatione et corruptione dealt with atoms of flesh and bone as little particles of flesh and bone ( parva caro) and this presentation of Democritus’s ideas no doubt prepared the way for the Ultricurian confusions.28 Nicholas even uses the same example, attributed by Albert to Democritus, of atoms of flesh and bones: This is true of a simple effect but not of one composed of things of different natures. In a complex effect, it would be otherwise, because then in truth there are different beings there, as in Socrates there are bones, flesh, soul, blood, etc.; and so one must posit different causes there.29
Nicholas’s equivocal notion of thing (res) complicates and undermines this text. But here, we may assume that Nicholas is dealing with atoms and compounds because of the use of being (entia). Of course, atoms are the real beings (vera entia).30 Similarly, this qualitative conception of the atom could have been influenced partly by the Mutakallimun, who discussed atoms in terms of substance and accident. The Mutakallimun even claim that atoms of snow are white. Something similar crops up in the Ultricurian classification of atoms.31
For Democritus, see Aristotle, De anima, I, 2, 404 a 1–10. See the quotation in the note 21. 29 Universal Treatise, p. 148 (translation modified), EO, p. 256, 21–24: “Et hoc est verum de effectu simplici, non de composito ex rebus diversarum naturarum, secus esset in alio, quia tunc quantum ad veritatem ibi sunt diversa entia sicut in Socrate ossa, caro, anima, sanguis etc.; et ideo ibi oportet ponere diversas causas.” 30 Cf. EO, 225, 43–46: “Sic hic verum est quod omnis entitas vera, quae in me est nunc, semper fuit et semper erit, sed non erunt secundum indistinctionem subjectivam ut nunc sunt.” On this equivocal notion see Kaluza, “L’éternité . . .,” pp. 234–238, “La récompense dans les cieux . . .,” p. 90, n. 15. Also, Dutton “Nicholas of Autrecourt and William of Ockham on Atomism, Nominalism and the Ontology of Motion,” p. 66, n. 8. 31 Moses Maimonides, Dux seu director . . . [ Venice, 1516 ], f. 32v: “Sed tale accidens, secundum ipsos, invenitur in quolibet atomorum ex quibus componitur illud corpus, verbi gratia, albedo partis nivis non invenitur in suo universo solummodo sed in qualibet substantiarum illius nivis est albedo et idcirco invenitur albedo in composito ex illis.” There is nevertheless an important difference since for Mutakallimun atoms are substances which can have accidents. Nicholas tries to go beyond the accidentsubstance dichotomy. 27 28
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It seems clear that Nicholas’s atomism draws from both Democritus, as transmitted and deformed by the Aristotelian tradition, and from the Mutakallimun. It is important to note, however, that Nicholas’s goal is to build a consistent atomistic theory and not simply to set Democritus against Aristotle. He is looking for the best explanation of natural phenomenona and he believes that the best explanation is atomistic. And this means that he must go beyond the few clues left in the writings of the antiqui in order to complete his theory. 1.3. The Unity of Atomic Flow: Principles of Atomic Composition The interpretation of matter as an atomic flow is tied to the critique of the metaphysical notion of form and matter, or act and potentiality. By rejecting prime matter as a substratum, Nicholas is also rejecting the idea that the form is an actualization of matter and, a fortiori, he is rejecting the idea of substantial form. The problem Nicholas then faces is to explain what gives unity to atomic compounds. Since Nicholas admits the possibility of monsters in nature, understood as inconsistent (disconveniens) atomic compounds,32 he must provide an account of what produces consistent compounds. The answer is two-fold. On the one hand, Nicholas defends an atomistic mereology that relies on the particular nature of different atoms. On the other hand, his answer relies on the astral causality that determines the atomic composition. Since accidents are the result of corpuscles, it is necessary to find a way of allowing a distinction between accidental and essential properties. Accidents are atoms which superficially modify the compound from which they can be subtracted. Essential properties are necessary to the existence of the compound. In other words, after giving an atomistic account of matter, Nicholas must give the same account of form. Hence, he introduces a distinction between atoms which are essential to the whole, such that their separation leads to the destruction of the compound, and atoms which separation does not alter the nature of the compound. Atoms of the first kind allow an operation or a movement (as is the case for the soul).33 Atoms of the second kind are nothing but qualities like whiteness: 32 EO, p. 205, 43–44: “In rebus materialibus extra, propter disconvenientiam <et convenientiam> in congregatione dicuntur interdum monstra interdum bene composita.” 33 On the atomic status of the soul, see Democritus, quoted in Aristotle’s De anima, I, 2 (see note 27) and the Mutakallimun, quoted by Moses Maimonides, Dux seu
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christophe grellard On the basis of the foregoing discussion it might be said that these accidents are only certain atomic particles, and that they are not in the subject except as a part in the whole, but a part, one must understand, that is essential and necessary to the whole. Still more can these parts be sayed about the substance of the subject. Upon the departure of these atoms in the substance, what is called the functioning of the thing, and the movement which previously appeared in the thing, cease to appear. Upon the departure of the other atoms they do not go away. These ought more properly to be called accidentals of the subject; yet they too are as a part in the whole.34
Among atoms which are parts of a whole, we have to make a distinction between necessary parts, such that the whole cannot exist without them, and accidental parts, such that the whole can exist without them. Since each atom is qualitative, this distinction is similar to the one between essential and accidental properties. Essential properties allow the compound to operate. Generation is explained by the gathering of such atoms, and alteration by the separation of atoms of the second kind. With this distinction, Nicholas claims to be able to dissolve all the false Aristotelian problems linked to the notions of quiddity, form, and so on.35 But it might seem odd that Nicholas still uses the notion of suppositum at all. What does this Aristotelian notion mean in an atomistic context? Nicholas is not very clear on this point and, at first glance, it seems that he should give up such concepts as species and genus. On at least one occasion, he explains what an atomistic conception of form and species might mean in the case of human beings. After reducing generation and corruption to local movement, he writes: Perhaps there is something there which connects and retains the indivisibles in this union, as a magnet does with iron. The stronger the force
director . . . [ Venice, 1516], f. 32v: “Quidam autem eorum dicunt quod anima componitur ex atomis quae sine dubio conveniunt in accidente per quod sunt anima et quidam dixerunt quod ipse virtutes et ipse substantie coniuguntur cum substantiis corporeis et non evadunt quin rationem anime ponant accidens.” 34 Universal Treatise, pp. 68–69, EO p. 204, 38–45: “Secundum praedicta diceretur quod talia accidentia non sunt nisi quaedam corpora atomalia, nec sunt in supposito nisi sicut pars in toto; verumtamen intelligendum quod est quaedam pars essentialis et necessaria toti; et istae magis possunt dici de substantia suppositi. Et ista sunt atomalia quibus abeuntibus non apparet amplius illud quod dicitur operatio rei, nec motus qui prius appareret in re; alia sunt quibus abeuntibus non abeunt; ista magis debent dici accidentalia suppositi; sic tamen sunt sicut pars in toto.” This text is examined by Kaluza, “Les catégories dans l’Exigit ordo de Nicolas d’Autrécourt,” pp. 101–102. 35 EO, p. 204.
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of this thing, the longer the subject survives as a subject. If there were a force of this kind, it would be called the quasi-formal principle of the thing.36
When local movement leads to the gathering of mutually consistent atoms, they produce a suppositum which, according to Nicholas, simply means a totality of essential atoms. Nicholas then adds that one of these essential atoms plays the role of a magnet and attracts the other atoms. The gathering of the atoms in the compound depends on the strength of this atom, which he refers to as a “quasi-formal principle.” When it ceases to act, the other atoms spread out the whole. We may assume that this atom is not the only vital principle in living beings, since the death of animals is not the dispersion of atoms, but the departure of some essential parts. Nicholas is more probably dealing with the problem of decomposition. In each compound, there is an atom whose function is to attract atoms and keep them together. As long as it continues to operate, the compound exists as a perceptible whole. When it stops operating, the compound is disintegrated. The fifth proposition of the Mutakallimun, as reported by Maimonides, could well have influenced Nicholas here.37 The Ultricurian innovation is the link between this formal atom and an astral causality. Indeed, the last level of Ultricurian atomism relies on the interaction between lunar and sublunary worlds. 2. From Atoms to World: The Nature of Atomic Compound Nicholas still must explain how his atomism provides a convincing account of natural phenomenona. More specifically, the challenge he faces is to explain how consistent atomic compositions can be possible. 36 Universal Treatise, p. 63, EO, p. 201, 9–11: “Et forsan sicut adamas ferrum, ita est ibi unum quod connectit et retinet in tali colligatione ipsa indivisibilia, et secundum hoc quod est majoris vigoris magis durat illud suppositum in ratione suppositi; et illud, si sic esset, diceretur quasi principium formale rei.” 37 Moses Maimonides, Dux seu director . . . [ Venice, 1516], f. 32v: “Idem dixerunt in corpore mobili quod quaelibet substantiarum suarum separatarum movetur et idcirco totum movetur. Similiter secundum ipsos vita invenitur in qualibet atomo vivi, sic et sensus invenitur in qualibet substantia separata sentientis, quia sensus et intellectus et scientia secundum ipsos sunt accidentia sicut albedo et nigredo, sicut explanavimus in eorum opinio sed obiectum fuit eis in anima. Convenerunt autem in hoc quod est accidens inventum in una substantia separata de universitate substantiarum ex quibus componitur homme et illa universitas dicitur habere anima qua substantia separata est intra ipsam universitatem.”
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As we have seen, Nicholas reduces all change to local movement, but what are the principles behind local movement and what is the role of matter? 2.1. Matter, Disposition and Virtus A constant thesis in the Exigit ordo is that matter, understood as an atomic flow, is designed to prepare or to receive a formal atom called virtus which is an essential part. This atom constitutes the principle of unity and operation of the compound, in other words its form. Nicholas gives a clear example of his theory when he discusses combustion.38 How is fire produced? It needs a virtus ignitiva, in addition to the heat that is produced by a virtus calefactiva. If one wants to escape the standard criticisms of virtues, summed up in Molière’s joke about the “vertu dormitive de l’opium,” it is necessary to explain how they operate.39 While these virtues or forces are a particular kind of atoms, they never act alone. According to Autrecourt, these virtues are triggered by superior agents, the celestial bodies. Atomic action requires a copulatio between the star and the atom. The force found in the atomic compound is a formal effect of the same force found in the appropriate star.40 Light can heat because the atoms which compose it follow the movements of the stars. Hence, the celestial body is an efficient cause that acts upon an atom which is the formal cause in the compound. Still this is not enough. How can we explain why a bellows, when used gently, can stir up a fire, while using it to create a vigourous wind might well extinguish the fire? What is the role of wind in the generation of fire? According to Nicholas, it provides a kind of help. When the wind is gentle, it expels from the compound atoms liable to delay combustion (that is, atoms that would delay the copulatio between the atomic and celestial virtues). Conversely, a strong breeze will expel atoms liable to facilitate the copulatio, those hot atoms which are the condition for 38 EO, p. 257, 3–9: “Potest tamen dici quod illa virtus inexistit alicui superiori agenti et haec virtus habet quamdam copulationem in operari cum effectu formali, ita quod quando approximatur ignis alicui calefactibili, saltem <si> ignis talis sit perfectus, tunc calefacit illud calefactibile, et secundum hoc quod est calefactibilius, copulatur sibi virtus calefactiva perfectior; et secundum hoc est falsum dicere quod lumen calefacit vel quod motus nisi quia ista assequuntur virtutes quaedam calefactivae.” 39 For a contemporary outlook on this topics, see Gnassounou & Kistler (eds.), Les dispositions en philosophie et en science. 40 For a more detailed account of the celestial causality, see Grellard “La causalité chez Nicolas d’Autrécourt.”
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the forces to act. These atoms, it would seem, dispose or prepare the composite towards certain behaviors, in other words, they are similar to material causes.41 From this example, Autrecourt applies the model of a copulatio between stars and atomic virtues to different natural phenomenona, and first of all to generation and corruption. Hence, he rejects spontaneous generation which he assimilates to normal generation. In both cases, we have an equivocal generation, that is, the reception of atomic virtues into a prepared matter. The atoms of a worm can be received in a putrefied matter; similarly, the sperm of a man or a donkey is not the cause of the generation of another man or donkey but only a requisite part. Sperm is the material condition, the atomic virtus in the man is the formal cause and this formal cause still requires the efficient action of the star.42 Usually, if these material and formal conditions are lacking, the star cannot act on the compound. Nevertheless, we may
41 EO, p. 257, 9–14: “Ventus autem facere videtur ad generationem ignis ut in sibillo oris vel in sibillo artificiali, praecipue quando est moderatus; et hoc est quia cum tali vento recedunt aliqua corpora quae impediebant receptionem ignis intali subjecto, ita quod virtus ignitiva perfecta non copulabatur sibi; quando vero est immoderatus, tunc etiam removentur illa quae disponebant subjectum ad igneibilitatem.” 42 EO, pp. 257–258: “Ex illis regulis suprapositis quod unus effectus non precedit nisi ab una causa etc., sequitur quod anima unius hominis qualiscumque sit non est producta ab alio homine quia seqitur: ab eo producta, ergo praecise producta; igitur alterum non est ignobilius quia causa numquam potest excedere suam perfectionem in producendo ut dictum est; neque aeque perfecta quia, ut dictum est supra non est dare duos effectus aequales in una specie; igitur erit perfectior; et hoc est falsum, immo plerumque imperfectior reperitur quantum ad omnes virtutes et operationes. Producitur igitur ab aliquo agente superiori; non dico ab agente perfectissimo nisi sit effectus perfectissimus ut probatum est superius. Et si homo, qui diceretur producens sit perfectior, hoc accidit qua tantum videtur facere imperfectior circa generationem hominis sicut magis perfectus. Et sicut dictum est de homine sic intelligendum de asino et omnibus aliis, et per consequens nulla erit productio univoca quia vel causa esset imperfectior quod non potest esse, vel aeque perfecta quod improbatum est supra, vel perfectior, et hoc accidit sibi in quantum causa effectus ut statim dictum est. Homo tamen bene potest esse aliquorum praerequisitorum ad quae forma hominis habet ordinem ut seminis et aliorum; homo, id est, aliqua virtus inexistens homini. Et considerandum est juxta praedicta quod illa est falsa, quod virtus aliqua producit effectum perfectiorem in subjecto perfectiori et imperfectiorem in imperfectiori quia virtus aliqua non habet unum effectum ut dictum est supra, et ideo vel illum producit vel nullum. Sed verum est quod, nisi subjectum sit conveniens ad recipiendum illum, non producet in illo subjecto, sed cum illo subjecto copulabitur in operari virtus imperfectior. Subjectum enim indispositum nihil immutat de natura agentis quin, si producat, producat secundum convenientiam suae naturae.” On the sperm as a preparation, see the quotation in the following note. For a different account of the role of the sperm, according to the medical theories, see Jacquart, “L’influence des astres sur le corps humain chez Pietro d’Abano”.
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assume (even if Nicholas does not explicitly say so) that monsters are produced when one of the material or formal requisites are partially lacking in such a way that the stars are still capable of acting on the composite, but the result will not be normal. Hence, all atomic changes are the result of a celestial efficiency into a formal or accidental atom in a preexistent atomic flow, materially disposed to receive this atom. However, within this celestial causality, material conditions have a role to play in defining the resulting species. At first glance, Nicholas seems to assume that such a notion is useless. He first underlines that the trans-temporal identity of the same individual is never complete. The young Socrates and the old one are not exactly the same individual. This person is continuously modified by the movements of the atoms, and is never identical to himself between moment t and moment t+1. If a child could become an old man instantaneously, we would not be able to identify him as the same person. But since these changes are continuous and since the general order of the atoms remains the same, we can speak about these various atomic compositions as the same person.43 From this, we may conclude that according to Nicholas all sorts of form, even the substantial form, are reduced to the figures 43 EO, pp. 251–253: “Nunc posset sic intelligi quod Socrates sic esset aeternus quod sic semper esset sicut nunc est, sic intelligendo quod, cum Socrates non sit omnino idem sibi puer et senex, immo aliquo modo variatu de hora in horam, intelligetur quod quando desineret esse sub una dispositione utpote sub dispositione pueritiae, alibi esse sub eadem dispositione et postea alibi et sic semper usque ad circulum, donec fuisset ubique et non solum secundum horas vel dies, sed etiam secundum momenta, ut statim cum hic desineret esse sub una dispositione, inciperet esse alibi sub eadem. (. . .). Et ex praedictis potest dici, si quaeratur an puer sit homo, si appellatio recipiatur a figura magis in genere, tunc quia habet figuram ad modum hominis, caput sursum, pedes deorsum, ut sic deberet dici homo. Sed appellationem ex hoc recipere non est conveniens, sed magis ex operatione et virtute inexistente; nunc sicut non habet operationem, ita posset dici non habere virtutem et solum deberet dici quod habet virtutem ut operatur. Et ita de puero unius diei, si moriatur, potest dici quod nec habuit virtutem ridendi neque ratiocinandi, licet bene habuerit aliquas praeparationes remotas ad hoc sicut est in spermate. Consuetum tamen est dici quod homines et ejusdem speciei; et causa consuetudinis forsan est ut homines magis compatiantur eis. Et si puer non habet virtutes hominis, conveniens est inquirere an virtus existit suo quiete, verbi gratia quando aliquis non movet lapidem vel aliquod aliud grave, utrum habeat virtutem movendi lapidem. Videtur quod non, quia tunc ejas esse esset otiosum pro illo tempore. Videtur contra, quia tunc nullus deberet eligere quietem nec virtus naturalis cum fatigat naturam, natura non deberet naturaliter ad hoc inclinari, cum in hoc consisteret ejus destructio; et ideo posset satis dici quod remanet sub quiete, nec est otiosum cum in hoc accidit conservatio ejus in supposito, alias causaretur alibi et hic desineret esse et loco ejus esset imperfectior. Unde corpus caeleste cum quibusdam concurrentibus spritibus causat talem virtutem qui continuatio opere utpote motionis gravis recedunt, et loco eorum veniunt magis imperfecti.”
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or to the general appearances of a thing. If somebody has a head at the top and two feet at the bottom, we can call him a man. Nicholas, however, concedes that such a conception of form is not enough. Rather, he defines form as an operation or virtus (that is an atom) which allows us to classify individuals into species and genus. Moreover, it is not only this operation that allows us to classify individuals into species, but also the tendency of these types of atoms to act in certain ways. Otherwise, a stillborn child could not be called a human being, since he would lack the ability to laugh and reason. If we do not want to call it a human being out of mere custom, we have to assume that the appropriate virtue is already present, if latent, inside the material preparation (the sperm) and that this virtue is just waiting to be moved by an astral causality. We can see that from an external point of view, atomic movements depend upon astral movements. But there is also an internal condition to be considerered, the inter-atomic void. 2.2. Void as a Condition of the Atomic Movements The treatise De vacuo is one of the best known sections of the Exigit ordo.44 Against Aristotle, Autrecourt argues for the possibility of the void. Not a separate void, but an inter-particulate void, that is, a void internal to the compound. Aristotle attributes this doctrine to Democritus in the fourth book of the De Caelo. Nicholas uses it mostly to give an account of the phenomenon of condensation and rarefaction. It is well known that Nicholas, like the Mutakallimun,45 explains atomic movements by the motion of an atomic body through atomic places. In De vacuo, Nicholas demonstrates that these atomic places are empty. Contrary to the scholastic doxa, motion in a void does not
See specifically, Grant, “The Arguments of Nicholas of Autrecourt for the Existence of Interparticulate Vacua,” pp. 65–69; Kaluza, “La convenance et son rôle,” pp. 100–103; Grellard, Croire et Savoir . . ., pp. 211–218. 45 Moses Maimonides, Dux seu director, f. 32r: “Dixerunt quod motus est mutatio substantiae separatae de numero atomorum unius scilicet singularis substantiae ad aliam substantiam propinquam et ex hoc sequitur quod non est unus motus velocior alio. Et secundum hanc positionem dixerunt quod vides duo mobilia pervenire ad duos terminos diversos in remotione in eodem tempore, non est quia unus motus est velocior alio sed causa eius est quia mobile cuius motus dicitur tardior habet plures quietes in spatio suo quam illud quod dicitur velocius. Et ideo dixerunt in sagita fortiter ab arcu emissa quod sunt quietes in spatio motus ipsius.” See Murdoch, “Atomism and Motion in the Fourteenth Century;” Grellard, “Nicolas d’Autrécourt.” 44
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imply instantaneous velocity since every movement is a relative one, and depends on the time during which each atom rests. Moreover, each atom moves place after place, by a local movement. From these assumptions, Nicholas explains condensation, that is, the quantitative alteration of bodies, by the local movement of atoms inside the compound. The classical example of the rarefaction of new wine is explained not by the generation of a new quality (which would mean the arrival of new corpuscles), but by the separation of parts already present in the body and the concomitant introduction of a void between these atoms. In the same way, water seems denser than air because there is more void between its parts. Hence, in the case of liquid and gas, the mutual proximity of the parts give an account of density, and their distance explains the rarity.46 In the case of solid bodies, Nicholas offers two different explanations: alteration is caused by an increase or decrease of the void, or by the arrival or the departure of new atoms.47 Against Aristotle, Nicholas asserts that nothing is absolutely heavy or light. These concepts are relative and depend upon the inter-particulate void and the proximity of atoms to one another. Atoms can move within a composite because of the presence of an inter-particulate void, otherwise two bodies could be in the same place at the same time, which is universally believed to be false.48 This is how the antiqui explained the possibility of a local increase of a body. How else can we explain, for example, how our limbs grow in size, if not by the addition of atoms? Nicholas gives the following explanation of this phenomenon. Let us assume that a body is composed of four atoms, abcd. These four atoms are indivisible. Each of them has a specific quantity since each has a situalitas and they are mutually apart from one another. Let us assume also that between each atom there is an empty space.49 Body abcd will grow as additional atoms come to fill in spaces that grow between abcd. For example, atom e will insert itself between a and b to produce a new body, aebcd. The ability to receive new atoms depends on a kind of dilation which creates empty spaces within the composite. But there is no modification of the atoms themselves, that is, no modification of EO, p. 218, 11–31. EO, p. 217, 33–37: “Nam non dicimus quod densum sit per generationem alicujus novae qualitatis quae prius non erat, sed solum est densum per recessum corporum ut in lana, vel quia partes coeunt, id est, quod magis propinque se habent quam prius. Et rarum non erit nisi quia partes illius corporis magis distant quam prius, et ita densum vel rarum non est nisi per solum motum localem partium.” 48 EO, p. 221, 42–222, 7. 49 EO, p. 208, 10–18. 46 47
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their own properties and quantity. The compound appears to grow because it comes to be made up of additional atoms, atoms that, on their own, are imperceptible.50 Nicholas may have John Buridan’s argument against atoms in mind. In his Questiones super De Caelo, Buridan wants to prove that an atom must be heavy and, therefore, must be divisible.51 His purpose is to show that any quantified body is liable to increase or decrease. If we can show that an atom is a body which can sometimes be bigger and heavier, and sometimes smaller and lighter, Buridan believes he can prove his point: an atom possesses quantity and is divisible. On this point, Buridan refutes an adversary who claims that elements (water, air, earth, fire) are composed of atoms of different weights, such that atoms of air are less heavy than atoms of earth. Buridan begins with an Aristotelian argument. Imagine a body composed of three atoms abc. If this body condenses, it will be smaller, but it will still be composed of these same three atoms. We must conclude that the individual atoms have lost weight. Secondly, if we examine the status of quantitative external parts outside each other, and if we assume that an earthly body is composed of three atoms abc, to which we add a fourth similar part d, we must claim that abcd is more extended and heavier than abc. Thirdly, if we examine the phenomenon of calefaction, we are faced with three assumptions: either, 1.) calefaction is produced by the compression or condensation of the parts such as they become closer to each other; 2.) calefaction is produced by the addition of a qualitative degree of hotness (as in the theory of intension and remission of forms); or, 3.) calefaction is produced by the addition of an atom of hotness, that is, a quantitative part. Against this last possibility (the other two do not interest him in this case), Buridan claims that a hotter body should be heavier and more extended. This thesis of the addition of hot corpuscles 50 EO, p. 221, 12–24: “Pone corpus aliquod compositum est ex indivisibilibus quattuor a b c d; dico quod inter ista indivisibilia sunt vacuitates; perpone inter a et b per unum indivisibile; dico quod ad adventum rei convenientis quasi dilitabant se, ita quod quodammodo elongabant se, puta a b per vacuitatem duorum indivisibilium, et ibi recipient [se] intra se illud quod est conveniens suae naturae, et sic fiet augmentatio. Et intellectus hujusmodi propositionis illius: quaelibet pars aucti est aucta, non comprehendit omnino partes primas corporis aucti ut sit intellectus quod indivisibile augetur; sed intellectus est quod post augmentationem de qualibet parte composita demonstrabili ad sensum comparata ad talem, quae antecedebat augmentum, verum est dicere quod est major, ut puta manus post augmentum est major quam ante augmentum, et sic in aliis.” 51 John Buridan, Expositio et Quaestiones in Aristotelis De Caelo [Patar], L. III, q. 1, pp. 513–518.
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is indeed Nicholas’s thesis.52 But for Nicholas, the link between extension and heaviness is not necessary as in Buridan’s argument, because Nicholas contends that a body can be more extended and lighter, if it is composed of more empty places. Hence, the arrival of atoms of hotness neither increases the composite’s extension nor its weight. Likewise, the modification of a body’s size does not imply any modification of the atoms, but only of the empty places which separate them. 3. Conclusion From the celestial bodies, which simplicity renders them eternal, to the sublunary world composed of atoms, Nicholas offers a completely atomized cosmos. In his attempt to offer a non-Aristotelian answer to the twin problems of eternity of the world and of generation and corruption, Nicholas constructs an atomistic theory using parts he could have drawn from Aristotle’s own writings in natural philosophy and from the Mutakallimun. He then attempts to elaborate a non-metaphysical physics founded on very few principles: qualitative atoms, local motion, and celestial causality. In this context, atomic flows provide an account of the make-up of these compounds and the possible changes they may undergo in the sublunary world. But at the same time, Nicholas’s atomism testifies to the difficulty that medieval natural philosophers had to face when they sought to escape Aristotle’s most basic frameworks. Indeed, by attempting to rewrite Aristotle’s theses in atomistic terms, Nicholas effectively preserves Aristotle’s framework, a framework that would remain essentially unchallenged for at least another 200 years. Due to the condemnation of 1347, it is not possible to know how Nicholas may have contributed to the rejection of the Aristotelian model. But Nicholas’s ingeniousness in the development of an alternative physics deserves, in the words of Edward Grant ,“a tribute to his courage and intellectual acumen.”53
52 EO, p. 257: “Supra in tractatu de aeternitate rerum dixi quod quando ignis dicitur produci quantum ad veritatem non est nisi adventus aliquorum corporum calidorum, et frigidditas per recessum illorum et adventum corporum frigidorum ut in aqua calida quae sibi derelicta revertitur ad naturam priorem, scilicet frigiditatem, per recessum calidorum corporum et accessum frigidorum.” On the Ultricurian approach of intension of forms, see Grellard, “L’usage des nouveaux langages d’analyse dans la Quaestio de Nicolas d’Autrécourt. Contribution à la théorie autrécurienne de la connaissance.” 53 Grant, “The Arguments . . .,” p. 68.
WILLIAM CRATHORN’S MEREOTOPOLOGICAL ATOMISM Aurélien Robert Little is known about Crathorn’s life and career, except that he was a Dominican friar who lectured on Peter Lombard’s Sentences in Oxford around 1330–32—his only surviving work.1 He’s often considered by recent scholars as a secondary witness to the most important debates in fourteenth-century philosophy, but rarely as an inventive thinker. Nonetheless, isolated arguments have been carefully examined, notably his solution to scepticism2 and his criticism of William of Ockham’s theory of mental language.3 But, concerning the question of the existence of indivisibles in a continuum, he’s generally mentioned as a simple doxographer, even if John E. Murdoch recognized him as a defender of an original theory of speed in such a context.4 Contrary to this common reading, we would like to show how singular and interesting is Crathorn’s atomist position, which can neither be reduced to that of his Oxonian predecessors Henry of Harclay and Walter Chatton, nor identified with his Parisian contemporaries Gerard of Odo, Nicholas Bonet and Nicholas of Autrecourt. Indeed, Crathorn doesn’t limit himself to mathematical analysis of the divisibility of a continuum, but puts forth the foundations of a genuine atomist physics. In this theory, an indivisible is not conceived as a purely mathematical point anymore, but rather as the ultimate component of reality, from which a conception of motion rivalling the one defended by Aristotle in his Physics can be derived. At the heart of Crathorn’s physics, the indivisible thus acquires a new ontological status: it is a thing (res), actually existing (existens in actu) and not only 1 The Questions on the book of the Sentences have been edited by Hoffmann, Quaestionen zum ersten Sentenzenbuch. For biographical elements, cf. Schepers, “Holkot contra dicta Crathorn: I. Quellenkritik und biographische Auswertung der Bakkalaureatsschriften zweier Oxforder Dominikaner des XIV. Jahrhunderts;” Courtenay, Adam Wodeham: An Introduction to his Life and Writings. For a general survey, see our “William Crathorn.” 2 Cf. Pasnau, Theories of cognition in the Later Middle Ages. 3 Cf. Panaccio, “Le langage mental en discussion: 1320–1335;” Perler, “Crathorn on Mental Language.” 4 For example, Murdoch, “Atomism and Motion in the Fourteenth Century.”
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potentially, which possesses a kind of extension (quantitas dimensiva) and a certain nature or perfection (quantitas perfectiva). Moreover, much of Crathorn’s effort was directed towards demonstrating that the number of indivisibles in nature is finite, if not countable. Therefore, as he will conclude, the indivisibles are real parts of a continuum. Our aim in this paper is to show how Crathorn brought out an important turn in his natural philosophy, from the indivisible considered as a mathematical point to the atom conceived as a physical entity. Needless to say that he isn’t the only one who endeavoured to conceptualize the nature of indivisibles in a more physicalist fashion, but in some respect he’s probably one of the most systematic atomistic thinker of the first half of the fourteenth century even if, as we shall see, some theoretical hesitations still persist in his view. To understand Crathorn’s originality, it should be remembered that his ontological analysis of the indivisible is based on two distinctive features: it depends on a special conception of the part-whole relation; and it is supported by a systematic use of the notions of place (locus) and position (situs). For this reason, we may call Crathorn’s theory a “mereotopological atomism”.5 The notion of place is so central that it will serve as a tool for reconstructing the physical nature of atoms, that is to say their quantity (dimension and perfection); for, as we shall see, indivisibles are primarily defined by the place they occupy in the world. Consequently, this mereotopological strategy will also allow him to avoid falling into some of the traditional blind alleys of indivisibilism, e.g. the explanation of the composition of a quantity from extensionless points and the problem of contact between indivisibles. Before going through Crathorn’s arguments, we must mention how important and recurrent is the topic of indivisibilism in the Questions on the Sentences.
5 We borrow the term “mereotopology” from contemporary science and philosophy, using it in a slightly different way. For a contemporary definition, see Smith, “Mereotopology: A Theory of Parts and Boundaries,” p. 287: “Mereotopology . . . is built up out of mereology together with a topological component, thereby allowing the formulation of ontological laws pertaining to the boundaries and interiors of wholes, to relation of contact and connectedness, to the concepts of surface, point, neighbourhood and so on.”
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1. The Importance of the Continuum Question in Crathorn’s Writings The most significant occurrence of our topic is to be found in q. 3 of the Questions on the Sentences after a long discussion about the nature of natural knowledge and language (q. 1 and q. 2). As a consequence, one shouldn’t be surprised by the gnoseological pretext of this first long digression: does the wayfarer understand cum continuo et tempore.6 The few commentators who have studied the continuum question in Crathorn have usually restricted their reading to this sole passage, but many others are relevant in the Quaestiones. As early as q. 1, Crathorn adopts atomist explanations of natural phenomena as the diffusion of light when explaining the multiplication of species through a medium.7 In q. 4, when questioning the possibility of knowing God’s infinity, our topic reappears in the explanation of the infinite.8 But the most important passages on atoms and continua can be traced in Crathorn’s discussion of Aristotle’s categories, especially in his long developments in q. 14 on quantity, and in q. 15, entirely dedicated to the quantity of indivisibles.9 Finally, after developing his own interpretation of Aristotelian categories, Crathorn turns to the nature of time and motion in q. 16,10 where he defines more precisely the central elements of what could be the foundations of an atomist physics. Therefore, for a complete reconstruction of Crathorn’s theory, one must at least take into account all these passages in which indivisibilism is at stake. To be absolutely exhaustive, one should also look at the series of forty-two quodlibetal questions found in a partially unedited manuscript conserved in Vienna (Cod. Vindob. Pal. 5460).11 Most parts of the text have been inserted in the Questions on the Sentences, but the manuscript also contains some interesting developments devoted to indivisibles, as
In Sent. q. 3, pp. 206–268: “Utrum viator intelligat cum continuo et tempore.” In Sent. q. 1, p. 111. 8 In Sent. q. 4, pp. 289–293. 9 In Sent. q. 15, pp. 426–441: “Utrum aliqua res omnino indivisibilis possit esse longa, lata et profunda.” 10 In Sent. q. 16, pp. 442–459: “Utrum tempus sit aliquid positivum reale vel aliqua res producta a deo vel ab aliquo.” 11 For a brief description of the manuscript, cf. Richter, “Handschriftliches zu Crathorn.” 6 7
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another version of the question on the continuum12 and some discussions on the infinite.13 In this short paper, we’ll limit ourselves to the edited Questions on the Sentences, without ignoring the aforementioned relevant passages. To begin with, we must examine the mereological principles on which the atomist edifice is built. 2. The Mereological Composition of the Continuum The gnoseological excuse for discussing the divisibility of continuous quantities helps Crathorn to reveal a first apparent paradox in Aristotle’s analysis. If a continuum were composed of an infinite number of parts, shouldn’t we accept that the wayfarer’s intellect should understand the infinite when thinking of a continuous body? If not, could we still say, as Aristotle himself asserts in the De memoria et reminiscentia,14 that the intellect knows cum continuo et tempore?15 Though it may seem sophistical, the formulation of the problem chosen in this context is not totally innocent and already indicates his finitist presuppositions (that a continuum is composed of a finite number of parts) and his reductive mereology (that a continuum is nothing but its parts). It is also noteworthy that when these two claims are combined, parts cannot be just potential ones, but rather are actual components of the whole as such. This is the reason why Crathorn presupposes that the wayfarer’s intellect could know (de jure) all the actual parts of a continuous being.
12 In Sent. q. 8: “Utrum continuum componatur ex indivisibilibus, id est ex punctis.” This question has been partially edited in Wood, Adam de Wodeham, Tractatus de indivisibilibus, pp. 309–317. 13 In particular q. 9 on the nature of instants (ff. 39va–40rb: “Utrum instans secundum substantiam maneat idem toto tempore”) and two others implying the notion of infinite (q. 22 ff. 55vb–57va: “Utrum ex infinitate motus extensiva possit concludi infinitas virtutis intensiva in primo motore”; q. 23 ff. 57va–59ra: “Utrum causa prima possit producere extra se aliquem effectum actu infinito”). 14 Aristotle, De memoria et reminiscentia, 1, 450a8–9. 15 In Sent. q. 3, p. 206: “Utrum viator intelligat cum continuo et tempore. Quod non videtur. Nullum continuum est intelligibile a viatore. Igitur viator non intelligit cum continuo et tempore. Consequentia patet. Probatio antecedentis, quia si aliquod continuum posset intelligi a viatore, sit illud a; aut est finitum aut infinitum. Si infinitum, non potest intelligi. Si finitum, cum continuum non sit aliud quam partes, sequitir quod viator intelligens a intelligeret omnes partes eius et per consequens intelligeret infinita, quia omne continuum divisibile est in infinitum, igitur continet in se infinitas partes. Ad oppositum est Philosophus in primo libro De memoria et reminiscentia, ubi dicit quod intelligimus cum continuo et tempore.”
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This leads Crathorn to a distinctive mereology, according to which a whole is nothing more than the sum of its parts. The main argument supporting this assertion is the following: if, from an ontological point of view, a whole were different from its parts, one should consider it as a distinct entity; but two absolute things can exist separately without any contradiction, at least thanks to God’s absolute power. It would follow from these premises that God could conserve the whole as existing while destroying its parts, which seems self-contradictory.16 It looks rather as if the whole had no ontological existence, for a whole must be identified with the mere continuous addition of its parts.17 This is therefore the first principle of Crathorn’s mereology: P1: a whole is nothing but the sum of its parts Philosophers have traditionally opposed to this principle the aporia of diachronic identity. Indeed, shouldn’t we conclude from P1 that a whole is not the same after losing or gaining one of its parts? Socrates’s essence would have changed with one of his hairs being torn off. Anticipating this kind of objection, Crathorn envisaged the existence of essential parts.18 Taking essential parts into account, one should be able to distinguish the identity of a whole W in a given time t, and the identity of a whole W through time, i.e. through a series of instants 16 In Sent. q. 3, p. 206: “. . . totum est suae partes. Hoc probo sic: si totum non est suae partes et totum est aliquid, igitur totum ponit in numerum cum partibus. Consequentiam probo, quia sit a multitudo partium, sit b totum, tunc sic: b non est a nec aliqua pars ipsius a. Igitur si b est vera res, b ponit in numerum cum a et cum qualibet parte illius a. Igitur per potentiam dei b totum posset esse non existente multitudine aliqua nec aliqua pars illius, quod falsum est.” As usual in the fourteenth century, God’s absolute power is considered as a logical principle in such a context, because God’s omnipotence is only limited by the principle of non-contradiction. 17 In Sent. q. 3, p. 217: “Propter praedicta videtur mihi quod totum non est alia res ab omnibus suis partibus sibi invicem continuatis.” 18 Crathorn often uses the notion of partes essentiales and though he strongly criticized the Aristotelian categories—notably the very idea of substance—he nonetheless seems to maintain the general distinction between essence and accident. Cf. In Sent. q. 13, pp. 386–402. For a use of the notion of essential part in the continuum debate, see In Sent. q. 3, p. 207 et 223. Essential parts are sometimes called naturae coextensae. Cf. In Sent. q. 13, pp. 386–387: “Istud nomen ‘substantia’ derivatur ab isto verbo ‘substo’ ‘substas’; unde illud proprie vocatur ‘substantia’ quod stat sub alio vel aliis; sed nihil est in isto ligno de quo proprie possit dici quod stet sub aliquo alio, quod est in ligno. Licet enim in ista re sunt multae naturae coextensae, tamen una illarum non est magis sub alia quam econverso. Igitur nulla illarum potest proprie dici substantia.” (italics mine). This precisely means that some parts are essential, but also that all parts have an essence as we shall see.
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t, . . ., tn. In a given time t, the identity of W is nothing but the totality of its parts, as an instantaneous ontological photograph, but the identity of W through time is the subset of its essential parts only. But this does not evacuate P1, Crathorn contends, because even at the level of essential parts, one cannot conceive the whole formed by the essence as distinct from its parts.19 Then, even if one wanted to distinguish the essence of a thing from its accidental parts, it should be recognized that P1 works in the same way for the whole set of essential parts. What is at stake here is the generalization of the mereological principle P1, which is applicable to every kind of continua, and not only to natural substances and artefacts. As we shall see, it can also be applied to time and space and in general to all continuous quantities. Among the several arguments offered by Crathorn,20 one must be carefully examined, because it contains the keystone of the theory, namely, that the composition of spaces is parallel to the composition of things existing in space. 3. The Mereological Composition of Space To convince his readers, our Oxford master invites them to think about P1 within the category of place. How could we conceive of the place of a whole and its parts if not in a mereological fashion? When a body is divided into its parts, the total place of the whole body is also divided into proportional parts of space. For example, half of a body occupies half of the place of the whole body, and so on if we could divide it again several times. As a corollary of that point, one has to consider that the division of places is strictly parallel to the division of the things existing in those places. Further, it might be noted that this new element strengthens the argument for P1. This new argument runs as follows: if a whole W were different from its parts, then the place occupied by W must be distinct from the place occupied by its parts—for something always exists in
19 In Sent. q. 3, p. 207: “Deus potest conservare omnes partes istius ligni non destruendo totum lignum. Sed forte aliquis posset dicere quod quia istae partes sunt de essentia istius ligni, ideo non potest destruere istius ligni, ideo non potest destruere partes istius ligni, nisi destruat totum lignum. Contra: eadem ratione non potest conservare partes istius ligni, nisi conservaret totum lignum; sed partes ligni sunt de essentia ligni.” Crathorn declines this argument in many different versions. Cf. p. 207. 20 There are twenty-eight different arguments.
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a place; but this sounds nonsensical, otherwise my house could be in London and its parts in Paris.21 Likewise, if we were to divide W in actu, each part would occupy a distinct place and once gathered they would occupy again the whole space of W. This is an important theoretical move from the composition of a continuum to the composition of space.22 Crathorn thus holds a second mereological principle: P2: the space occupied by a whole thing is composed of parts of space corresponding to the thing’s parts This is an important shift that will serve as the basis of Crathorn’s attacks against the divisibilists.23 Indeed, if it is conceivable that a thing is infinitely divisible, it is far more difficult to understand an infinite division of space. Without determining the number of parts in a continuum for the time being, Crathorn assumes that P1 and P2 imply a third principle concerning the proportional parts in division.
21 Ibid., p. 212: “Si continuum non est suae partes sed res distincta, implicaret contradictionem unum corpus esse in loco, nisi plura et distincta corpora essent in eodem loco. Et hoc probo sic: in eodem loco est corpus et suae duae medietates, sicut hoc lignum et suae medietates, et hoc loquendo de toto loco totius ligni. Sed totum lignum est aliud a suis medietatibus. Igitur in eadem loco sunt distincta corpora occupantia totaliter locum illum, scilicet hoc corpus et suae medietates, quia certum est quod totum lignum occupat suum totum locum et duae medietates occupant eundem locum totum. Igitur impossibile est quod aliquod totum occuparet totaliter totum locum, nisi aliqua alia occuparent totaliter eundem locum. Dicitur quod duae medietates non occupant totum locum, sed partes loci, scilicet duas medietates totius, quia sicut totum locatum est alia res a suis medietatibus, sic totus locus non est suae medietates. Et ideo licet duae medietates totius occupent suas medietates loci, non potest concedi ex hoc quod occupant totum locum, sed illud quod occupat totum locum est totum componitur ex duabus medietatibus locati, et non sunt duae medietates . . . Igitur totus locus non est aliud quam suae duae medietates, et per consequens omne corpus locatum est suae duae medietates. Igitur eadem ratione omne totum est suae partes.” 22 We use indifferently ‘space’ and ‘place’, because as we shall see later, Crathorn defines the place of a thing as the space it occupies. Cf. In I Sent. q. 14, p. 417. We will turn to this point in the forthcoming sections. 23 Here, it may be suggested that the main source of this theory is the Liber sex principiorum, which is often mentioned by Crathorn, and where a similar approach to space can be found. Cf. Liber sex principiorum [ Minio-Paluello] pp. 46–47: “Ubi autem aliud quidem simplex aliud vero compositum; simplex quidem est quod a simplici loco procedit, compositum autem quod ex coniuncto.”
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According to Crathorn, it follows from P1 and P2 that there should be the same number of parts in the two halves of a thing, and that there shouldn’t be as many parts in a quarter than in the rest of that very thing for example.24 Generally speaking, the number of proportional parts—be it finite or infinite—is conserved through division. It also works out when comparing two different continuous magnitudes: if a piece of wood is twice as big as another, the former has double the number of parts of the latter.25 The third principle is therefore the following: P3: if a whole W is naturally composed of n parts, if we divide W in x parts, then each of the x parts will be composed of n/x parts Considered separately, these three principles do not support a particular version of atomism, for the number n of natural parts could still be finite or infinite. Furthermore, Crathorn has not yet given an answer to Aristotle’s anti-atomist critiques. At least, we may assume that if there were an infinite number of indivisibles in a continuum, one should accept according to P3 that there are unequal infinities.26 Implicitly, Crathorn seems to reject this claim, because he uses P3 in the series of arguments tending to prove that there is a finite number of indivisibles.27 Indeed, he seems to consider that parts should be countable in some way (at least by God, it might be said). But this is not enough
24 For example, In Sent. q. 3, p. 225: “Secunda conclusio est quod non sunt tot partes in medietate continui quot in toto continuo. Primo quia totum continuum est duplum respectu suae medietatis, sed totum continuum est multitudo omnium partium continui et medietas totus est multitudo partium medietatis, igitur multitudo partium totius continui est dupla respectu multitudinis partium suae medietatis . . .” and p. 226: “Quarta conclusio est quod multitudo omnium partium medietatis continui est aequalis multitudini omnium partium alterius medietatis.” 25 Ibid. p. 226: “Quinta conclusio quod generaliter qualis est proportio continui ad continuum, talis est proportio multitudinis partium unius continui ad alterius. Unde si unum continuum sit duplum ad aliud, multitudo partium illius continui est dupla ad multitudinem partium alterius et sic de aliis proportionibus.” 26 Henry of Harclay, for example, accepts such a possibility. Cf. Murdoch, “Henry of Harclay and the Infinite.” For the medieval debates on infinity, see Côté, L’infinité divine dans la théologie médiévale (1220 –1255) and Biard & Celeyrette, De la théologie aux mathématiques. L’infini au XIV e siècle. 27 In Sent. q. 3. pp. 226–227.
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to prove the finite constitution of the continuum. Hence, in support of his finitist view, Crathorn adds another stone to the edifice: Everything which is a part of a continuum is either something actual (actualiter aliquid) or not. One cannot say rationally that it is not something actual, because one cannot understand that what is an actual part of a continuum and belongs to its essence is not something actual or a certain thing. Therefore one must say that a part of a continuum is something actual.28
Indeed, how could a thing be composed of non-things? There are no potential parts in a continuum, but only actual ones, according to P1, because parts constitute the whole as its essence. This fourth principle could be summed up as follows: P4: the parts of a whole W are all actual parts The terms ‘composition’ and ‘part’ should thus be taken in a strong sense. The parts in question are the components of reality and can, in principle, exist independently: But the same things that are called different [pieces of ] wood when they are discontinuous, these very same are called one wood and one whole when continuously joined together, in such a way that the expressions ‘the whole wood’ and ‘one wood’ signify nothing more than the essence of the parts, except from the continuation of these things with each other.29
If we add the compositionality of spaces (P2) to that claim, each part of a continuum is an actually existent thing occupying a single place. Indivisibles are parts of bodies ( partes indivisibiles) and not only mathematical points.30 Therefore, as we shall see in much more detail further down, parts must be conceived in a very strong sense as actual
28 Ibid. p. 227: “Omne id quod est pars continui, vel est actualiter aliquid vel non. Non potest dici rationabiliter quod non sit actualiter aliquid, quia istud non est intelligibile quod id quod est actu pars continui et de essentia continui, non sit actualiter aliquid nec res aliqua. Igitur oportet dicere quod pars continui sit actualiter aliquid.” 29 Ibid. p. 217: “Sed illae eaedem res numero, quae dicuntur plura ligna, quando sunt discontinuata, illae eaedem dicuntur unum lignum et unum totum quando sibi invicem continuantur, ita quod isti termini ‘totum lignum’ vel ‘unum lignum’ nihil aliud significant ultra essentiam partium nisi continuationem illarum rerum ad invicem.” 30 Ibid., p. 237: “Septimo conclusio est quod indivisibile est pars corporis continui . . . Nullum corpus continuum finitum est divisibile in infinitum; igitur cuiuslibet corporis continui finiti est aliqua pars indivisibilis.”
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things, with a certain quantity equal to the part of space in which they are located. On this point, Crathorn parts from his colleague Walter Chatton, who strongly rejects the existence of indivisibles in actu. Chatton’s opinion is particularly well expressed in the Reportatio of his Commentary on the Sentences, where he criticizes a point of view similar to Crathorn’s.31 According to Chatton, a continuum can’t be composed of actual indivisibles, for if it is the case, then the whole wouldn’t be a totum per se unum but a mere aggregate of indivisible parts.32 In Chatton’s view, indivisible parts exist are only potentially in the whole, but they would be actual if really divided. On the contrary, the existence of actual indivisible things in the continuum is one of the main arguments of Crathorn’s finitist theory, for one cannot understand an infinity of actual parts in a finite continuum. 5. The Number of Indivisibles From the elements previously posited, Crathorn infers his critique of Aristotle’s view about the infinite divisibility of a continuum, as well as Henry of Harclay’s atomist version of it.33 Crathorn clearly asserts that “no finite continuum can have an infinite number of proportional parts”.34 Considering P1 and P4, it follows that if a finite continuum were composed of an infinite number of parts, it would be a self-contradictory claim, and the continuum should be actually infinite, for its
31 Walter Chatton, Reportatio super Sententias [ Etzkorn e.a.] II, d. 2, q. 3, pp. 22–23: “Modo volo ego declinare ad hoc quod continuum componatur ex indivisibilibus in potentia, non ex indivisibilibus in actu.” 32 Ibid. p. 126: “Dico quod continuum componi ex talibus in actu includat contradictionem, quia eo ipso quod continuum et contiguum differunt oportet quod partes continui uniantur et faciant per se unum, quod si non, non facerent continuum sed contigua esse tantum.” Chatton ascribed the position he is challenging to Democritus (cf. ibid. p. 125). 33 Harclay accepts the existence of indivisibles, but they are infinite in a continuum. Crathorn frequently refers to Harclay by name. For example, In I Sent. q. 3, p. 259. 34 In Sent. q. 3, p. 226: “Nulla multitudo finita est infinita, sed si aliqua multitudo partium alicuius continui esset infinita, aliqua multitudo infinita esset finita vel aliqua multitudine finita esset infinita; igitur nullius continui multitudo partium est infinita . . .”
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parts are always actual according to P4.35 Of course, no Aristotelian philosopher would accept the existence of such an actual infinite.36 In attempting to explain this argument, Crathorn recalls that following P1 and P2, “there are as many parts of extension as [parts] of the extended thing”,37 which means that if a continuum were composed of an infinite number of parts, it would not only be composed of an infinity of places, but it would also consist in an infinite extension.38 As a corollary to this first philosophical consequence, it should be noticed that to accept the infinite division of places would imply the idea of an infinite number of places inside the continuum according to Crathorn, i.e. the existence of an infinite place by composition and addition.39 Moreover, one must also admit the possible existence of an infinite body, for “if there were an infinite number of proportional parts in a finite continuum, this finite body according to the dimension of place would stretch to the infinite”.40 Admittedly, such an infinite body can’t exist according to the Aristotelian cosmology.41 In such a context, it is clear that P2 and the notion of locus are the most important requirements for Crathorn’s position. The aforementioned strategy consists in showing that from a mereotopological point of view, the only conceivable infinity of parts is actual
35 Ibid.: “Si igitur in quolibet continuo sint actualiter infinitae partes, quod oportet dicere si in quolibet continuo sint infinitae partes, sequitur quod quodlibet continuum est actualiter infinitae partes. Igitur eadem partes continui sunt actualiter finitae, quia sunt continuum finitum, et sunt actualiter infinitae, quia in quolibet continuo sunt infinitae partes . . . igitur eadem partes sunt finitae et non finitae.” 36 Aristotle’s critique of the possibility of an actual infinity is well-known and it is not necessary to review it in this context. Cf. Physics, book III and VI in particular. For the medieval background, see Murdoch, “Infinity and Continuity.” 37 In Sent. q. 3, p. 227: “Tot sunt partes extensionis quot rei extensae.” 38 Ibid. p. 227: “. . . sicut tota res extensa correspondet toti extensioni, sic medietas rei extensae medietati extensionis, et secunda pars proportionalis rei extensae correspondet secundae parti proportionali extensionis, et sic de aliis partibus proportionalibus. Igitur si continuum est infinitae partes, est infinitae partes extensae. Igitur si continuum finitum est infinita secundum multitudinem, ista est infinita secundum extensionem.” 39 Ibid. p. 228: “Aliter potest dici quod partes continui sunt infinitae secundum multitudinem sed finitae secundum locum, quia sunt in loco finito. Sed contra: locus non est aliud quam partes loci; sed partes loci sunt infinitae secundum se si partes rei locatae sint infinitae, quia medietas totius locati est in medietate totius loci et medietas medietatis locati est in mediate medietatis loci; igitur quot sunt partes proportionales illius locati tot sunt partes proportionales illius loci. Sed multitudo partium proportionalium illius locati est infinita; igitur multitudo partium proportionalium illius loci est infinita.” 40 Ibid. p. 229: “Si in aliquo continuo finito essent partes proportionales infinitae, illud corpus finitum secundum omnem dimensionem loci extenderetur in infinitum.” 41 See for example, Aristotle, De caelo, I, 5 et 7.
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and not just potential, because if we start thinking from the point of view of the part-whole relation we cannot consider parts as mere potential units. Here, the most original feature of the argument rests on the use Crathorn makes of the notion of place. Indeed, beyond his adherence to the four principles P1 to P4, it follows that to each indivisible part corresponds a single place and a single position (situs punctualis), and therefore a kind of quantity, as we will see in the next chapters. If not, the arguments of the infinite extension and the infinite body would fail. It is illuminating to compare Crathorn’s solution to similar arguments given by some of his contemporaries. As an example, Gerard of Odo in Paris, who wrote his Commentary on the Sentences and other small tracts on the continuum a few years earlier than Crathorn, also uses the argument of actual infinities for his own finitist theory.42 Its form is indeed quite the same: if we suppose that a continuum is composed of an infinite number of parts, this continuum should be itself actually infinite.43 Odo’s followers and critics will also report this argument as a major one. For example, it is to be found in John the Canon’s Questions on the eight books of the Physics 44 and in Gaetano of Thiene’s Collection on the eight books of the Physics.45 Even infinitists such as Nicholas of Autrecourt and Nicholas Bonetus used this argument.46 Whether or not Crathorn is the first to have used this argument, he nonetheless has a particular place in this story, for it isn’t likely that he was influenced by Gerard of Odo or John the Canon, who both were See Sander de Boer’s contribution in this volume for the context of the argument. Gerard of Odo, De continuo, Ms. Madrid, Bibl. nac. 4229, ff. 179rb–va (quoted by S. de Boer in this volume): “Omne totum compositum ex magnitudinibus multitudine infinitis, sicut componitur cubitus ex duobus semicubitis, est magnitudo actu infinita. Sed non est dare magnitudinem actu infinitam. Ergo nullum continuum est divisibile in infinitum.” 44 John the Canon, Quaestiones super octo libros Physicorum Aristotelis [ Venice, 1520], f. 59vb: “De totum compositum ex partibus vel magnitudinibus multitudine infinitis, sicut componitur cubitus ex duobus semicubitus, est magnitudo infinita; sed nullum continuum est magnitudo actu infinita.” 45 Gaetano of Thiene, Recollectae super octo libros Physicorum [Venise, 1496], f. 38vb: “. . . si continuum componitur ex semper divisibilibus ipsum in infinitum excedit aliam magnitudinem et est actu infinitum . . .” 46 For example, Nicholas of Autrecourt, Exigit ordo [O’Donnell], p. 212, ll. 29–42: “Dicerent autem contra hoc forsan: si punctum additum puncto faciunt majus et extensionem quamdam et tres faciunt majus quam duo et sic semper et ibi sint infinita, sequitur quod ibi sit infinita extensio.” On this point, cf. Grellard, “Les présupposés méthodologiques de l’atomisme: la théorie du continu de Nicolas d’Autrécourt et Nicolas Bonet.” 42
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in Paris at that time, or by Nicholas of Autrecourt who wrote his Exigit ordo at the very same time. It seems more likely that Crathorn and his contemporaries were inspired by their Oxonian predecessors Henry of Harclay and Walter Chatton. The Chancellor of the University of Oxford, Henry of Harclay, affirmed that a continuum is composed of an infinite number of indivisibles, but he accepted only one sort of actual infinite: the straight line.47 But according to him it is not rational to extend this for a surface or a body. As a consequence, Harclay considered indivisibles as potential parts and would probably have refused Crathorn’s mereological principles. Nevertheless the attack on actual infinitism already existed in embryonic form in Harclay’s position, and Crathorn probably found his starting point in it, adding to this intuition his mereological principles. More probable still is Walter Chatton’s influence on Crathorn,48 for he will use a similar argument based on the actual infinite, although he didn’t attach as much importance to the notions of locus and situs.49 One of the reasons for this difference of opinion is that indivisibles are still considered as potential parts of the whole continuum in Chatton’s view.50 They cannot exist separately, therefore they cannot have a single place on their own. From this point of view, Crathorn’s position is quite original in the atomist family. While using a common matrix of arguments, he is the only one who emphasizes both the mereological composition of 47 On this point, cf. Murdoch, “Henry of Harclay and the Infinite” (in particular p. 233). 48 It might be noticed that Crathorn doesn’t agree with Chatton on several points. For references to Chatton, see In Sent. q. 3. pp. 261 and 265. 49 Walter Chatton, Quaestio de continuo, in. Murdoch & Synan, “Two questions on the continum: Walter Chatton(?), O.F.M. and Adam Wodeham, O.F.M.,” p. 258: “. . . responsio ad primum: dico quod sunt finita. Ad philosophum dico quod continuum esse divisibile in infinitum potest intelligi: vel quod in continuo sint actu infinite partes, quarum quelibet est extra aliam et nulla est alia, que possunt dividi ad invicem, et hoc est falsum et contra rationem . . .” 50 See the texts quoted above at the end of the previous section. See also Walter Chatton, Quaestio de continuo, in. Murdoch et Synan, “Two questions on the continuum: Walter Chatton(?), O.F.M. and Adam Wodeham, O.F.M.” p. 246: “Istis suppositis, teneo 3 conclusiones. Prima: quod non componitur continuum ex indivisibilibus in actu, quia inter terminos est contradiccio ‘continuum’ et ‘indivisibile in actu’ quia, si sit continuum, igitur partes eius sic se habent quod nulla est in actu per se existens separata ab alia; et si sit indivisibile in actu, est per se existens separatum ab alio eiusdem rei. Oppositum dicit Democritus ponens continuum fieri ex athomis, tantum per congregationem quandam continuatis . . .”
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things and spaces as well as the actuality of parts.51 But his singularity comes from his use of the notion of locus. Indeed, the arguments of the actual infinity of parts and infinite extension require P2 and the coincidence between indivisible parts and single places for its efficacy. Moreover, Crathorn contends that ‘whole’ and ‘part’ are only imposed to signify the local conjunction of indivisible places.52 In this respect, he is probably one of the more consequent atomists, because if an indivisible were not considered as an indivisible part, with a kind of extension resulting from the minimal place it can fill, all the previous argumentation would fail. Gerard of Odo, for example, whose theory is very close to Crathorn’s, is not consistent when he seems to consider indivisibles as unextended.53 Here again, Crathorn is indebted to Harclay’s analysis of contact between indivisibles when he tries to define contiguity and continuity of atoms thanks to the central notion of place. 6. Contiguity and Continuity Aristotle’s well-known paradox formulated in the sixth book of the Physics arises when asking the atomist how two atoms can generate an increase in size.54 It raises the problem of the contact between indivisibles, for two things can touch together parts to parts, whole to whole, or parts to whole, Aristotle said. Having no parts, atoms can Except from Crathorn, there were no other philosophers at Oxford, as far as I know, who held this view about the actuality of indivisible parts of a continuum. In Chatton’s Reportatio, the reportator ascribes this position to some contemporaries. Cf. Walter Chatton, Reportatio super Sententias [ Etzkorn e.a.] II, d. 2, q. 3, p. 136: “Sed secundum usum modernorum, potest componi ex actu indivisibilibus, quia vocat actu tale quod est tale extra animam et extra causam, quantumcumque non sit separatum ab alio; componitur ergo ex actu indivisibilibus, id est ex non habentibus partes.” (italics mine) It’s impossible to know to whom Chatton was refering in this text (written around 1322–23). If we believe Gregory of Rimini, the finitist position, with actual or potential indivisibles, was common among his contemporaries. Cf. Gregory of Rimini, Lectura super secundum Sententiarum [ Trapp], t. II, d. 2, q. 2, p. 278: “Nec potest dici, sicut communis dicunt tenentes huiusmodi compositionem ex indivisibilibus, quod componatur ex finitis tantum indivisibilibus.” We don’t know whether Gregory had Chatton, Odo or Crathorn in mind, or some other unknown philosopher. At the end of the fourteenth century, Wyclif held a position very similar to Crathorn’s own thesis. For Wyclif, see the references in the next sections. 52 In Sent. q. 3, p. 224: “. . . hoc nomen ‘totum’ et hoc nomen ‘pars’, . . . imponuntur a locali coniunctione rerum, quae coniunctio non est aliud quam loca vel partes loci.” 53 As it is revealed in the texts quoted by Sander W. de Boer in this volume. 54 Aristotle, Physics VI, 1, 231a29–b6. 51
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only touch whole to whole, and this makes no increase in size but a mere superposition; now, superposition non facit maius.55 When replying to this famous objection, Henry of Harclay claims that Aristotle missed the point, because the Stagirite used to consider indivisibles in one and the same position (situs), but according to him, indivisibles can touch according to different positions (secundum distinctos situs) and this way they can cause an increase in size.56 Henry of Haclay doesn’t develop this point further, but Crathorn will explain this point very clearly.57 To my mind, the interesting idea that emerges from these topological elements is the idea of a reference landmark, thanks to which atoms can be located by their respective positions. This is not totally extraneous to Aristotle’s cosmology, since similar tools can be found in the De caelo for example.58 Moreover, Aristotle sometimes defines a point as a substance with a position, as in the Posterior analytics.59 But the appeal to locus and situs of indivisibles is problematic for philosophers
55 On this argument and the consecutive medieval debates, see Murdoch, “Superposition, Congruence and Continuity in the Middle Ages.” 56 Henry de Harclay, Quaestio de infinito et continuo, Mss Tortosa Catedral 88, f. 89r and Florence, Biblioteca Nazionale, Fondo principale, II. II. 281, f. 98r–v (quoted in Murdoch, “Henry of Harclay and the Infinite,” p. 244): “Sed, licet hec responsio sufficeret ad hominem, non tamen est realis responsio. Et ideo pono aliam et dico quod indivisibile tangit indivisibile secundum totum, sed potest hoc esse dupliciter: vel totum tangit totum in eodem situ, et tunc est superpositio sicut dicit Commentator, et non faciunt infinita indivisibilia plus quam unum. . . . Et ideo dico quod non propter indivisibilitatem quod unum indivisibile sic additum indivisibili non facit maius extensive, sed quia additur ei secundum eundem situm et non secundum distinctum situm. Si tamen indivisibile applicetur immediate ad indivisibile secundum distinctum situm, potest magis facere secundum situm.” 57 Gerard of Odo, for example, will follow Harclay’s text to the letter. Cf. Gerard of Odo, De continuo, Ms. Oxford, Bodleian Can. Misc. 177, f. 230v (quoted in Murdoch, “Superposition, Congruence and Continuity . . .,” p. 435): “Dico quod totum indivisibile tangit totum aliud indivisibile, non tamen secundum omnem differentiam situs, sed secundum unam tantum, scilicet secundum ante vel secundum retro et sic de aliis. Unde si unum indivisibile tangeret aliud indivisibile secundum omnem differentiam loci, scilicet secundum ante et retro et secundum alias differentias omnes, tunc bene sequitur quod indivisibilia non essent loco discreta nec constituerent aliquod maius. Sed si unum tangit reliquum secundum unam differentiam loci, ideo sunt loco discreta et constituunt aliquod maius.” 58 Cf. Aristotle, De caelo, II, 2. 59 Aristotle, Posterior analytics, I, 27, 87a36. As Rega Wood points out in her chapter in this volume, this surprising assertion by Aristotle has been ignored by a majority of medieval philosophers, although Robert Grosseteste paid some attention to it in his commentary. Cf. Robert Grosseteste, Commentarius in Posteriorum analyticorum libros, 1, 18 [ Rossi], p. 258.
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such as Henry of Harclay or Gerard of Odo, who do not conceive of indivisibles as occupying places. In fact, how could indivisibles occupy a place if they are neither extended nor actual things? Again, Aristotle himself raised this point explicitly. When criticizing the atomists in De generatione et corruptione (I, 2) Aristotle repeated the argument from the Physics saying that it is not possible for a quantity to come from non-quantitative things.60 He immediately added: “Furthermore, where will the points be?”61 When he turned back to the problem of the continuum in chapter 6 of book I, Aristotle insisted on the notion of contact, thanks to which continuity can be conceived. But, as he contended, the notion of contact cannot be understood without the notion of position, which in turn relies on the notion of place. Nevertheless, ‘contact’ in its proper sense belongs only to things which have a ‘position’, and ‘position’ belongs to those things which have also a ‘place’.62
Touch always occurs between two situated things because things in contact need to be in a certain spatial relation. These touching things, Aristotle said, also need to have a certain discrete magnitude, for if not they cannot touch.63 So, when reading the De generatione et corruptione, the medieval philosophers could find the key to the problem of contiguity and continuity: to ascribe a place and a certain magnitude to the indivisibles. But other sources could be used, as the Liber sex principiorum which is sometimes cited by Crathorn and where one can find a similar notion of indivisible places for points and body’s minima.64 Due to the need to consider indivisibles as occupying a single place, Crathorn is able to reconstruct contact between things and their continuity from the notions of locus and situs. As he told us in a passage of his Questions on the Sentences:
Cf. Aristotle, De generatione et corruptione, I, 2, 316b5. Ibid. 62 Aristotle, De generatione et corruptione, I, 6, 322b30–323a5. 63 Ibid. 64 Liber sex principiorum [ Minio-Paluello] pp. 46–47: “Locus autem simplex est origo et constitutio eius quod continuorum est, locus vero (ut dictum est quidem) compositus habet particulas quidem ad eundem terminum copulatas ad quem et corporis particule coniunguntur, corporis vero partes ad punctum. Loci ergo partes iuxta punctum necesse fieri; erit itaque locus simplex in quo punctum adiacere constabit, loci vero particule soliditatis particulas claudunt; etenim loca quidem simplicia minimi corporis occupativa sunt.” 60 61
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What continuity in fact is will become clear below when asking whether God is ubiquitous (q. 15). There it will be said, indeed, what is place, and once the nature of place is understood, one can easily see what is continuity and discontinuity, and what is contiguity.65
John E. Murdoch has already noticed that the notion of situs used by Harclay implies a physicalist version of the indivisible, even if Harclay doesn’t develop his view in this way.66 If Harclay didn’t take the plunge, Crathorn seems to have thought of indivisibles in this physicalist fashion. Crathorn’s goal is to redefine the problematic notions in Aristotle’s critique of atomism. If two things are continuous, according to Aristotle, their limits have to be one, and if they are contiguous, the extremities of the things must be together.67 The strongest attack against atomists comes from this characterization of continuity and contiguity. Therefore, Crathorn suggests an alternative definition: [contiguity] has to be defined in this way: “contiguous things are situated and located things, between which there is no intermediary place or position,” and this definition suits for bodies, surfaces, lines and points.68
It should be objected to this definition that contiguity never explains continuity.69 But since Crathorn adds the clause of non-existence of interparticulate spaces between indivisibles, contiguity becomes continuity, because they produce a new thing without any vacuum in it. Therefore, properly speaking, a continuous thing is full of matter, there is no empty space in it, no void. This is true, in slightly different senses, for every kind of entity, including time.
65 In Sent. q. 4, p. 218: “Quid vero sit continuitas patebit infra, cum quaeretur utrum deus sit ubique; tunc enim dicetur quid est locus, et intellecto quid est locus, cito potest videri quid est continuatio et quid dicontinuatio et quid contiguitas.” 66 Murdoch, “Henry of Harclay and the Infinite,” p. 244: “It is clear that in claiming that indivisibles can touch according to distinct positions Harclay was considering these indivisibles not as absolutely extensionless entities they really were, but as if they were physical things.” It is not absolutely evident that Harclay was not aware of this physicalist consequence. Nevertheless, it would be incompatible with his infinitism. On the contrary, it is clear enough that Crathorn endorsed consciously these physicalist implications. 67 Aristotle, Physics, VI, 321a21–25. 68 In Sent. q. 3, p. 255: “Sed debet sic definiri: ‘contigua sunt situata vel locata, inter quae non est locus vel situs medius’, et ista definitio competit corporibus et superficiebus, lineis et punctis.” 69 We find this argument in Chatton’s Reportatio for example. Cf. Reportatio super Sententias [ Etzkorn e.a.], d. 2, q. 3, p. 126.
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aurélien robert For a thing to be continuous is nothing but its parts being joined together in a local or a temporal way, without any intermediary place or time [ between them], and these parts being joined, they hold together or mutually succeed in place or in time without subtraction of place or time. It follows that the continuity of a body, of a line or a surface, is the continuity of the parts of place, because parts are said to be continuously located according to the continuity of the parts of place . . .70
From the beginning, Crathorn presupposes that an indivisible occupies a single place and that it must consequently have a certain quantity. This is implied by the argument from actual infinity and also from the aforementioned definition of contiguity and continuity. Aristotle himself thought that position and place should imply weight or lightness in some sense.71 Indeed, Aristotle’s target was mainly the possibility of touching unextended points, but not of touching things (i.e. something with a place, a position and a certain extension). Crathorn’s reappraisal of contiguity and continuity seems to work as follows: Aristotle was right in claiming that extensionless points cannot touch, but if points or indivisibles were given a certain place and extension, they could touch according to their contiguous positions. Crathorn’s theory is in some sense a reinterpretation of Aristotle, paying attention to the physical possibilities of his cosmology. The keystone of Crathorn’s atomist theory is thus to have considered that indivisibles may have a sort of quantity and extension. How are the notions of place, extension and quantity linked in Crathorn’s thought? 7. Extended and Qualified Atoms In a long discussion on the category of quantity (q. 14) and on the quantity of indivisibles in particular (q. 15), Crathorn incidentally 70 In Sent. q. 16, pp. 456–457: “Rem esse continuam non est aliud quam partes illius rei sibi invicem coniungi localiter vel temporaliter sine loco vel tempore medio et tales partes sic coniunctas simul teneri vel sibi invicem succedere vel loco vel tempore sine interceptione loci vel tempori. Unde continuitas corporis vel lineae vel superficiei est continuitas partium loci, quia continuitate partium loci dicuntur partes locatae continue . . .” 71 Aristotle, De generatione et corruptione, I, 6, 323a10: “Now, since position belongs to such things as also have a ‘place’, and the primary differentiation of ‘place’ is ‘above’ and ‘below’ and other such pairs of opposites, all things which are in contact with one another would have ‘weight’ and ‘lightness’, either both of these qualities or one of them.”
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examines the nature of place.72 This addition is not fortuitous as we shall see. The nature of quantity was probably one of the most debated topics in the fourteenth-century natural philosophy. The question usually was to know whether quantity is a distinct and real category or if it is reducible to substance and/or quality for example. As an example, William of Ockham endeavoured to reduce the ten Aristotelian categories to mere names and concepts, but he thought that there really were existing singular substances and singular qualities in the world, which are signified by terms from the ten categories. Substance terms (as ‘homo’) signify only singular substances, quality terms (as ‘albedo’) signify only singular qualities; the other eight categories signify only substances and qualities and are distinguished by the way they refer to them, i.e. by their connotations. On the contrary, other authors such as Walter Burley will accept other categories as real. The medieval positions are so numerous that it is impossible to mention them all here.73 Concerning categories in general, Crathorn holds a strong and radical view, even more than Ockham’s own position, for he thinks that the very same thing can be either a substance, a quality or a quantity.74 It would be too long to detail Crathorn’s analysis of the aristotelian categories in this paper,75 but his aim is to show several points: that there are only atoms and that no one can be called properly a substance with respect to the others; that quantity is nothing real except the situated atoms; that quality also flows from the very nature of the atoms; that place is nothing else than the local organization of atoms; etc. On quantity in particular, Crathorn invites us to distinguish between two kinds of quantitas: according to dimension (quantitas dimensiva) and according to perfection or value (quantitas perfectiva). To begin with the quantitas perfectiva, Crathorn is quick to admit that it is not something different from the thing itself, because the value or perfection of some entity is nothing else than its very nature or essence. Nonetheless, though things have a natural perfection, they are not 72 In Sent. q. 14, p. 411: “Hic interponitur una questio de loco . . . Utrum locus proprie loquendo de loco sit aliquid reale productum a Deo vel a creatura.” 73 For an overview of some of these positions, cf. Biard & Rosier-Catach (eds), La tradition médiévale des catégories; and Lamy, Substance et quantité à la fin du XIII e et au début du XIV e siècle. 74 In Sent. q. 17, p. 462: “Secunda conclusio est quod eadem res numero est substantia, quantitas, qualitas . . .” 75 I am preparing a paper on this topic.
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equivalent to one another, for they can be compared. Two equivalent portions of different essences are not equivalent: a bit of gold is not equivalent to a bit of lead, even if they have the same weight and dimension. And this is perfectly appropriate for indivisibles as well. An indivisible is an actual thing, it has a natural perfection, which can be compared with others: an atom of gold is not equivalent to an atom of lead.76 As a consequence, indivisibles are not the undifferentiated atoms of Democritus or Epicurus. There are atoms of gold, of lead, etc. This sounds as a modern chemical theory of elemental atoms, but Crathorn prefers to call ‘points’ or ‘indivisibles’ the minimal parts of things rather than ‘atoms’. After accepting that there are points of gold, could he admit that those indivisibles have any quantity, in the sense of an extension or a dimension? Once again, Crathorn still presupposes that indivisibles have a kind of extension when explaining what he understands by ‘points of gold’, but he never explicitly says that they are extended.77 Turning then to the quantitas dimensiva, Crathorn refuses, as for quantitas perfectiva, to admit that this kind of quantity should be something different from the thing itself. Quantity does not have an independent mode of being. But Crathorn also refuses to identify dimension with the thing itself. Of course, quantity depends on the indivisibles and their order, but cannot be identified with them, because a thing can increase or decrease in size without changing its nature.78 A compressed sponge remains the same sponge in essence. Then, how can dimension be apprehended? Crathorn’s answer is not surprising: quantity according
76 In Sent. q. 14, p. 405: “Secunda conclusio est quod res omnino indivisibilis, quae scilicet non habet partem extra partem nec partem inexistentem parti, est quanta secundum perfectionem et valorem, cuiusmodi sunt deus et angeli, sicut communiter ponitur. Similiter talis res est punctum auri omnino indivisibilis, quia scilicet non habet partem extra partem nec partem inexistentem parti, et hoc patet sic: Talis res essentialiter excedit aliam et aequivalet plures res sicut punctum auri praedicto modo indivisibile essentialiter excedit punctum plumbi consimiliter indivisibile et aequivalet plura puncta plumbea praedicto modo indivisibilia. Igitur tales res indivisibiles sunt essentialiter quantae et quantitates illo modo, quo res dicuntur quantae secundum perfectionem et valorem.” (italics mine). 77 In Sent. q. 14, p. 405: “Quod autem sint talia puncta aurea, quae sunt partes auro omnino indivisibilis, quae puncta non habent partem extra partem nec partem inexistentem parti, probatio: quia sit a unum punctum aureum habens partem extra partem, quod opportet concedere de quolibet auro finito scilicet quod habeat partem sui, que pars non habet partem extra partem; aliter aurum finitae longitudinis esset infinitae longitudinis, sicut probavi supra . . .” 78 Cf. In Sent. q. 14, pp. 406–407.
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to dimension is nothing other than the place or space occupied by the quantified thing.79 Here we are, the notion of locus is back. Now, how to define place? First of all, place is immobile, it is not a real thing and it is not the limits of a body.80 What does it mean when it is said that place is not a real thing produced by God? It means that place is not a real category, no more than quantity. When a part of space is not occupied by something, it is empty, that is to say it is void, which means that place is firstly a purum nihil.81 Therefore, the classical arguments of impenetrability of bodies and place don’t work here, because space itself is nothing real. Thus, the same space can be called either void or place, and even quantity or dimension. Place is a part of space (according to P2) filled by something having a certain quantity and a certain position. It functions as a system of measure or as a natural cadastre with no ontological reality, and it simply allows us to determine the position of each indivisibles. The quantitas dimensiva of a thing is thus defined by the space it occupies, i.e. by its place in the
79 In Sent. q. 14, p. 411: “. . . quantitas dimensiva vel dimensio rei dimensionatae est dimensio spatii, in quo est res, et partes dimensionis sunt partes spatii, ita quod longitudo aeris non est aliud quam longitudo spatii, in quo aer est, et latitudo aeris est eiusdem spatii latitudo, et profunditas eiusdem spatii profunditas. Et idem est intelligendum de longitudine, latitudine et profunditate cuiuscumque rei longae, latae et profundae, et istud patet quasi ad sensum, quia rem esse longam nihil aliud est quam rem esse in longo spatio . . .” 80 In Sent. q. 14, p. 412–413: “Ad cuius intellectum primo probo istam conclusionem quod de ratione loci est quod sit omnino immobilis . . . Secunda conclusio est quod locus non est aliquid positivum reale . . . Tertia conclusio est quod locus non est ultimum corporis continentis loquendo proprie de loco.” 81 In Sent. q. 14, p. 417: “Ad quartum dicendum quod quando nihil est in spatio, id est, quando nulla res positiva est in spatio, tunc spatium non est locus sed vacuum; quando autem aliquid est in spatio vel ponitur de novo in spatio, tunc id idem, quod prius fuit vacuum et non locus, fit plenum et locus. Vacuum esse non est impossibile, sed necessarium, quia extra caelum est vacuum infinitum, in istis autem inferioribus per potentiam Dei posset esse vacuum et est pro aliquo tempore . . . Ad sextum dicendum quod locus nihil est, et concedo quod locatum est in illo quod est pure nihil, et potest poni in illo quod est pure nihil, sicut Deus posset ponere hominem in spatium extra caelum, et tamen illud spatium est pure nihil”. Aristotle already pointed out that, according to his adversaries, the notion of void implies the notion of a place deprived of a body. Cf. Physics IV, 1, 208b26. Cf. Grant, Much Ado about Nothing, pp. 9–13. Elsewhere, Crathorn defines ‘place’ as an imaginary or purely intellectual thing: “Locus vero non est aliqua res accipiendo hoc nomen ‘res’ primo modo, sed tantum est res intelligibiliter et imaginative proprie loquendo de loco, ut infra ostendetur.” (q. 3, p. 224).
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general world’s landmark.82 It is worth noticing that this conception of space is fairly original in the Middle Ages.83 On several occasions, Crathorn seems to admit that an indivisible can occupy a punctual place, for he always uses P2 and its finitist corollary in this context,84 and accepts the existence of locus punctualis.85 Unfortunately, it is never specified whether punctual place is either one, two, or three-dimensional. But if punctual place were one or two-dimensional, this wouldn’t help the demonstration of the existence of indivisibles, for the aporia of touching points would still be threatening with regard to places. How could unextended places touch each other? Anyway, from P2 and from the conclusion that the number of indivisibles is finite, we may assume that punctual places can be at least in some cases three-dimensional—in bodies for example. In q. 15, even if he is more concerned with the cases of angels and souls, Crathorn concludes: To the question I say that it doesn’t seem to me irrational to say that something absolutely indivisible be essentially long, large and deep, if something absolutely indivisible could be essentially in a long, large and deep space.86
It is important to note that this does not mean that indivisible parts and places are extended in the same way as a body, because indivisibles have no configuration in space. They are qualified, extended in some way, but positions cannot be distinguished inside an indivisible, that is to say that points do not have sides, orientation, nor angles. Nevertheless, as a locus punctualis is contiguous to another and both cannot coincide,
82 In Sent. q. 14, p. 419: “Locus et locatus sunt aequalia secundum dimensionem . . . et isto modo res locata dicitur aequalis suo loco vel spatio in quo est, quia locus vel spatium est dimensio vel dimensiones ipsius rei locatae.” 83 For an overview of medieval doctrine of space, see Grant, “Place and Space in Medieval Physical Thought” and idem “The medieval Doctrine of Place: Some Fundamental Problems and Solutions”. Let us note that Crathorn’s description of space seems far closer to the one professed by Francesco Patrizi (1529–97) than to the views of his contemporaries. 84 In Sent. q. 14, p. 419: “. . . res locata dicitur aequalis suo loco vel spatio, in quo est, quia ipse locus vel spatium est dimensio vel dimensiones ipsius rei locatae. Isto habito arguo sic: quanta est multitudo partium spatii vel loci, tanta est praecise multitudo partium rei locatae situ et loco distinctarum, neque maior neque minor.” 85 For example, In Sent. q. 16, p. 456. We will turn to this notion with more details in a subsequent section when examining the nature of motion (section 8). 86 In Sent. q. 15, p. 440: “Ad quaestionem dico quod non apparet mihi irrationabile dicere quod aliqua res omnino indivisibilis essentialiter sit longa, lata et profunda, si aliqua res omnino indivisibilis essentialiter possit esse in spatio longo, lato et profundo.”
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three points or three indivisible places may form a continuum and each part will be situated relatively to the other with a certain orientation, and with angles.87 Therefore, what he calls ‘points’ should have a certain quantity or dimension, even though they are indivisibles. Crathorn’s originality is thus to have developed some intuitions concerning the importance of the notion of place already present in some other philosophical texts.88 Now that the nature of indivisibles has been reconstructed, the last points still to be dealt with are the principles of Crathorn’s atomist physics we announced at the beginning of this paper. How could one explain natural phenomena from this minimal analysis of the ultimate components of reality? Let us turn first to the explanation of motion, from which the rest will follow. 8. The Explanation of Motion As a consequence of the continuum’s mereotopological structure, motion will be defined as a local motion of atoms. Just as the continuum is composed out of indivisibles, motion is made of atoms of motion.89 If we analyse in detail the nature of motion, it is composed of parts which are atoms covering a certain space in a determinate time. In other words, Crathorn says: What is moved was in a certain place, in which it is not for the time being, and will be in a certain place, in which it is not for the time being, 87 In Sent. q. 3, p. 259: “. . . licet nihil sit rectum vel obliquum nisi divisibile et ideo punctum non est rectum nec obliquum, quia est indivisibile, tamen unum punctum potest continuari alteri puncto secundum situm rectum . . .” 88 Chatton however was close to discovering a similar solution when he wrote: “Ad secundum: quid vocas esse quantum? Si quod habeat partes eiusdem racionis, dico quod indivisibile non habet partes, nec est quantum, quia includit contradiccionem; si quod sit pars quanti, vel quod sit talis res que cum alia re eiusdem racionis componit quantum, concedo.” (Quaestio de continuo [Murdoch & Synan], p. 259). Nicholas of Autrecourt will also have this kind of intuition in the Exigit ordo [O’Donnell], pp. 207–208: “. . . vel per quantum intelligis habens propriam situalitatem et esse circumscriptive et sic concedo quod punctum potest dici quantum, et tunc non poteris secundum hoc concludere ex non quanto fieri quantum.” See also the brief description of Wyclif ’s atomism in the section 10 of this chapter. For more details on Wyclif, see Emily Michael’s chapter in this volume. 89 In Sent. q. 16, p. 443: “Circa primum sciendum quod sicut supra tenui quod corpus continuum componitur ex indivisibilibus, ita teneo quod motus componitur ex mutationibus subitis.” Here Crathorn doesn’t use the vocabulary of mutata esse, but the idea is quite similar.
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Of course, this general definition of motion is suitable for bodies as well as for indivisibles.91 As indivisibles can be contiguously situated, all that is necessary for them to be moved is to pass from a punctual place to another contiguous punctual place in a given time made of a certain number of instants. This conception of motion requires the existence of void, for an atom must arrive in an empty punctual place when moving, and we have seen that Crathorn accepts this point without any kind of hesitation. How to understand the continuity of motion from this general account of local motion? Here, one must always have in mind the idea of a cadastral system. As Crathorn wrote, “one must know that time is to motion what place is to body”.92 The parallelism of space and time goes much further, because as place is nothing really existing but only empty space that could be filled out by an atom or a body, time and instants too are nothing but a measure of length, they are not things (res).93 “As place is the measure of a continuous body, time is [the measure] of a continuous motion”.94 Each point occupies a distinct position in space and can change from one place to another in one or more instants of time. Therefore, a continuous motion will be the one by which a mobile passes from one place to another contiguous one in one instant—i.e. passing from an instant to another one contiguous to the former. But this theory of motion raises some new problems, in particular for the understanding of variations of speed.
90 In Sent. q. 3, p. 255: “. . . illud quod movetur fuit in aliquo loco, in quo modo non est, et erit in aliquo loco, in quo modo non est, et loquendo de locis illius spatii quod mobile pertransit illo motu.” 91 In Sent. q. 3, p. 255: “Ad quartum dico quod punctum potest moveri et movetur quandocumque corpus movetur . . .” 92 In Sent. q. 16, p. 455: “Sciendum igitur quod tempus se habet ad motum sicut locus ad corpus.” 93 In Sent. q. 16, p. 450: “Instans vero se habet ad mutationem sicut locus punctualis ad punctum. Sicut enim locus punctualis non est punctum vocando punctum aliquid reale indivisibile situaliter nec est aliquid reale positivum distinctum realiter a puncto, sed spatium indivisibile, in quo est tale punctum reale positivum, sic instans non est mutatio vocando mutationem aliquid positivum reale subito et indistincte acquisitum alicui nec est aliquid positivum reale distinctum ab illo, sed est duratio indivisibilis, in qua duratio talis acquiritur.” 94 In Sent. q. 3, p. 242: “Sicut locus est mensura corporis continui, sic tempus motus continui.”
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9. The Analysis of Speed An indivisible cannot pass from a punctual space to another one which is not contiguous without passing through all the punctual spaces in between. It cannot jump from one place to another distant one.95 Variations of speed can only be explained by the variation of time a mobile can take to move from one place to another. This rather puzzling assertion entails another strange conclusion: given the fact that punctual spaces and instants are the indivisible units for measuring motion, if a mobile goes from one punctual space to the next contiguous one in one instant, the ratio of space and time will always be equal to one. Moreover, the speed of any continuous motion will always be the higher speed ever reachable by a mobile, because motion cannot take less time than one instant to cover one punctual space. If a point is moved over three points, it will be moved continuously over this space in a time composed of three indivisibles. And it doesn’t matter how much the motive power is increased, it cannot be moved faster, because continuous motion is the fastest.96
Crathorn doesn’t deny that there can be variations of speed, but they must be understood by discontinuity of motion. As an example, an indivisible can move over three punctual spaces through six instants. There are times of rest during the changing of places that sensitive cognition cannot grasp.97 Several examples are given, and Crathorn seems to be very proud of this thesis about speed when affirming that
95 This sort of theory existed in the Arabic tradition. For a brief overview of these Arabic atomist theories, cf. Pines, Beiträge zur islamischen Atomenlehre; Wolfson, The philosophy of the Kalam; Baffioni, Atomismo e Antiatomismo nel Pensiero Islamico; Jolivet, La théologie et les Arabes. On the extension of atoms in the Mutakallimun, see Dhanani, The physical theory of Kalam. On al-Ash’ari in particular, cf. Gimaret, La doctrine d’al-Ash’ari, I, 1 et III. 96 In Sent. q. 3, p. 256: “Si punctum moveatur super trium punctorum, movebitur continue super illud spatium in tempore composito ex tribus indivisibilibus. Et quantumcumque virtus motiva augeatur, non potest moveri velocius, quia motus continuus est velocissimus.” 97 Ibid. p. 256: “Si vero ponatur quod punctum motum moveatur per spatium trium punctorum discontinue, hoc potest contingere multipliciter: uno modo sic quod quiescat in quolibet puncto spatii per duo instantia, alio modo per tria, alio modo per quattuor et sic de aliis numeris, et talis motus potest sic velocitari. Unde si esset virtus motiva in tali gradu quod moveret punctum per spatium trium punctorum in sex instantibus, alia virtus quae esset dupla respectu primae, moveret id punctum per spatium trium punctorum in tribus instantibus . . . Sed apareat nobis quod multi motus sunt continui, cum tamen non sunt continui propter quietes interceptas, quas non percipimus.” Cf. also p. 258.
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he has proved this point during the year of redaction of his Questions on the Sentences.98 Actually, we must limit Crathorn’s self-conceit about this paternity. Indeed, it might be noticed that this theory of speed is not Crathorn’s privilege and that he could have been aware of some version of it from elsewhere. Very early in the Middle Ages, the Arabic theologians of the Kalam developed several different atomist theories. Some of them were really similar to Crathorn’s own view with regard to the importance attached to place, position and extension in the definition of atoms.99 More striking is the fact that some of them had the very same idea about the speed of a continuous motion: variations of speed have to be explained by times of rest in motion.100 Of course, this kind of analysis of speed directly flows from the atomist view of time and space, whoever develops it. But could Crathorn have known such an Arabic source? It is difficult to decide, but we know that this theory was available in the Latin West quite early thanks to the Latin translation of Maimonides’s Guide of the perplexed, in which he criticized in detail the Mutakallimun’s analysis of speed.101 In the Dux perplexorum, Maimonides summed up the atomist theory of the Mutakallimun in twelve points, among which the existence of simple
98 In Sent. q. 16, p. 456: “Ex dictis patet evidenter una conclusio, quam probavi isto anno, scilicet quod omnis motus vere continuus est velocissimus et quod implicat contradictionem unum motum vere continuum esse velociorem alio motu vere continuo.” Crathorn probably refers to a university lecture different from his Questions on the Sentences or to some still undiscovered text. 99 See footnote 95 for bibliographical references. 100 Cf. Ibrahim & Sagadeyef, Classical Islamic Philosophy, pp. 88–94. D. Gimaret gives a detailed description of this theory (op. cit., pp. 114–115): “De ce que le parcours d’une distance est compris comme le franchissement obligé de toute la série de ‘lieux’ constituant cette distance, tous ‘lieux’ d’égale dimension (il s’agit, en fait, d’atomes); de ce qu’à cette série uniforme de ‘lieux’ correspond une série pareillement uniforme d’instants d’égale durée (atomes de temps), chaque ‘franchissement d’un lieu’ correspond à un nouvel instant; de tout cela il résulte que tous les mouvements sont quantitativement égaux. Il n’y a pas de mouvement plus lent ou plus rapide qu’un autre, tout mouvement est déplacement d’un point-atome de l’espace au point-atome contigu, et cela dans le temps d’un instant-atome . . . Si l’un est plus lent que l’autre (c’est-à-dire parcourt dans le même temps une distance moindre), c’est que ses mouvements sont entrecoupés d’arrêts imperceptibles à l’œil, pendant que l’autre mobile continue d’avancer.” 101 On the reception of Maimonides in the Latin West, Cf. Kluxen, “Maimonides and Latin Scholasticism” and idem “Maïmonide et l’orientation de ses lecteurs latins”. For Aquinas’s reading of this Latin version, see Anawati, “Saint Thomas d’Aquin et les penseurs arabes: les loquentes in lege Maurorum et leur philosophie naturelle”. On the Latin version of the text itself, see Freudenthal, “Pour le dossier de la traduction latine médiévale du Guide des égarés.”
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substances, of void, of instants of time, of qualified atoms. Atoms are thus considered as small parts of the thing.102 Contrary to Crathorn, they seem to have held that atoms are unextended, but the conclusion concerning the variations of speed are all the same.103 Crathorn never quotes Maimonides, but we know that he was extensively used by other English scholars since Adam Marsh and Thomas of York.104 Interesting enough is the fact that we also find the same explanation in Nicholas of Autrecourt whose dependence on Maimonides has already been suggested by Andrew Pyle and Christophe Grellard105 and also in John Wyclif ’s Logica.106 In any case, Crathorn was not influenced by Autrecourt nor by Wyclif, since it is not possible historically speaking. Although we cannot decide if Crathorn’s has been influenced in some way by this Arabic theory, notice should be taken, however, of the existence of a matrix of arguments which cannot be reduced to the reappraisal of Aristotle’s critiques, nor to the simple reconstruction of Democritus through Aristotle. John E. Murdoch states that this position is shared by almost all the indivisibilists,107 but in 1330 Autrecourt and Crathorn were probably the first ones to put it so clearly. Moreover, this kind of theory requires the mereotopological structure of the continuum previously studied, which wasn’t theorized by all the indivisibilists. 102 Maimonides, Dux seu director neutrorum sive perplexorum [Paris, 1520], I, 73, f. 32v (collation with the Ms. Sorbonne 601 (S), f. 38ra): “Ratio igitur primum [the separate substances exist] est: dixerunt siquidem quod mundus universaliter, id est omne corpus quod est in eo, est compositum ex partibus valde parvis que non habent partes . . .” 103 Maimonides, Dux seu director neutrorum sive perplexorum [Paris, 1520], I, 73, f. 33r (collation with the Ms. Sorbonne 601 (S), f. 38rb): “Dixerunt quod motus est mutatio substantiae separatae de numero atomorum unius, scilicet singularis substantiae, ad aliam substantiam propinquam et ex hoc sequitur quod non est unus motus velocior alio. Et secundum hanc positionem dixerunt quod vides [S: in] duo mobilia pervenire ad duos terminos diversos in remotione in eodem tempore non est quia unus motus sit velocior alio, sed causa eius est quia mobile cuius motus dicitur tardior habet plures quietes in spacio suo quam illud quod dicitur velocius . . . Quod autem credis moveri motu continuo aliquid contingit ex errore sensuum et brevitate in apprehendendo . . .” Note that in the text the substantiae separatae correspond to simple substances, i.e. to atoms, and not to angels in this context. 104 See Kluxen, “Maimonides and Latin Scholasticism” and idem, “Maïmonide et l’orientation de ses lecteurs latins.” 105 Cf. Pyle, Atomism and its Critics, pp. 336–337 and pp. 687–688; Grellard, “Les présupposés méthodologiques de l’atomisme: la théorie du continu chez Nicolas Bonet et Nicolas d’Autrécourt.” 106 John E. Murdoch has once remarked on the similarity between the three authors. Cf. Murdoch, “Atomism and Motion in the Fourteenth Century,” p. 52. 107 Cf. Murdoch, “Atomism and Motion in the Fourteenth Century,” ibid.
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Let us now direct our attention to another chapter of physics in Crathorn’s thought: rarefaction and condensation. Unfortunately, generation and corruption are never explicitly analysed, nor alteration, even though we can imagine what could have been such an analysis in an atomistic fashion. Nonetheless, one can find detailed but surprising developments on condensation and rarefaction. 10. Condensation and Rarefaction: The Limits of Crathorn’s Mereotopology As we have seen, the role attributed to the notion of place is far more important in Crathorn’s physics than in Odo’s, Bonet’s or Autrecourt’s atomistic philosophy. The true finite divisibility of a continuum, according to Crathorn, is the finite divisibility of space: there are indivisible places where atoms can be located. One of the conclusions that should be posited from what has been said is the coincidence of an indivisible place with an indivisible thing. One atom, one single place. This can be traced in the different steps of his argumentation, for it is presupposed in the analysis of contiguity, continuity, motion and speed. Considering this mereotopological framework, there are two possible ways of explaining condensation and rarefaction: these natural phenomena can be reduced to some kinds of alteration or can be understood as a change in the arrangement of atoms that occurs thanks to vacuum (empty spaces newly filled out, or in the contrary, new empty spaces in a body that cause an increase in size). Of course, one should hold a combined theory with both elements. The first way has been followed by John Wyclif, a few years after Crathorn,108 on the same mereotopological basis. It is now little known that Wyclif subscribed to an atomist theory of matter, combined with an Aristotelian hylomorphic world view.109 Unfortunately, recent scholars didn’t examine closely his principles, which are basically the same as Crathorn’s. Let us compare Wyclif ’s strategy to Crathorn’s in order to evaluate both of their solutions. The first element to be noticed is that Wyclif treats the problem of the continuum in a logical treatise (the Logicae continuatio, tractatus tertius,
Around 1363. Cf. Thomson, The Latin Writings of John Wyclif, p. 6. Cf. E. Michael’s chapter on Wyclif in this volume. See also Kretzmann, “Continua, Indivisibles and Change” and Pabst, Atomtheorien des lateinischen Mittelalters. 108 109
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ch. 9), when he turned to the study of local propositions, as ‘Socrates runs where Plato runs”. A few lines later, he abandoned this propositional analysis for a long digression (132 p.) on the locus of the world and the situs of its atoms. According to Wyclif, there are punctual places110 as well as instants of time, and therefore atoms of matter and atoms of time. As for Crathorn, locus is nothing but the thing located,111 and thus quantity is only determined by its place. As a corollary to this, it is suggested that points occupy punctual places and can be located this way. But Wyclif ’s theory of situs is a bit more precise than Crathorn’s, for he defines the place of an atom within a definite landmark formed by the centre of the world and its poles.112 Wyclif ’s atoms resemble Crathorn’s indivisibles because they occupy a single place in the world but also because they are considered as qualified entities.113 In his Logicae continuatio, Wyclif even imagines, against a sceptical theologian, that no one would refuse the possibility for God to create a punctual substance in each punctual space; therefore, the existence of punctual substances is possible.114 Moreover, these punctual substances exist in a finite number in the universe.115 This description of atoms seems very similar to Crathorn’s, as well as for its physical implications: contiguity and continuity can be defined in terms of contiguity of places116 and a continuous motion 110 Wyclif, Logicae continuatio [Dziewicki], p. 2: “Et sic, quamvis species situs punctualis sit principium integrandi omnem situm divisibilem, tamquam minimum metrum illius generis, tamen totalis situs mundi est nobis mensura cognoscendi alios sitos particulares . . .” 111 Ibid. p. 3: “. . . omnis situs est aliquid situari.” 112 Ibid. p. 4: “Ideo, sicut in natura omne motum vel mobile innititur alicui fixo, sic non est possibile nos locum cognoscere, nisi in comparatione ad aliquod fixum. Sicut ergo mundus ad eius motum situalem presupponit polos et centrum quieta, sic presupponit ad eius situacionem eadem . . .” 113 Actually, as Emily Michael shows in her chapter in this volume, there are different ontological levels of atoms: unqualified and unextended indivisibles, elemental atoms and minima naturalia. 114 Logicae continuatio [ Dziewicki], p. 33: “Similiter, ut credo, nullus theologus negaret quin Deus de potentia absoluta potest facere substantiam punctualem . . .; et tunc patet quod punctualitas vel punctus que est substancia huiusmodi esse punctualis, est actus positivus [in] illa substancia . . . Punctus ergo potest esse. Nec dubium quin situs essent correspondenter iuxtapositi, cum situs sit subiectum situari.” 115 Ibid. p. 36: “Unde impossibile est quod aliquis numerus substanciarum vel punctorum vel aliud preter deum sit simpliciter infinitum.” 116 Ibid. pp. 30–31: “Similiter de immediacione ubicacionum vel situum indivisibilium, patet quod est dare tales immediatas. Nam est dare duo puncta immediata, ut patet de corporibus tangentibus, sic ubicaciones vel situaciones eorum sunt immediate. Et cum illi situs manent expunctantes alia puncta, patet quod quandocumque alter eorum erit
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has the higher speed ever reached by a mobile.117 There is at least one important difference between Crathorn and Wyclif, because the latter seems to deny the existence of vacuum. Moreover, Wyclif is not clear about the quantity or extension of atoms, saying sometimes that they are unextended and sometimes that they occupy a place and are real parts of things118. What about condensation and rarefaction now? Wyclif ’s answer is astonishing. The world is totally full of matter: It is to be noticed that the world is composed of certain atoms, and can neither be increased nor diminished, nor locally moved in a straight line, nor be figured in some other way (. . .).119
This point requires some explanations. There are three premises to this conclusion: 1) there is no vacuum 2) there is a finite number of atoms and places in the world 3) two things (even indivisibles) cannot be in the same place at the same time (i.e. two atoms cannot exist in the same punctual place)120 The first conclusion to be drawn is that all possible punctual places are filled by atoms.121 The second is that a body cannot be increased or diminished in size without losing or gaining parts.122 The quantity of
occupatus aliquo punctuali intra corpus, reliquus erit occupatus punctuali sibi immediato. (. . .) Similiter de instantibus; videtur quod erunt immediata . . .” 117 Ibid. p. 97: “Ad illud dicitur quod impossibile est aliquod indivisibile velocius moveri localiter quam continue in quolibet instanti dati temporis describere situm suum punctualem.” 118 See Michael’s chapter for the texts. 119 Ibid. p. 1: “. . . notandum mundum componi ex certis athomis, et nec posse maiorari nec minorari nec moveri recte localiter vel aliter figurari . . .” 120 Ibid. p. 42: “ad tertium dicitur quod impossibile est multa puncta vel substancias punctuales esse simul in eodem situ indivisibili.” 121 Before being informed by substantial forms and arranged by aggregation, the prime matter is composed of indivisibles which fill all possible places. Cf. Logicae continuatio [ Dziewicki], p. 119: “. . . ymaginandum est igitur unam essenciam corpoream, in principio productam, esse ex indivisibilibus composita, et occupare omnem locum possibilem, nec esse secundum eius partem aliquam corruptibilem, nisi forte per divisionem vel separacionem unius partis a reliqua.” On the notion of prime matter in Wyclif, cf. Kaluza, “La notion de matière et son évolution dans la doctrine wyclifienne.” 122 Ibid. p. 69: “Ex istis colligitur quod nullum corpus potest esse maius aut minus quam prefuit, nisi propter adquisicionem aut deperdicionem materie, quamvis putatur quidlibet rarefactum esse maius quam prefuit, ignorando situs quod perdit intrinsecus, sicut et ignoratur commutacio situum extrinsecorum pro intrinsecis in partibus condensati.”
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matter always remains the same. Indivisible parts of the whole world can change from one punctual place to another by an extrinsic force, but without occupying an empty space. A sponge, when wrung, has less air than before, but air is not vacuum according to Wyclif.123 Even if he rejected assumption 1), Crathorn should have contended that the quantity of matter is constant in the world for he at least admits 2), that the number of atoms is finite and that to one punctual space must correspond one indivisible. He thus could have explained condensation and rarefaction by the absence of interparticulate spaces in an absolutely dense body and, on the contrary, the presence of some empty punctual spaces in a rarefied body (the second way previously described).124 He also could have thought, as Wyclif did, that condensation and rarefaction are kinds of alteration. But Crathorn did not agree either with Wyclif ’s solution or with the second one just posited, as Nicholas of Autrecourt did for example. He attempted to overturn these argumentations by denying 3) and claiming—with some apparent self-contradiction—that several points can be in the same punctual place. In this view, a rarefied body will have a few parts existing in one and the same place; on the contrary, a dense body will have a lot of parts existing in the same place.125 In this case, to what extent can a body be diminished or increased? Crathorn’s answer is quite radical: A point can be rarefied, because there is nothing more in the notion of a point than to be something located and situated, having no parts outside of parts, which is compatible with having parts existing in parts and being composed out of several things really and essentially distinct, though these are not distinct according to place and position. Thus: everything that has several parts, indistinct according to position and place, can be rarefied; therefore it is not incompatible for a point to have several parts indistinct according to place and position; therefore it is not incompatible for a point to be rarefied . . . A point can be rarefied into a body, for it is posited that a point has a hundred parts indistinct according to position, in such a way that it is composed of a hundred parts: such a point can
Cf. p. 63. Nicholas of Autrecourt held such a theory. Cf. Christophe Grellard’s chapter in this volume. 125 In Sent. q. 14, p. 421: “Corpus esse rarum non est aliud quam illud corpus non habere partes aliquas loco et situ indistinctas vel habere paucas partes situaliter vel localiter indistinctas . . . Unum vero corpus esse densum non est aliud quam illud corpus habere multas partes localiter indistinctas vel in eodem loco et situ.” 123
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This also works the other way around for condensation. If parts are distinguished according to their position in a body, after condensation they will not be further differentiated by their position.127 This new element is threatening for the coherence of Crathorn’s view, because all his arguments rest on the correspondence between an indivisible and a punctual place. As we have seen, the position of an indivisible in space implies the notion of a single place (locus punctualis), but place also determines the quantity of the located thing; and then points or indivisibles must have in some way a certain quantity. Crathorn presupposed this view of indivisibles throughout his analysis of the part/whole relation, contiguity, continuity, motion and speed. Moreover, his finitist view of the number of indivisibles seems to imply, as in Wyclif, the principle of correspondence between punctual places and indivisibles. Indeed, from this consideration about rarefaction and condensation, the finite number of atoms seems to be postulated rather than demonstrated by Crathorn, for nothing seems to prevent infinities of indivisibles if more than one indivisible can occupy a punctual place and rarefaction could be in principle infinite.128 So, according to this view, the world could be densified into one point or rarefied into an infinite space, which is contradictory with what we have posited before. Although Crathorn endeavoured to restrict his analysis to finite cases, always giving examples with a finite number of indivisibles,129 his finit-
126 Ibid. p. 423: “Punctum potest rarefieri, quia non est plus de ratione puncti, nisi quod sit aliquid situatum vel locatum non habens partem extra partem, cum quo stat quod habeat partem inexistentem parti et quod sit quid compositum ex pluribus realiter et essentialiter distinctis, licet omnia ista sint loco et situ indistinctas. Tunc sic: omne id quod habet plures partes situaliter vel localiter indistinctas potest rarefieri; sed non repugnat puncto habere plures partes situ et loco indistinctas; igitur non repugnat puncto rarefieri . . . Punctum potest rarefieri in corpus, qui ponatur quod punctum habet centum partes situ indistinctas ita quod componatur ex centum partibus; tale punctum potest rarefieri in corpus, quia partes talis puncti possunt per rarefactionem situ distingui . . .” 127 Ibid. p. 424: “. . . corpus potest condensari in punctum. Si enim punctum posset rarefieri in corpus, eadem ratione idem corpus condensari potest in punctum, etc.” 128 It is a commonly held argument in the Middle Ages against indivisibilism. See, for example, its use in the dispute between John Buridan and Michel of Montecalerio (cf. Celeyrette’s chapter in this volume). 129 In Sent. q. 14, p. 424: “Vigesima prima conclusio est quod punctum rarefit naturaliter per actionem agentis naturalis, et hoc patet sic: sicut alias probavi, corpus
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ist physics becomes impossible to prove. What is more, indivisibles are no longer quantified, if they can be a hundred in the same indivisible place, and they also cannot be parts, because P1 and P2, which are the basic claims of Crathorn’s indivisibilism, require that indivisibles be considered as parts of the continuum, and thus as real and actual things occupying a punctual place. Wyclif saw the difficulty and strongly affirmed the principle of equivalence between the number of punctual places and atoms.130 So, we might say that he is incoherent or that he cannot escape from the mathematical and infinitist view of indivisibles considered as mere unextended mathematical points. The second alternative wouldn’t fit well with many of his developments. Therefore, it seems more likely that he is a little incoherent. On the other hand, we may assume that the main reason for this departure from the basic mereotopological principles is motivated by theological reasons. Indeed, we must keep in mind that Crathorn not only treats the issue in q. 3, but also in the more theological context of other sorts of indivisibles, as God, Angels and souls (q. 15 for example). The questions of God’s ubiquity and Angel’s motion were the most frequent pretext in the Middle Ages when dealing with indivisibles and their location.131 In this respect, Crathorn was forced to affirm that the
componitur ex superficiebus, superficiebus ex lineis, linea ex punctis, et ita omne corpus finitum componitur ex punctis finitis. Si igitur a multitudo maxima et finita omnium punctorum unius corporis situ distinctorum et totalium et suppono quod illud corpus rarefiat, quousque secundum omnem dimensionem habeat quantitatem dimensivam, quae sit centupla respectu quantitatis dimensivae primo habitae, et suppono quod omnes partes illius corporis ante rarefactionem sint uniformiter et aequaliter densae et quod uniformiter et aequaliter rarefiant. Istis suppositis sequitur quod facta rarefactione multitudo punctorum ipsius corporis rarefacti accipiendo puncta modo praedicto, scilicet quorum quodlibet situ distinguitur ab alio et quorum nullum est pars alterius puncti, multitudo talium punctorum est centupla respectu multitudinis punctorum consimiliter acceptorum ipsius ante rarefactionem. Igitur multa puncta, quae facta rarefactione sunt localiter distincta, fuerunt ante rarefactionem indistincta localiter et tamen per suppositum quaelibet pars vocando partem totam rem occupantem partem spatii ante rarefactionem sit aequaliter rarefacta.” 130 Wyclif, Logicae continuatio [Dziewicki], pp. 42–43: “. . . impossibile est multa puncta vel substancias punctuales esse simul in eodem situ indivisibili . . . Unde argumenta hominum volencium destruere quotlibet talia puncta in eodem situ indivisibili petunt pro fundamento quod non sit possibilis composicio continui ex non quantis.” 131 The continuum is frequently treated in the second book of the Sentences when dealing with angels. John Duns Scotus, for example, took this pretext in his different versions of his commentary on the second book of the Sentences (e.g. Ordinatio [Balic e.a.], d. 2, q. 5, pp. 296: “Utrum angelus possit moveri de loco ad alium locum motu continuo”). All the same, in his Reportatio super Sententias [Etzkorn e.a.], II, d. 2, q. 3, Walter Chatton asks “Utrum motus componatur ex indivisibilibus” and introduces
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soul can be everywhere in the body, though it is indivisible. Same here for God and Angels, who are purely indivisible but can be in different places, either extended or punctual. Finally, it is plausible that Crathorn tried to find a general definition of condensation and rarefaction that would suit all sorts of indivisibles, material and spiritual. Incidentally, he did not seem to notice the incoherence of his views on density and rarity with the basic principles of his atomism. 11. Conclusion. A Theory of MINIMA NATURALIA? In most of the medieval debates on the nature of the continuum and the existence of indivisibles, one has to choose between a geometrical view of indivisibles—which does not require such a detour through mereotopology—and a more physical atomism, which requires at some point to consider indivisibles as sharing some physical properties (minimal quantity, qualities or nature, position in space, etc.). If one chooses the second option of the alternative, as Crathorn did with many others in the fourteenth century, it cannot be asserted at the same time that several indivisibles can occupy the same punctual place and that indivisibles are in fine defined by the place they occupy as parts of something. Beyond the simple topological intuitions of Crathorn’s atomism is the thesis that indivisibles are actual parts of the continuum. The idea of minimal actual parts was already in Aristotle when he accepted the existence of minima naturalia. Indeed, he accepted both claims, that a continuum is infinitely divisible in potentia, but finitely divisible in actu. The result of an actual division of a continuum into its parts would be a minimum of flesh or bones in the case of human beings. If we continue the division, parts won’t exist any more: they won’t have any nature, nor quantity, nor virtue or action, etc. But isn’t this idea what Crathorn claims about indivisibles? They have a nature, a quantity and his development as follows: “Et quia non potest sciri de motu angeli utrum sit continuus vel discretis in motu nisi sciatur utrum motus et alia continua componantur ex indivisibilibus, ideo quaero propter motum angeli utrum quantum componatur ex indivisibilibus sive permanens sive succesivum.” Gerard of Odo’s discussion about the continuum occurs in the context of God’s and angels’ simplicity. Cf Super primum Sententiarum, dist. 37, Mss Naples, Bib. Naz. VII. B.25, ff. 234v–244v; Valencia, Cated. 139, ff. 120v–125v: Ad quorum evidentiam querenda sunt quatuor . . . Tertium utrum motus angeli habeat partem aliquam simpliciter primam. See also Gregory of Rimini, Lectura super secundum Sententiarum [ Trapp], d. 2, q. 2, pp. 277–339: “Utrum angelus sit in loco indivisibili aut divisibili.”
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they can move and act, as actual parts of the continuum. Moreover, they can exist separately as Aristotle’s minima naturalia. Of course, the last considerations about condensation and rarefaction tend to make the description of indivisibles quite confused. Finally, are there two distinct theories in Crathorn? A theory of atoms conceived as kinds of minima naturalia on the one hand, taking up some of Aristotle’s intuitions, and a theory of extensionless points on the other hand. John Wyclif, for example, who held a very similar theory of indivisibles, clearly distinguishes between the two levels. According to him, there are unqualified and unextended indivisibles and, at a higher level, they are minima naturalia, which are composed of such primitive indivisibles, already joined in elemental atoms.132 The problem is that Crathorn makes no distinction between unextended indivisibles (as points) and qualitative atoms (kinds of minima naturalia). Moreover, he always uses a geometrical vocabulary, as the majority of his contemporary fellows. For example, he sometimes refers to “points of gold” that occupy a punctual place. Consequently, it becomes impossible to distinguish between the level of points and the level of minima naturalia, because both seem to have a nature and a kind of extension.133 Crathorn would probably have to admit the Wyclifian theory. In any case, except for theological contexts, Crathorn’s atoms are a sort of mix between Aristotle’s minima naturalia and Democritus’s atoms. In this paper, we tried to show how systematic is the use of mereology—relations of parts and wholes—and topology—notions of place and position—in Crathorn’s atomism. In fact, his whole atomistic conception of the world rests on these notions. We then compared him with some of his contemporaries in order to demonstrate his originality, although his point of departure was probably Harclay’s and Chatton’s positions. Indeed, Crathorn was probably the first real atomist in Oxford who considered indivisibles as real and actual entities. As we have already mentioned, the origin of his atomism could be
See Michael’s chapter in this volume. When Crathorn distinguishes between mathematical and corporeal figures, he seems to assert that they share the same properties. Sent. I, q. 3, p. 239: “Dicetur forte quod lineae istae, quas nos facimus et videmus, sunt corpora; et ideo ex coniuctione et distantia talium linearum, quae veraciter non sunt lineae, non potest argui coniunctio vel distantia verarum linearum. Contra: istud non est bene dictum, quia si istud esset verum, numquam geometria fuisset inventa nec unquam posset doceri; non enim potest doceri sine talibus protractionibus.” We thus may infer that points and corporeal indivisibles have the same properties. 132 133
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traced back to his interpretation of some of Aristotle’s physical works, and notably of the De generatione et corruptione and the De caelo, and also to his readings of other ancient sources as the Liber sex principiorum, the Dux perplexorum of Maimonides or the De elementis of Isaac Israeli. A thorough examination of his sources would shed light upon some other points in the theory, for Crathorn knew a lot of authors to whom he does not always refer.134 The general conclusion that can be drawn from this reading of Crathorn’s Questions on the Sentences is that there are no hints of mathematical concern in such a physical theory. Of course, Crathorn endeavoured to respond to the rationes mathematicae that he knew from John Duns Scotus, but only as a kind of formal obligation. Crathorn’s goal was firstly to find some physical principles to describe natural substances and in the process to find an alternative ontology to Aristotle’s metaphysics. This attitude becomes evident if one turns to his critique of Aristotle’s categories, where it is affirmed that the distinction of the ten categories does not make sense. Thus, it may be helpful to read Crathorn’s texts on indivisibles in the light of his metaphysical claims, in order to understand what he took and what he rejected from Aristotle. In any case, Crathorn’s is a good example of an atomist theory which is not merely geometrical, as John Murdoch used to say about all the indivisibilist positions of the fourteenth century. On the contrary, he attests the existence of different atomist traditions and of the use of different kinds of ancient sources, not only aristotelian ones.
134 We may assume that Isaac Israeli’s De elementis, which has been translated into Latin by Gerard of Cremona at the end of the twelfth century, is one possible source for this kind of mixed theory that has been described in the previous paragraph. Crathorn refers to this text in another context (In Sent. q. 4, p. 280: “Quid autem sit risus, dicit Isaac libro suo De elementis.”). In the second part this book, Isaac Israeli presents is position against the atomists. He asks whether Galen’s assumption that there must be minimal parts in bodies, Aristotle’s assertion that there must be minima naturalia, Democritus and the Mutakallimun atomist theories, could fit together in a unified conception. Cf. Isaac Israeli, De elementis. In Isaac Israeli opera omnia (Lyon, 1515), f. 7D sqq. This point would deserve another paper.
AN INDIVISIBILIST ARGUMENTATION AT PARIS AROUND 1335: MICHEL OF MONTECALERIO’S QUESTION ON POINT AND THE CONTROVERSY WITH JOHN BURIDAN Jean Celeyrette The debate concerning the nature of point and the divisibility of the continuum between John Buridan and a master named M. of Montecalerio1 has been known for a long time.2 It is described as such in one of the tables of the ms. BNF Lat. 16621 (f. 195r)3 in which both masters’ texts appear. This scientific manuscript comes from Etienne Gaudet’s collection.4 It is the only surviving witness of Montecalerio’s question and it is particularly difficult to transcribe. This is why, despite several attempts, the text still remains unpublished, even though Buridan’s text, which appears in another manuscript, has been published by Zubov.5 Although Bernd Michael considered any number of possiblities concerning the identity of Buridan’s oppponent, until recently he was
1 In the manuscript, the master is called Montescalerio. Following W.J. Courtenay I will designate him as Montecalerio (see footnote 5). 2 K. Michalski thought that Buridan’s text was directed against Walter Burley. Cf. Michalski, La physique nouvelle et les différents courants philosophiques, p. 120. Indeed, we will se below that Montecalerio’s position is close to Burley’s. 3 “Deinde sequitur determinatio de puncto, videlicet utrum sit alica res addita linee, Magistri Johannis Bridani contra magistrum de Montescalerio que durat circuiter per 7 folia [. . .] deinde determinatio magistri M. de Montescalerio de puncto, videlicet an per divisionem continui corrumpatur aliqua res, contra magistrum Johannem Bridan per XI folia usque in fine sisternum.” (BNF Lat. 16621, f. 195r). 4 On Etienne Gaudet’s collection, see Kaluza, Thomas de Cracovie, Contribution à l’histoire du Collège de Sorbonne. 5 Zubov, “Jean Buridan et les concepts du point au XIVe siècle.” The edition is based on the manuscripts Paris, BNF Lat.16621, ff. 196r–202v and 203v, and Paris, BNF Lat. 2831, ff. 123r–129v. Zubov’s edition is reliable even if a comparison with Montecalerio’s text enabled me to make some corrections. The quotations hereafter will be either drawn from Zubov’s edition, noted QP, or from the manuscript Paris, BNF Lat. 16621 noted EG. In this last case, for reasons of clarity, I indicate by (M.M.) or (Bur.) the author of the text which I quote. I will use Montecalerio’s presentation of Buridan’s arguements and the references will be thus with EG; I will also indicate the corresponding passages in QP.
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very much a mystery.6 In two recent papers, William Courtenay shed a new light on Michel of Montecalerio, master of arts of the French Nation around 1342 and still active in 1346.7 Most notably, we learn that he was of outstanding importance, an element that could explain why Buridan devoted such attention to his writings. A comparative reading of both texts reveals that the controversy, which seems to be quite severe by the tone of their respective retorts,8 should be situated in the context of the Parisian discussions about Ockhamist physics. We know that Buridan does not share Ockham’s view about the nature of point in the two known versions of his commentary on the Physics.9 Nevertheless, he accepts it in the text we are commenting upon in this chapter. Indeed, like Ockham, Buridan maintains that “point” is a privative name and that a point, as every privation, is nothing real: as an example, a terminative point ( punctum terminans) corresponds to the fact that a line goes until there and not beyond. But this means nothing else than the word “point” is the significate of the proposition “a line goes until this limit and not beyond”.10 It seems that Buridan shares this view in this context, even if he does not in others. On several occasions Montecalerio refers to this Buridanian position to reject it but his detailed refutations are lost: the end of his question which was certainly devoted to this refutation has disappeared. However, it should be noted that what remains of Montecalerio’s text fills 9 folios while 11 folios are announced in the table at the f. 195r. So the lost refutation was at most two folios long. As Buridan’s exposition 6 Michael, Johannes Buridan: Studien zu seinem Leben, seinen Werken und zur Rezeption seiner Theorien im Europa des späten Mittelalters, pp. 451–452. 7 Courtenay, “The University of Paris at the Time of Jean Buridan and Nicole Oresme” (especially pp. 8–10) and idem, “Michael de Montecalerio: Buridan’s opponent in his quaestio de puncto.” The text of Montecalerio, that of Buridan’s question mentioned in footnote 12, and other unedited texts from the ms Paris, BNF Lat.1 6621 are in the course of publication by Zénon Kaluza and myself. 8 See, for example, Montecalerio’s reply: “Et miror de isto doctore sic experto quod istius exposuit fuit immemor.” EG (M.M.) ff. 222v–223r. 9 Cf. Celeyrette, “La problématique du point chez Jean Buridan”. We find a clear statement of Ockham’s position in his Quaestiones in libros Physicorum, q. 63 and in his Tractatus de quantitate. The detailed quotations and references appear in the above-mentioned paper, from note 27 to 30, pp. 93–94. 10 About the notion of complexe significabilia, see Gabriel Nuchelmans, Theories of the Propositions. Ancient and Medieval Conceptions of the Bearers of Truth and Falsity. On Buridan’s refutation of the Ockhamist position in his Questions on the Metaphysics and his Sophismata, see pp. 243–250. See also Biard, “Les controverses sur l’objet du savoir et les complexe significabilia à Paris au XIVe siècle.”
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of his own opinion takes only 1 folio out of 7, that is to say 5 pages out of 32 in Zubov’s edition, we can be sure that we still have access to most of the debate. 1. The Controversy Before going through the analysis of Montecalerio’s texts, we must make clear who is responding to whom. At first sight, it seems that each responds to the other; the arguments of a venerabilis doctor are mentioned or quoted in Buridan’s text and said to be contra me, all of which are also found in Montecalerio’s question and conversely. However, a more careful reading allows us to settle this point. In Montecalerio’s question all of Buridan’s arguments—or nearly all of them—are cited, repeated, disproved, and usually in the same order that they appear in Buridan’s text, so that we can reasonably think that Montecalerio’s text is responding to Buridan’s. As to Buridan’s quotations of Montecalerio, it can be noted that they are less close to the text than in the latter’s quotations of Buridan. Then to what do they correspond? Montecalerio probably supplies the answer, for he refers—at least six times—to an alia determinatio (or alia quaestio) that he claims to have written in reply to Buridan’s dicta, the existence of which is confirmed by the incipit of Buridan’s question: Montecalerio is mentioned in this text as a doctor who was opposed to some Buridanian teachings on the nature of point.11 Buridan was not the only master aimed at, for concerning his opponent Buridan talks about “those against whom he is disputing.”12 We can thus think that in the text we have in hand, Montecalerio quotes—sometimes textually—Buridan’s refutations of the arguments taken from the “other determination,” that he gives his contra-objections and confirms his preceding arguments. Thus, the controversy may be reconstructed in this way: first, teachings by Buridan, and very likely others, defending positions close to Ockham’s; then, Montecalerio’s determination against those teachings,13 not written or lost; then, Buridan’s response as copied by Etienne Gaudet
11 “Doctor unus venerabilis obviavit quibusdam dictis meis de puncto multum subtiliter.” QP p. 63, l. 1–2. 12 “illi contra quos ipse disputat” QP p. 73, l. 25. 13 Montecalerio indicates that he is also the author of a treatise De motu which is lost.
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which would be the text edited by Zubov; finally, Montecalerio’s text, the one we are discussing here, also copied by Etienne Gaudet. Nothing here allows us to maintain that this controversy corresponds to a publicy head disputatio.14 Moreover, the absence of ritual polite formulas and the lively tone assumed by both men makes such a hypothesis improbable. The different steps of the controversy cannot be precisely dated. I hold the weak hypothesis that both texts are contemporaries of another question disputed by Buridan and copied by Etienne Gaudet in the same manuscript, and to which they can be compared. It is entitled “On the possibility that one and the same thing exist and do not exist at the same time” (De possibilitate existendi eandem rem et non existendi simul in eodem instanti) and is dated from 1335.15 William Courtenay, in the above-mentioned paper, shows that Montecalerio was master of arts around 1340; therefore, it is reasonable to think that the controversy took place between 1335 and 1345. 2. Montecalerio’s Text Montecalerio’s text comes as a quaestio the plan of which is the following: Question: is a thing corrupted by the division of the continuum (Utrum per divisionem continui corrumpatur aliqua res: EG ff. 214r–223v) First Article First Part of the First Article ( ff. 214r–214v) Buridan’s arguments corresponding to QP pp. 63–73. – A continuing point ( punctum continuans) would be neither in potency nor in act. (f. 214r) – The introduction of terminating points ( punctum terminans) is in vain. (f. 214r) – A point would be neither a substance nor an accident. (f. 214v) Cf. Weijers, La ‘disputatio’ dans les Facultés des arts au moyen âge, pp. 46–47. EG (Bur. De possibilitate existendi . . .) ff. 233v–237r. The question ends as follows: “Explicit questio de possibilitate existendi rem eandem et non existendi simul in eodem instanti determinata per magistrum Bridam anno domini millesimo CCC°XXX°V°. Deo Gratias.” 14 15
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– The introduction of points distinct from bodies is useless, since all appearances can be saved without them. (f. 214v) Second Part of the First Article ( ff. 214v–217v) Answer to the four preceding arguments and confirmation of the arguments from the alia determinatio with a series of propositions and corollaries. – Reply to the first argument (ff. 214v–216v). I study this answer below. – Reply to the second argument (f. 216v): points are the cause of the line. – Third reason (ff. 216v–217v): the existence of points is not naturally impossible. – Fourth reason (f. 217v): points do exist and this is supported by the classical example of the sphere tangent to the plane. Second Article In this section Montecalerio’s three reasons in support of his thesis—i.e. that a point is a real accident—are presented. These are the three reasons that Buridan refutes.16 It follows that they have been put forward in the alia determinatio. First Part of the Second Article ( ff. 217v–220v) Defence of the first reason: if a point didn’t exist, it would follow that the division of a continuum would amount to a local motion of this continuum (the parting of its sections), a position that has been refuted in the alia determinatio.17 – Refutation of a Buridanian thesis maintaining that the division of a continuum is an intermediary indivisible change between rest and local motion formed by the parting of sections (ff. 217v–218v). I present this argumentation below. – Division consists in a change. 16 “Tunc volo defendere rationes meas quibus probavi punctum esse accidens quas iste doctor multum reprobat et non veraciter impugnat.” EG (M.M.) f. 217v. 17 “Arguebam enim primo sic quod sequeretur quod divisio seu discontinuatio esset motus localis huius continui, et falsitatem consequentis probavi diffuse in alia determinatio.” EG (M.M.) f. 217v.
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– Division is neither an alteration nor an increase in size, nor a decrease in size, nor a generation (f. 218v). – Division is not a local motion. Montecalerio then concludes that division is a corruption, for it cannot be another type of change (argument of sufficient division) (ff. 218v–220r). – Refutation of Buridan’s objections against this position (f. 220v). Second Part of the Second Article ( ff. 220v–222v) Defence of the second reason: if a point didn’t exist it would follow that a non-continuous thing would be continuous.18 – Presentation of Buridan’s arguments: the cause of a body’s division into parts is not the surface but the nature of the body (f. 220v). – Refutation of these arguments and contra objections (ff. 220v– 222v) I give a general survey of this argumentation below. Third Part of the Second Article ( ff. 222v–223v) Defence of the third reason: the surface of a body exists because it is what prevents us from seeing through it. Last Part of the Second Article ( f. 223v) Discussion of Buridan’s position according to which “point” is a privative name. This discussion is interrupted immediately after the presentation of Buridan’s position. It is obviously impossible to give an exhaustive presentation of such a lengthy and complexly stuctured discussion. We will here restrict ourselves to select some of the arguments indicated above. As Montecalerio’s text is the last in the series, the examples of arguments presented here will always be preceded by those from Buridan’s to which Montecalerio is replying and which, for that matter, he expounds very thoroughly. Of course, it is impossible to know precisely what appeared in the two preceding steps. 18 “Secunda ratio mea talis est: sequeretur quod non continuum esset continuum (ms: contiguum) etc.” EG f ° 220v. The correction from «contiguum» to «continuum» is justified by Buridan’s text: “non continuum esset continuum” QP p. 82, l. 1–2. For Buridan, this reason is one of the main arguments against his adversary.
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Reply to the First of Buridan’s Arguments, that “a Continuing Point can neither be in Potency not in Act” (Second Part of the First Article) As every potency can be actualized, the argument would amount to denying the possibility for a continuing point to be actualized. This is a classical topos of the anti-indivisibilist argumentation and its discussion is one of the longest in Montecalerio’s text (ff. 214v–216v). Presentation of Buridan’s Argumentation ( f. 214r) Montecalerio’s presentation of the Buridanian argumentation—especially of the objections that he has made against some arguments of the alia determinatio—is particularly detailed. Maybe this is due to the fact that the initial reasoning, the one that appeared in the preceding step, that is to say in Buridan’s dicta, was marred by rough error and that Buridan maintains the same erroneous reasoning in QP. Buridan formulates four suppositions assumed, he says, by his adversaries: – If a continuing point is in act, it is the case for all the others. – The continuing point really exists in act. – Points are ordered in a continuum in such a way that none of them is equally distant from the terminating point. – The terminating point can be separated by imagination, or even in reality, from the rest of the continuum. This being stated Buridan reasons as follows. Let us separate this first point, which is possible by the fourth supposition. Either there exists a first point or not. – If it is the case, this new first point is in act according to the second supposition and there is no intermediate point between the first and the second point; and from the first supposition every other point of the continuum is in act. Applying the same reasoning to this new point, it appears that there is another point equally in act immediately after it. – If it is not the case, one should admit that in a finite space there are several things existing in act and ordered by their position without one being before the other. Now, he briefly says, that there is an infinity of things does not prevent that there should be a beginning
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in existing things, ordered in relation one to the other, and, moreover, it would be contradictory that there be none.19 The same reasoning is taken up again in various classical forms, in particular that of the point of contact of a sphere rolling along a line on a plan; it is shown that after the first point of contact there is a second, etc. The adversary is then led to admit that immediately after each point there is another, which is denied in Physics VI20 and refutes the initial assumptions. The second part of Buridan’s reasoning (“si non etc.”)21 constitutes one of the many alternatives of an argument whose paternity is usually allotted to Harclay, that is to say to an indivisibilist. It is worth noting that in this context this argument is used to refute the existence of indivisible points. With regard to the form of the argument, the existence of a first point in the multitude of points in the continuum from which the terminating point has been removed appears in Harclay and his successors or critics as the result of the fact that God, who sees the totality of the points of the multitude, necessarily sees the first of them.22 In Buridan’s argument, no allusion is made to the divine absolute power. This is why the parallel is perhaps more relevant with another indivisibilist text: Gerard of Odo’s Quaestio de continuo.23 Gerard thinks in the same way as Buridan, but he considers the multitude of
“His suppositis probatur consequentia quia: vel est aliquid ipsorum ante omnia, aut nullum. Si aliquid, tunc inter ipsum et primum punctum nullum est medium punctum et sic erunt proxima. Si nullum est ante omnia alia, hoc est inymaginabile quod cum in alico spacio finito sut plura ordinata secundum situm et actum ibi existentia et tamen nullum sit ante alia. Non apparet ratio, ymo contradictionem implicat, quia infinitas in mediis non tollit primitatem in ordinatis extra se invicem existentibus ergo etc.” EG (M.M.) f. 214r; cf. QP p. 64, l. 15–27. 20 Aristotle, Physics VI, 231a21–231b18. 21 The argument runs as follows: if not, one would have to accept that there are many things in act and ordered by their respective positions in an infinite space without one being before the others. 22 “Certum est quod Deus modo intuetur omne punctum quod possit signari in continuo. Accipio igitur primum punctum in linea inchoativum linee; Deus videt illum punctum et quodlibet aliud punctum ab isto in hac linea. usque ad illum punctum immediatiorem quem Deus videt intercipit alia linea aut non. Si non, Deus videt hunc punctum esse alteri immediatum. Si sic, igitur cum in linea possint signari puncta, illa puncta media non erant visa a Deo.” Henry of Harclay, “utrum mundus poterit durare in eternum a parte post,” quoted in Murdoch, “Henry of Harclay and the Infinite,” p. 228, note 24. 23 On this text, see Sander W. de Boer’s contribution in this volume. 19
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the parts of the continuum, not the multitude of points. He then shows the existence of “first” parts, thus indivisible, of which the continuum is made up. However, it is necessary to introduce some shade into what precedes because it is not completely obvious that Gerard considers that his reasoning must be applied to magnitudes as magnitudes and not to natural things.24 Buridan, on the other hand, says it clearly. Moreover, considering that the points are infinite in number, he affirms very clearly that this infinity does not prevent the existence of a first point: the formula he uses, reported twice by Montecalerio, is infinitas non tollit primitatem. The error is all the more remarkable because if I have reconstructed the polemic correctly, it appeared in his first teaching and his adversary had then replied to it: QP refers to the objections of Montecalerio.25 3. The Polemic about Buridan’s Reasoning It does not appear that Montecalerio appreciated the full implications of his critique of Buridan and there is no evidence that he posed theoretically the question of the existence of an infinite multitude and that of a possible first element. His principal objection is built on a parallel with parts: if one considers the proportional parts of a continuum, starting from the first point and having them ordered according to the time a mobile would take to go through them, Buridan’s inference Gerard of Odo, Quaestio de continuo, Ms. Madrid, Bibl. Nac. 4229, f. 180rb.: “Tertia ratio est haec: in omni ordine essentiali est aliquid simpliciter primum respectu cuius omnia dicunt posteriora, quia alias non esset ordo. Sed totius ad suas partes est ordo essentialis, quia essentialis dependentia et in via constitutionis et in via resolutionis. Ergo in illo ordine est aliquid simpliciter primum, puta aliqua pars vel partes, quae sic est pars quod non est totum. Continuum autem est quoddam totum consitutum ex partibus suis. Ergo in ipso est aliqua pars quae sic est pars quod non est totum. Et sic ipsa erit indivisibilis. Quare continuum componetur ex primis partibus indivisibilibus, quod est propositum.” 25 “Contra istam rationem obicit reverendus doctor dicendo quod per consimilem rationem probabit de partibus continue proportionalibus . . .” QP p. 65, l. 16–17. It is known that this mode of reasoning, in any case in the form which Harclay gives to it, is refuted by Wodeham. One of Wodeham’s refutation consists in saying that when the first point of a continuous line is removed, it remains a line without a first point: “Illa ratio est bona ad improbandum puncta, sicut tangetur in questione proxima. Tamen, sustinendo puncta indivisibila, dici haberet quod destructo solo puncto terminante lineam, linea manet interminata, nata tamen terminari, et ideo privaretur termino, id est puncto. Nec tamen propter hoc esset infinita positive, sed solum privative, id est carens fine nato haberi.” Adam de Wodeham, Tractatus de indivisibilibus, [Wood], p. 108, l. 5–10. 24
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seems to apply; and if this inference were true, one should admit the existence of a first proportional part, which is obviously false. The argument, presented as a resumption of the alia determinatio, appears in various forms. It seems indisputable and Buridan’s response becomes even more surprising. Buridan essentially challenges the analogy between points and proportional parts. He affirms that this parallel doesn’t work, because the first point is reached in first position after the terminus, whereas the first of the proportional parts, if it existed, would be reached in last position by successive divisions starting from the whole.26 The only analogy which he regards as valid is the one between points and parts in which a mobile would move successively, and in the same order, starting from the terminus, exactly as it would do for the points; then, he says, it is true to affirm that one part is closer to the terminus because if the continuum is divided into two halves, one will be closer than another; into four quarters, one quarter will be closer than the others, etc.27 In a lengthy response to these arguments, Montecalerio distinguishes between two types of parts: those in which a part is always the part of another, and those in which no part is part of another, in other words, consecutive parts.28 His refutation of Buridan’s replies and the confirmation of his former argumentation are based on this distinction. Moreover, Montecalerio uses his adversary’s argument in a polemical way to establish the existence of points; in fact, he uses approximately the same reasoning as did Gerard of Odo. It is enough, Montecalerio says, to consider the sum of the consecutive parts: there is an infinite number of parts in relation to a terminus. Buridan’s inference, Montecalerio contends, demonstrates that given this infinity of parts, there would be one part closer to the terminus. This part cannot be divisible. If it were, then one of its halves would be closer than the other. It must,
26 “Et addit iste doctor quod non similiter arguitur hic (pour les parties proportionnelles) et de punctis quia in istis propter ordinem concluditur primum ex ea parte qua proceditur in infinitum, sed in punctis concluditur primum ex ea parte qua incipitur.” EG (M.M.) f. 214r; cf QP p. 67, l. 30–34. 27 “Sed inter quartas est una prior omnibus aliis quartis, et inter octavas est una prior omnibus aliis quia prima, ergo sic debet esse in punctis quia primo est aliquid propinquius omnibus aliis.” EG (M.M.) f ° 214r; cf QP p. 65, l. 21–66, l. 3. 28 The length of the development on the two families of parts is a priori surprising. But, apparently, at this time in the Parisian milieu these considerations were not regarded as trivial. It is notably the case in Burley.
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therefore, be indivisible, i.e. a point. Montecalerio then turns Buridan’s argument against its author. 4. Montecalerio’s Position Montecalerio specifies that the existence of points of this type, i.e. indivisible parts, does not correspond to his position. For him, the point is not a part, because points and parts have different natures. After a point there is always a part which is a line, and not another point, just as immediately after a line there is a point which is its terminus. Of course there is no point closer to the terminus, for this would imply that the continuum is composed of indivisibles, a position he does not admit. On the other hand, he does admit that a whole is different from its parts, the word “parts” meaning for him divisible parts.29 In his conclusion to this first article, Montecalerio states his position without really developing it, a position that will be demonstrated more precisely in the following article: for him, to be divided or undivided is a property that belongs only to quantity. Therefore it cannot be said that the subject is divided by itself, it is divided through quantity. To explain this Montecalerio uses the example of extension (this parallel appeared in the other determination): if a subject is extended, it is through quantity; it is not extended by itself, for its extension comes from a process of rarefaction, i.e. by an alteration; it is therefore extendable. Finally, the point is an accident in the category of quantity, it is indivisible, it exists subjectively in a substance that is undivided, unextended in act but naturally divisible.30 Montecalerio is particularly clear about this. There is no punctual substance, no indivisible atom, and the fact of being punctual and without extension is only accidental. Of course, Buridan retorts that it supposes the possibility of an infinite rarefaction, a point which is conceded by Montecalerio. Let us notice that 29 It is interesting to make a link between this aspect of Montecalerio’s position and some conclusions to the first questions in the book VI of Burley’s In Physicam Aristotelis expositio et quaestiones. 30 “Et hoc voluit Aristoteles primo Physicorum quod divisio et indivisio primo conveniunt quantitati et aliis non nisi postea, et quia punctum est de genere quantitatis et est simpliciter indivisum et inextensum, ideo non habent a subjecto, sicut nec quantitas, divisionem, sed ipsum dat subjecto suo indivisionem et inextensionem actualem, sicut quantitas divisionem. Per hoc potest dici ad formam rationis, sicut prius, quod punctum est accidens indivisibile existens subjective in substantia actu indivisa et inextensa, divisibili tamen naturaliter.” EG (M.M.) f. 217r.
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the objection traditionally opposed to the composition of a continuum by indivisibles, according to which a point added to a point does not make something larger, does not impact this position. 5. The Argument of the Infinite Multitude Let us go back to the arguments concerning infinity. One can only be struck by their awkwardness. Neither of the two adversaries seems to consider that there should be the slightest difficulty in speaking of an infinite totality. There is no trace of a logic of the infinite: expressions as “categorematic infinite” and “syncategorematic infinite” are missing. More surprising is Buridan’s stubbornness in the maintening a bad argument despite of the acceptable objections of his adversary, even if it is also used by other Masters, like Gerard of Odo, to obtain a indivisibilist conclusion immediately. A way of saving Buridan’s argument would be to imagine that Buridan wanted to turn against his adversaries an argument which he knew to be false. But nothing in his presentation nor in Montecalerio’s reply supports this charitable interpretation. However, one can certainly take into account the fact that developing refutations or conter-objections at this point in his question, Buridan deviates from his own problematics. This could explain the lightness of his answers before an adversary that he sometimes—and more likely for polemical purposes—pretends not to take seriously. Nevertheless it is indisputable that in this text Buridan does not at all seem in control of the concept of infinite: he does not express any hesitation when speaking about an infinite multitude and he regards it as a totality having the same properties as a finite totality. We are very far from the treatise on the infinite in the last version of his Physics.31 6. The Demonstration of the Existence of Points (First Part of the Second Article) This demonstration apparently figured in the alia determinatio, so that there too Montecalerio’s argumentation is mingled with answers to Buridan’s objections to the former series of arguments.
31 As an example, question 17: “utrum omni numero est numerus maior supposito semper quod nullum continuum est compositum ex indivisibilibus.” ed. J.M.M.H. Thijssen, Johannes Buridanus over het oneindige, pp. 55–69.
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His reasoning is as follows. On the basis of the fact that division, into two for example, is a change in the subject, he establishes successively that this change is neither an increase, nor a decrease, nor an alteration, nor a generation, nor a local motion. From this, he deduces that it can only be a question of corruption which is instantaneous. This enables him to affirm that there is a thing which is corrupted, a thing which is the point of continuity.32 This demonstration is preceded by the refutation of the Buridanian position on the division of a continuum. I will outline this refutation, because several of the arguments given in response to Buridan are taken up later to establish that division is not a local motion, which is in fact the node of his reasoning.33 7. Buridan’s Argumentation, its Refutation by Montecalerio (ff. 217v–218v) and the QUAESTIO DE POSSIBILITATE EXISTENDI . . . Buridan’s position about the division of a continuum is the following: division is indeed a change but it is nothing more than a relative local motion of parts, one of which remains motionless while the other one is moving, or both of which are moving in contrary directions. This change, like any local motion, is not instantaneous but temporal. The difficulty of this position is that since the body was continuous before its separation, no distinction is made between continuous parts and contiguous parts, and thus between rupture of continuity (discontinuatio) and rupture of adjacency (discontiguatio). In order to overcome this difficulty Buridan considers that between the rest of an undivided continuum and the local motion of separation of parts, or more generally between a rest and a local motion, both temporal, there is an indivisible change which makes the parts which were continuous become contiguous parts. But Buridan specifies at once that when one speaks about this indivisible change one is only saying that at first the parts were not divided and that afterwards they are divided.34
32 A similar reasoning can be found in Burley, notably in his Tractatus de formis [Down Scott], pp. 70–71. For the similitude between Montecalerio and Burley about the nature of point, see Alice Lamy, Substance et quantité à la fin du XIII e siècle et au début du XIV e siècle. L’exemple de Gautier Burley, p. 270. 33 Cf. QP pp. 74–78. 34 “Ad formam igitur rationis dicit quod mutatio divisionis est indivisibilis quia iste terminus «divisio» significat «partes prius immediate fuisse non divisas et immediate
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Montecalerio, who considers that division is not a local motion and must refute Buridan’s position, shows that between rest and motion there is no indivisible change. He does this with three proposals. This part of the controversy, like the preceding one, is paradoxical. What exactly is the indivisible change introduced by Buridan? Either it does not have any reality and there is no longer difference between contiguous and continuous anymore, or it is real and then it seems that one is led to admit the existence of instants. Now it is Montecalerio, the indivisibilist, who refutes a position seeming to imply the existence of indivisible instants, whereas this position is supported by Buridan, for whom points and instants do not exist. The need for the introduction of an indivisible change between two incompossible temporal things is the subject of Buridan’s question de possibilate existendi . . . to which I have already referred,35 and which can be regarded as a treatise on the first and the last instant of motion. Let us clarify. Imagine two incompossible things: a black body that is whitening and the same body that is simply maintaining its whiteness, i.e., that is at rest. The intermediate instant will be characterized by the fact that the body will be at the same time white and not white, therefore two contradictories will be true at the same time. However it will be in the sense given above, i.e., immediately before the body was black, and immediately after it will be white. At the end of the question Buridan gives an interpretation of this simultaneity in terms of measures with an example in which he supposes that a non-white at rest is transformed into white and then remains white. It is necessary then, he says, to suppose that there exist five measurements, namely three moments and two instants: the three moments measure the rest of the white and of the non-white and the motion of whitening, the two instants measure the intermediate instants.36 It is worth noting
post istas esse divisas et separatas—dans QP: discontinuas-. Et idem est quod significat «unam partem non moveri sine altera immediate prius, et immediate post unam moveri sine alia vel ambas moveri motibus contrarie» [. . .] Secundum solvit quod secundum veritatem mutatio divisionis non est indivisibilis, scilicet generatio vel corruptio indivisibilis, sed est motus localis divisibilis quia una pars totius removetur ab altera secundum profunditatem et hoc non potest esse in instanti.” EG (M.M.) f. 218r; cf QP p. 77, l. 12–20 et p. 78, l. 10–11. 35 Cf. footnote 15. 36 “Et illorum oportet esse quinque mensuras, scilicet tria tempora et duo instantia: primum tempus mensurat non esse albi in sua quiete et secundum tempus in suo fluxu ad esse tempus mensurans generationem albi, tertium tempus mensurat esse albi in sua quiete; instans quod est medium inter tempus generationis et tempus quietis precedentis
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that Buridan gives here a certain reality to the instant of intermediate change, since he regards it as a measurement, that of the instant during which the two incompossibles are simultaneous. This last question of Buridan being dated, as we said, from 1335, it can perhaps give us an indication for dating this controversy. In his presentation, Buridan indicates that he argued elsewhere that two incompossibles are possible at the same instant and that many people had been surprised by this and that it was for this reason that he wrote his question.37 It is tempting to connect it with Montecalerio’s observation made in his text: And my third reason, given in the other question [the alia determinatio], proves this point, namely that it is only because of a succession of time that a proposition can be true now and its contradictory be true afterwards, and this doctor [Buridan] does not formally reply to that.38
The succession of times being opposed to the succession times/instants, the drafting of the question de possibilitate existendi . . . could be, inter alia, Buridan’s response to Montecalerio, which could give a terminus ante quem to our controversy. Even if one does not accept this conjectural reconstruction, it is worth noting that the problematics, the references and a number of arguments that appear in the question de possibilitate existendi . . ., are coherent with what is found in the polemical text of Buridan. That all these questions were composed at roughly the same time is very probable. 8. The Common Surface of Parts as a Formal Cause of their CONTINUATIO (Second Part of the Second Article) The continuity of the parts of a line consists in having a common extremity, the continuity of the parts of a body in having a common surface. As Montecalerio considers that the extremity point and the
mensurat momentum a quo incipit motus vel generatio, et instans medium inter tempus generationis et quietem sequentem mensurat ultimum momentum generationis.” EG (Bur. qu. de possibilitate existendi . . .) f. 236v. 37 “Multi mirantur qualiter alias dixi quod possibile sit idem esse et non esse in eodem instanti, propter quod intendo dare medium per quod non solum ostendetur hoc esse possibile sed necessarium.” EG (Bur. qu. de possibilitate existendi . . .) f. 233v. 38 “Et hoc probat ratio mea tertia quam feci in alia questione, scilicet unum contradictorium non potest nunc esse verum et post aliud nisi ratione successionis temporum, ad quam iste doctor in forma non respondet.” EG (M.M.) f. 222r.
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common surface are accidents in the category of quantity, he allots logically to this point or this surface the status of cause, formal but non material, of the continuity of the corresponding parts.39 Buridan’s objection is, therefore, that if the cause of the continuity of the parts is an accident in the category of quantity, one cannot explain why it is easier to divide a piece of cheese than a stone of the same quantity, i.e. of the same volume, or why it is easier to put in continuity two parts of water than two stones of same size, etc. And then, Buridan affirms that the cause of setting two things in continuity (continuatio) is not in the category of the common quantitative accident which would be a common surface, it can be only qualitative and/or substantial. Many examples are given: that fluid bodies are easily put in continuity, especially when their moisture is not viscous, whereas it is not so easy for others, which are not fluids. Buridan explains this by the fact that the parts of the fluid body interpenetrate easily whereas those of the other objects do not completely touch.40 Buridan’s argumentation takes a very physical turn, with the evocation of experiments which are not only thought experiments, but experiments that he describes as essential for philosophical knowledge. He even invokes the activity of the alchemist.41 To this formidable objection Montecalerio answers with a succession of four propositions, and reaffirms that the causes of the continuity of a body are indeed its common parts and their surfaces and not some agreement (convenientia) between substantial or qualitative natures.42 His arguments do not take the same quasi experimental form; they are repeated in various forms, and remain very general: 1) In the Eucharist the separated quantity is continuous, and yet there is no substantial or qualitative nature present.
There too a comparison with Burley is relevant. “Et ideo causa continuationis <non> est nisi substantialis vel qualitativa vel u traque: quia corpora bene fluxibilia faciliter continuantur et specialiter si non sit humiditas viscosa, sed alia non fluxibilia non continuantur, et causa est quia prima bene subintrant se invicem, secunda nullo modo.” EG (M.M.) f. 220v; cf QP p. 81, l. 1–15. 41 QP p. 81, particularly l. 19–34. 42 “Quarta propositio est quod causa sufficiens continuationis non est convenientia in natura substantiali; quod nec convenientia in qualitatte vel similitudo; 3° quod nec ambo sunt causa sufficiens continuationis.” EG (M.M.) f. 221r. 39
40
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2) If a quality causes a continuity, it must be humidity, because certain humid bodies, continuous, heated, are transformed into ashes, which are discontinuous. However, humidity is not the cause of continuity since fire is continuous. 3) The sky is continuous and yet it does not have a corruptible quality. 4) Contrary to what Buridan says, when parts of water are brought closer they are not immediately in continuity, but are only contiguous. They interpenetrate at once and because of this interpenetration, surfaces are corrupted, and a new common surface is generated which ensures continuity. 5) A piece of dead wood can be in continuity with a piece of alive wood although these two pieces of wood have different substantial natures. In conclusion, to confirm the position he had expounded in the other determination, he adds somehow maliciously that when Buridan contends that no power could divide continuum without a local motion or without an alteration, he contradicts the divine absolute power.43 Taking into account, however, the arguments of his adversary, Montecalerio introduces the distinction between immediate formal cause of the continuation or division of parts of a continuum, and causes that make the continuation or division easier. He maintains that the surface (or the line or the point) common to the parts is the formal cause of continuation, and that the two parts ready to be put in continuity are its material cause. On the other hand, what makes continuation or division more or less easy varies according to the nature of the bodies we consider. Adapting certain arguments of Buridan he admits that this cause is sometimes qualitative: in the case of liquids, a nonviscous humidity can make easier the continuation or division of the parts; in
43 Buridan: “Ad illud autem quod adiungitur de potentia divina forte diceretur quod sine motu locali aut aliqua facta mutatione humidi continuantis Deus non posset discontinuare partes lapidis. De quo tamen nihil asserere intendo.” QP p. 82, l. 32– p. 83, l. 2. Montecalerio: “Sed respondendo ad alias, specialiter ad secundam, dicit quod per nullam potentiam poterat fieri de continuo non continuum nisi facto motu locali vel alteratione, et quia salva eius reverentia hoc est contra potentiam divinam et forte contra naturam alico modo, ut probavi superius in defensione prime rationis, ideo ratio manet concludens necessario quod punctum est, et per consequens omnes rationes mee—celles de l’autre détermination-manent in suo vigore.” EG (M.M.) f. 222r.
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some cases, humidity can only make easier the division, and in other cases, it cannot cause either of them, etc.44 9. Conclusion One will certainly feel frustrated after having read this text—or rather these texts. It teaches us Montecalerio’s position, but in an incidental way, and we do not really have an exposition in due form: only the answers to Buridan’s criticisms remain. The alia determinatio was supposed to give such a presentation, and perhaps it would have allowed us to know the nature and the extent of Montecalerio’s debt with regard to Burley. Given the present state of the texts, such a debt is only probable because of our very rudimentary knowledge of Montecalerio on the one hand, but also because of the disparate character and the lack of coherence of Burley’s argumentation on the other hand. In addition, as it was pointed out earlier, the criticism of the Buridanian position, a position very close to Ockham’s, is missing in Montecalerio’s text. Such a criticism would have perhaps provided explanations regarding the point of view adopted at that time by Buridan on the status of quantity. It is clear that he departs from Ockham on this topic in the two known versions of his physics, but more clearly in the ultima lectura than in the tertia lectura.45 However this question becomes central in our debate on the nature of points since one of
44 “Patet quod alia est causa continuationis et divisionis prima et immediata et alia est causa facilitatis vel difficultatis continuationis et divisionis. Quia continuationis causa formalis et immediata est superficies vel linea vel punctus communis, sed causa materialis immediata sit quanta vel quantitates nate habere idem ultimum. [. . .] In aliquibus est humiditas fluxibili, hoc est non coagulata bene nec bene permixta sicco, ut patet in liquidis, et hoc est causa facilitatis divisionis quia talis humiditas et licet possit tenere partes unitas in eodem ultimo, tamen faciliter cedit dividenti [. . .] In aliquibus autem talis humiditas non est causa continuationis nec satis discontinuationis et divisionis sicut in igne.” EG (M.M.) f. 222r. 45 In the tertia lectura which is generally dated from the beginning of the years 1350 Buridan seems to reply in a conservatory way in accordance with the via antiqua (quantity is an accident distinct from the substance) but without engaging clearly with the question utrum omnis res extensa est magnitudo (qu.I-7). On the other hand in the corresponding question of the ultima lectura (qu.I-8), after giving arguments favorable to the ockhamist position (the quantity is not really distinct from the substance), and refuting them, he declares that these refutations are insufficient and gives new ones which are presented as personal and which enable him to determine against Ockham that nulla substantia est magnitudo. On the two versions of Buridan’s physics, see my paper cited in footnote 9.
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the protagonists considers that the point is an accident in the category of the quantity. Alice Lamy highlighted this point concerning Burley’s polemic against Ockham.46 Still, it remains that we have here, even incompletely reported, the example of a Parisian academic debate on Ockhamist physics, a debate which shouldn’t be neglected, all the less so since Buridan, a Master whose importance cannot be disputed, here defends the Ockhamist point of view. Moreover, it must be stressed that no other text on the continuum and no other text of Buridan’s than those I mention here appear in Etienne Gaudet’s collection. What are the formal characteristics of this polemic? First of all, a great promptness of tone. An example has been given at the beginning of this article,47 but there are many other instances of this sort: Buridan does not hesitate to write that his adversary answers very weakly (valde debiliter); on several occasions he ironically admires the arguments of his adversary, while the other retorts that Buridan does not have to admire them, but that quite to the contrary it is he who admires—ironically—what Buridan claims to demonstrate, etc. The apparently respectful tone of the incipit is completely out of phase with the general tone of the two texts. One is also struck by the lack of theoretical reference to the infinite, which was pointed out earlier, and by the remarkably restricted place occupied by the logical considerations in Montecalerio, but also in Buridan who is known for having written logical treaties in the years 1320. I will not try to explain this fact, but will simply notice that when studying the divisibility of continuum, putting aside the initial argument, the two protagonists call upon considerations on the rarefaction of the air or fire, the transparency of the sheets of gold, but make no reference to the refinements of the supposition theory, of the composite and divided sense, etc. Last but not least, mathematics are mostly absent. They are mentioned only once, when Buridan, indeed in a rather clumsy way, asserts that mathematics treat natural things from the point of view of the quantity and that if points—quantitative accidents of natural things—existed, there should exist mathematical points. The argument
46 Alice Lamy, Substance et quantité à la fin du XIII e siècle et au début du XIV e siècle, l’exemple de Gautier Burley, pp. 228–277. 47 See footnote 8.
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is weak since points indeed exist in mathematics. Actually Montecalerio does not take the trouble to answer it. One finds no allusion, even to challenge their relevance, to the rationes mathematicae very fashionable among English scholars since Duns Scotus. All these features of our controversy make it very different from English polemics like the one which opposed Chatton and Wodeham,48 but in the current state of our knowledge we cannot say up to which point it is characteristic of the Parisian debates of the years 1330.
48 See, for example, Murdoch & Synan, “Two Questions on the Continuum: Walter Chatton (?), O.F.M. and Adam Wodeham, O.F.M.”
JOHN WYCLIF’S ATOMISM1 Emily Michael The fourteenth century evangelical doctor, John Wyclif (1320–1384),2 a prominent,3 if controversial, Oxford master, was an atomist. Like other scholastics of his time, Wyclif adopted a hylomorphic ontology, and he accepted the Aristotelian view that all corporeal things are composed of and reducible to four elements (earth, air, fire, and water). Still, unlike his contemporaries, he also maintained that the body of the total universe, and each individual body within it, is composed of and reducible to a finite number of elemental atoms.4 John Wyclif is dubbed the evening star of scholasticism and the morning star of the Reformation by H.B. Workman, and by such contemporary commentators as Kenny and Spade.5 In another paper,6 I examined the question of whether he can with some justice also be dubbed the morning star of a reformation in science, for the fact is that his distinctive atomism as well as his mind-body dualism anticipates, in some respects, developments of early modern natural philosophy. The final section of this chapter will provide a discussion of this distinctive
1 I gratefully acknowledge that research for this chapter was partially supported by a grant from the Research Foundation of the City University of New York. All translations are my own, unless otherwise noted. 2 The best biographical study of Wyclif ’s life is by Workman, John Wyclif, A Study of the English Medieval Church; Kenny, Wyclif, provides a clear and concise introduction to Wyclif ’s thought. 3 Conti, “Analogy and Formal Distinction: On the Logical Basis of Wyclif ’s Metaphysics,” p. 133, says that Wyclif “was one of the most important and authoritative thinkers of the late Middle Ages.” For an excellent bibliography, see: Thomson, The Latin Writings of John Wyclif: An Annotated Catalog. 4 See also, for discussion of Wyclif ’s atomism: Pabst, Atomtheorien des lateinischen Mittelalters; Zubov, “Walter Catton, Gérard d’Odon et Nicolas Bonet;” Kretzmann, “Continua, Indivisibles, and Change in Wyclif ’s Logic of Scripture.” 5 A point reflected in Lewis Sergeant’s title John Wyclif, Last of the Schoolmen and First of the English Reformers. Workman, John Wyclif, A Study of the English Medieval Church i, 4: “The first of the reformers was, in fact, the last of the schoolmen.” Kenny, Wyclif; John Wyclif, On Universals, [trans. Kenny], introduction by Paul Vincent Spade. See also Milton, Areopagitica [ Bohn], ii, 91. 6 Michael, “John Wyclif on Body and Mind.”
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atomism. I will begin with an exploration of several other questions that Wyclif ’s atomism raises. First, we might note that this distinctive and interesting atomism is now little known.7 What is more, though Wyclif was well known in his time, currently there is no evidence of discussion or influence of his atomism in the natural philosophy of his immediate successors. One might well ask why, though this fourteenth century atomistic view is clearly a striking development in natural philosophy, it received so little attention and had so little impact in its time and why this early atomistic account, which is clearly a dramatic development in the history of thought, is now still so little known. That is: Q1: Why the neglect of John Wyclif ’s atomism? Second, one might reply to this query that the uniqueness and neglect of Wyclif ’s atomistic matter theory is easily understood in the light of the seeming lack of necessity for and perhaps inconsistency of an atomistic account in conjunction with a hylomorphic ontology. One might add that scholastic resistance to a Wyclifian corpuscular matter theory was also supported by Aristotle’s strenuous rejection of atomism. This raises a second question, namely, what is the rationale for and the framework of an atomism that is coupled with a hylomorphic ontology. This, in fact, gives rise to two questions: Q2: How is a corpuscular matter theory possible in conjunction with the Aristotelian view that prime matter and substantial form are the fundamental principles of corporeal things? Q3: Why is a corpuscular matter theory needed in conjunction with the Aristotelian view that prime matter and substantial form are the fundamental principles of corporeal things? In the following section, I will examine the first two questions. In the subsequent section, in response to the final question, I will consider, first, the scholastic context of Wyclif ’s matter theory and, second, motivation for his commitment to an atomistic account. In the final section, I will
7 See Spade, On Universals, introduction, p. 1: “John Wyclif ’s philosophical views are almost entirely unknown to modern scholars . . .” This is especially true of Wyclif ’s natural philosophy.
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further consider the rationale for and I will investigate the nature of John Wyclif ’s atomism.8 1. The Impact and Framework of Wyclif’s Corpuscular Matter Theory 1.1. Q1: Why the Neglect of John Wyclif ’s Atomism? One might well ask, why, though Wyclif ’s fourteenth century atomistic view is clearly a striking development in natural philosophy, it seemingly generated so little interest among Renaissance philosophers and is now so little known. The fact is that though our Oxford master was an innovative thinker, a prolific writer, and extremely influential in his time, his philosophical views generally are little known even to his fifteenth century successors. His biographer, Herbert Workman, tells us that, in Wyclif ’s lifetime, “his influence is beyond dispute. The source of this influence is clear. As a schoolman he was the acknowledged leader among his contemporaries at Oxford;”9 and Henry Knighton, though an implacable adversary, describes his foe as “the most eminent doctor of theology of his time, in philosophy, second to none, in the training of the schools without a rival.”10 Kenny correctly claims that Wyclif ’s philosophical views are as interesting and well-reasoned as those of Ockham or Scotus, and that his influence in his time was at least as extensive. This seems to argue that there was an interest in and influence of Wyclif ’s natural philosophy in his lifetime. What then is the reason for Wyclif ’s seemingly short shelf life and his current obscurity? One reason would seem to be the following. Thirty-one years after Wyclif ’s death, the Council of Constance [1414–1418] declared him a heretic, and (after condemning theological and philosophical propositions attributed to him)11 ordered that his body 8 Works of Wyclif relevant to this study include: De Compositione Hominis [Beer], hereafter cited as DCH; De Materia et Forma [Dziewicki], hereafter cited as De M&F; Tractatus De Logica [ Dziewicki] (Wyclif ’s matter theory is raised in his discussion of propositions of place to explain his distinctive notion of place, in vol. III, Logicae Continuatio, tract 3, ch.9, which will be hereafter cited as LC 3.9); De Ente [Dziewicki]; Trialogus [Lechler], also printed in 1525 and 1753, hereafter noted as Tr. 9 Workman, John Wyclif, A Study of the English Medieval Church., vol. i, p. 3. 10 Ibid., vol. ii, p. 151. 11 Conciliorum Oecumenicorum Decreta [Alberigo e.a.], p. 427. “Cum itaque in sacro generali concilio nuper Romae celebrato decretum fuerit, doctrinam damnatae memoriae Ioannis Wicleff damnandam esse, et libros eius huiusmodi doctrinam continentes
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be exhumed and that his corpse and all his works be burned.12 The Council dogmatically proclaimed that it forbids the reading, teaching, expounding and citing of the said books (they mention Dialogus, Trialogus, and the same author’s other books): “It forbids each and every Catholic henceforth, under pain of anathema, to preach, teach, expound, or hold the said articles or any one of them”13 and it “orders local ordinaries and inquisitors of heresy to be vigilant in carrying out these things . . .”.14 Jan Hus, the Evangelical Doctor’s influential Czech follower, though granted safe conduct to these proceedings by the Pope and the Emperor Sigismund, was condemned by the same Church council and burned at the stake.15 Nonetheless, Wyclif ’s works (copied, for example, by his Czech admirers and carried back to their homeland) survived, and one, his Trialogus, was printed in 1525.16 This provides some evidence fore tamquam haereticos comburendos, et doctrinam ipsam damnatam et libros eius tamquam doctrinam insanam et pestiferam includentes, combustos fuisse cum effectu; et huiusmodi decretum huius sacri auctoritate concilii fuerit approbatum . . .” 12 For an excellent discussion of this condemnation and history of Wyclif ’s reputation among Catholics, see Kenny, “The Accursed Memory: The Counter-Reformation Reputation of John Wyclif ”. See also Leff, “John Wyclif: The Path to Dissent,” and idem, Heresy in the Later Middle Ages. The focus of an official Church Council on the condemnation of an individual and the establishment of this condemnation as Church dogma is unusual. 13 Conciliorum Oecumenicorum Decreta [alberigo e.a.] p. 422: “. . . inhibens omnibus ex singulis catholicis sub anathematis intermination, ne de cetero dictos articulos aut ipsorum aliquem audeant praedicare, dogmatizare, offerre, vel tenere.” 14 Ibid.: “Super quibus exsequendis et dibite conservandis mandat praedicta sancta synodus ordinariis locorum ac inquisitoribus haereticae pravitatis vigilanter intendere, prout ad quemlibet pertinet, secundum iura et coanonicas sanctiones.” 15 The Council declared that “John Wyclif, of accursed memory, by his deadly teaching, like a poisonous root, has brought forth many noxious sons, not in Christ Jesus through the gospel, as once the holy fathers brought forth faithful sons, but rather contrary to the saving faith of Christ, and he has left these sons as successors to his perverse teaching. This holy synod of Constance is compelled to act against these men as against spurious and illegitimate sons, and to cut away their errors from the Lord’s field as if they were harmful briars, by means of vigilant care and the knife of ecclesiastical authority, lest they spread as a cancer to destroy others.” Ibid., pp. 426–427: “(Sententia contra Ioannem Huss) . . . vir damnatae memoriae Ioannes Wicleff sua mortifera doctrina non in Christo Iesu per evangelium, ut olim sancti patres fideles filios genuere sed contra Christi salutarem fidem, velut radix virulenta, plures genuit filios pestiferos, quos sui perversi dogmatis reliquit successores. Adversus quos haec sancta synodus Constantiensis tamquam contra spurios et illegitimos filios cogitur insurgere, et eorum errores ab agro dominico tamquam vepres nocivas, cura pervigili et cultro auctoritatis ecclesiasticae resecare, ne ut cancer serpant in perniciem aliorum.” 16 This work may have been known, for example, by J.C. Scaliger, who provides a rudimentary hylomorphic corpuscular matter theory in his Exotericae Exercitationes [ Lyon, 1557], and, in turn, influenced such seventeenth century hylomorphic atomists as Daniel Sennert and Sennert’s student and advocate, Johannes Sperling.
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of a role for Wyclif during the Renaissance. Nonetheless, the Council of Constance succeeded very well in suppressing Wyclif ’s views. All but one of Wyclif ’s massive array of philosophical works remained in manuscript form, unpublished until the late nineteenth century. Many remain unpublished to this day. It might with merit be claimed that the evangelical doctor’s legacy was preserved, first, through the martyrdom of Hus and his subsequent persistent and devoted following, and, second, through the propositions condemned. Some of these were clearly never asserted by Wyclif, for example, among the 45 recorded in session 8 of the Council, “God ought to obey the devil.” and, among the 58 recorded in the fifteenth session, “Every being is everywhere, since every being is God.” Others distort features of his philosophic views. Of particular importance to the current study is the condemnation of such propositions as: P1: “Any continuous mathematical line is composed of two, three or four contiguous points, or of only a simply finite number of points; and time is, was and will be composed of contiguous instants.”17 P2: “It must be imagined that one corporeal substance was formed at its beginning as composed of indivisibles, and that it occupies every possible place.”18 P3: “God cannot annihilate anything, nor increase or diminish the world.”19 This is a direct condemnation of foundations of Wylcif ’s atomism.20 Wyclif was declared a heresiarch by (as described by the Council, Session 15, 6 July 1415) “[t]his most holy general synod of Constance, 17 Conciliorum Oecumenicorum Decreta [Alberigo e.a.] p. 426 “51. Linea aliqua mathematica continua componitur ex duobus, tribus, vel quatuor punctis immediatis, aut solum ex punctis simpliciter finitis; vel tempus est, fuit, vel erit compositum ex instantibus immediatis.” 18 Ibid.: “52. Imaginandum est, unam substantiam corpoream in principio suo ductam esse ex indivisibilibus compositam, et occupare omnem locum possibilem.” 19 Ibid.: “49. Deus nihil potest annihilare, nec mundum majorare vel minorare . . .” 20 It might be conjectured that these propositions were condemned because of the difficulties atomism raises for an account of the Eucharist, in particular, in regard to the doctrine of transubstantiation. Of particular importance in Wyclif ’s downfall is the subject of five condemned propositions, viz., his view of the sacrament of the Eucharist, which analysis was influenced by his atomistic account of the physical world. See, for example, Wyclif, De M&F (which is an early work), in the context of his discussion of substantial change, p. 189: “De conversione autem panis in corpus Christi, quam ecclesia vocat transubstanciacionem, est longus sermo, et mihi adhuc inscrutabilis.”
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representing the catholic church and legitimately assembled in the holy Spirit, for the elimination of the schisms, errors and heresies.”21 The lack of influence of his corpuscular matter theory can be explained by the general acceptance, among his contemporaries, of hylomorphism and of Aristotle’s arguments opposing atomism. But this does not explain the absence of all discussion of and seeming lack of knowledge about Wyclif ’s atomism. It seems likely that the repudiation and extensive condemnation of Wyclif ’s views, the prohibition “under pain of anathema” of the reading, teaching, expounding and citing of his works, and the order that his books, treatises, volumes and pamphlets be publicly burned had an impact on subsequent knowledge about his philosophical views and on his legacy generally. 1.2. The Ontological Structure of Material Substances We turn now to the second question, that is, how can atomism be consistent with Aristotelian hylomorphism.22 Like other scholastics of his time, Wyclif accepted the view that prime matter and substantial form are the fundamental ontological principles of each material substance. What I wish to show is that Wyclif adopted a distinctive hylomorphic account, to be identified in what follows as scholastic pluralism, and that scholastic pluralism is consistent with atomism. Some commentators claim that Aristotelian hylomorphism is necessarily inconsistent with atomism. For example, Van Melsen says that, in Aristotle’s view, “If one admitted that some body was a compound, the logical conclusion had to be drawn that it possessed only one form.”23 But, in a hylomorphic atomism (like Wyclif ’s) “the original forms of the elements are said to remain [in the compound]. This impaired the unity of the compound in virtue of the rule: one substance means one form, and a plurality of forms means a plurality of substances.”24 Dijksterhuis, discussing Daniel Sennert’s hylomorphic atomism, similarly sees Aristotelian hylomorphism and atomism as inconsistent. He says that
21 Conciliorum Oecumenicorum Decreta [Alberigo e.a.], p. 421: “Sacrosancta Constantiensis synodus generalis, ecclesiam catholicam repraesentans, ad extirpationem schismatis errorumque et haeresium in Spiritu sancto legitime congregata, auditis diligenter et examinatis libris et opusculis damnatae memoriae Ioannis Wicleff per doctores et magistros studii generalis Oxioniensis.” 22 In what follows, hylomorphism will refer solely to Aristotelian hylomorphism. 23 Van Melsen, From Atomos to Atom: The History of the Concept of Atom, p. 126. 24 Ibid., p. 125.
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Sennert, “to reassure his philosophic conscience, introduces subordinate and higher forms, which had always been unanimously rejected by the scholastic philosophers.”25 What I wish to show is that these commentators misrepresent the development of scholastic hylomorphism. The fact is that from the inception of scholasticism in the thirteenth century until its demise in the late seventeenth century, Aristotelians were divided into two camps in their analyses of how prime matter and substantial forms compose material things. One hylomorphic approach, influenced by Thomas Aquinas and to be identified as scholastic monism, is very familiar. It is this interpretation of form and matter that Van Melsen and Dijksterhuis identify as Aristotle’s own view. The other now little known approach, namely, scholastic pluralism,26 was associated in the thirteenth century with, for example, archbishops of Canterbury, Robert Kilwardby and John Pecham (mentioned in this regard by Wyclif ),27 and, in the fourteenth century, was the interpretation of Aristotle’s view presented not only by Wyclif, but also by such prominent and influential figures as Scotus, Ockham, and John of Jandun. Aquinas and his followers (i.e., scholastic monists) support the following theses: TT1: Prime matter is pure potentiality. TT2: Each substantial form is an absolute and immutable actuality, determining a complete substance. TT3: An individual substance can have no more than one substantial form, which inheres directly in prime matter. TT4: The one substantial form of a human being is a rational soul. The scholastic pluralists maintain instead:
25 Dijksterhuis, The Mechanization of the World Picture, p. 283. Daniel Sennert was an influential seventeenth-century physician, who adopted atomism and a hylomorphic ontology. 26 For discussion of scholastic pluralism, see Zavalloni, Richard de Mediavilla et la controverse sur la pluralité des formes. 27 Wyclif, DCH, p. 74, cites Robert Kilwardby and John Pecham, respectively a Dominican and a Franciscan of the previous century, both of whom, as archbishops of Canterbury, issued condemnations in which the unicity of forms of Aquinas was seen as a heretical doctrine.
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TP1: Prime matter has an actuality of its own. TP2: Substantial forms are of two sorts, subordinate forms, which determine a part of a substance or an incomplete substance, and supervening forms, which determine a total substance and place it in its species. TP3: An individual substance can have a plurality of substantial forms. TP4: An intellective soul is the ultimate supervening substantial form of a human being. We find here, in these respective theses, two very different interpretations of Aristotle’s fundamental principles, prime matter and substantial form, and this, in turn, as might well be expected, had implications for a variety of other doctrines from embryology to immortality. So, for example, Aquinas and his followers maintain that each human being has a simple ontological structure. Each is wholly determined only by a rational soul that inheres in prime matter. Here prime matter is pure potentiality, incapable of existing apart from form, and since forms are the object of cognition, no idea of matter is possible, even for God. A substantial form gives a substance being, activates it, and makes it what it is. Socrates’s one substantial form is a rational soul, and his intellect is but one power of this soul, along with powers of nutrition, sensation, local motion, and appetite. Scotus and Ockham support instead the view each human being has a pluralistic and hierarchical structure. From the viewpoint of both, Socrates is composed of prime matter, which has a positive reality of its own,28 and a plurality of kinds and grades of substantial forms.29 Both would agree that prime matter is the subject of the form of Socrates body, and that Socrates body, in turn, is the subject of a supervening substantial form, namely, Socrates human soul, which places him in his species and makes him what he is. But Scotus and Ockham each provide a different account of the corporeal and psychic substantial forms that determine a human being. In Ockham’s view, Socrates body 28 See, for example, John Duns Scotus on the reality of matter in Liber II Sententiarum, dist. 12, q. 1, 2 [ Vives], hereafter cited as Sent. See, also, Ockham’s discussion of matter, in William of Ockham, Summula Philosophiae Naturalis [Brown], OPh VI, pp. 181–195; and McCord Adams, William Ockham, pp. 680–690. 29 See, John Duns Scotus, Sent. [ Balic e.a.], lib. IV, dist. 11, q. 3. See, also, Ockham, Quodlibeta Septem [ Wey], 2nd Quodlibet, q. 11. See translation in Ockham, Quodlibetal Questions [trans. Freddoso & Kelly], vol. I, pp. 136–139.
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(an incomplete substance) is determined by one subordinate substantial form. Scotus claims instead a plurality of corporeal substantial forms of the parts of Socrates’s body, e.g., of blood, bones, flesh and the like. Further, each provides a different analysis of the relation between vegetative, sensitive, and intellective psychic principles. Scotus claims one soul in which these psychic principles are formally distinct. From Ockham’s viewpoint, Socrates must have two really distinct souls, an organic soul and mind. Jandun, taking yet another view, supports three really distinct souls, two inhering souls, vegetative and sensitive, and a mind, which, following Averroes’s monopsychism, is a separated substance that is one for all human beings. Scholastic monists adopted a single view, namely, that of Aquinas; scholastic pluralists developed a plurality of competing analyses of the structure of corporeal things. Among Aquinas’s thirteenth-century contemporaries, the common view was the pluralistic one that at least some substances have more than one substantial form and that prime matter has a positive reality of some sort. Aquinas’s principle rationale for his opposition to pluralism was a metaphysical claim that each substance must be one per se. Thomas argues: each entity is a single substance, but, since the actuality or nature of each substance is determined by its substantial form, if one subject has two substantial forms, it will have two actualities, and, therefore, it will be two substances.30 So, for example, Aquinas contends: if a man is a living thing by one form, the vegetative soul, and an animal by another form, the sensitive soul, and a man by another form, the intellective soul, it would follow that a man is not absolutely one.31 That is, a human being would, in fact, be three distinct things, a plant, for the vegetative soul is the plant soul, and a brute animal, as well as a human being. From this Thomistic viewpoint, distinct forms inform, i.e. determine, distinct substances. But a single substance must be one unified entity; a substance cannot be composed of substances. Therefore, a single substance must have a single substantial form. Aquinas therefore claims: TT5: The one substantial form of a substance is the principle that makes it one per se.
30 31
Aquinas, Summa Theologica, q. 76, art. 4. Aquinas, Summa Theologica, q. 76, art. 3.
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It was thereafter incumbent upon pluralists to respond to this metaphysical argument and demonstrate how a substance with a plurality of substantial forms is nonetheless one per se. Aquinas’s rigorous and systematic monistic theory (TT1–TT5) was a controversial interpretation of Aristotle’s view,32 and there were numerous attacks against it. Perhaps the most important attack was William de la Mare’s 1279 Correctorium Fratris Thomae,33 a compilation of errors from the works of Aquinas in which William prominently includes TT1–TT5, as well as Aquinas’s view that the principle of individuation is signated matter.34 William ascribes Thomas’s complaint to an erroneous view of forms, in particular, to a denial of the relation of “grades of forms” within a single substance, and attributes to Aristotle the view that a substance in which there are various grades of forms is unified by an ultimate form. William and subsequent pluralists maintained: [TP5] The ultimate or supervening specific substantial form of a substance is the principle that makes it one per se.35 Further, the pluralists supported their claims by a vast arsenal of opposing arguments, logical, metaphysical, physical, and theological. The text of William de la Mare, a Franciscan, was adopted by the General Chapter of Franciscans in Strassburg on May 17, 1282, and was ordered, by the same Chapter, to be read along with the works of Aquinas as part of the text.36 This Franciscan endorsement of William de la Mare’s Correctorium further established, as common Franciscan 32 See Zavalloni (Richard de Mediavilla et la controverse sur la pluralité des formes, pp. 383–419) for a careful study of pre-Thomistic positions. Zavalloni provides convincing evidence that, prior to Aquinas, “la doctrine de la pluralité des formes . . . est universellement acceptée en ce qui regarde le corps ou, du moins, le composé humain.” (p. 405) 33 This work appears in Correctorium corruptorii “Quare” [Glorieux]. 34 In January of 1279, John Pecham, an influential Franciscan theologian, was appointed Archbishop of Canterbury, and, late in the year 1279, William de la Mare completed, possibly under the patronage of Archbishop Pecham, a compilation of errors from the works of St. Thomas. William’s Correctorium Fratris Thomae [Glorieux] includes 117 excerpts from Aquinas’s works. 35 William says, for example: “Ad illud tamen quod multitudo formarum est contra rationem unitatis, dicendum quod res in qua est multitudo et gradus formarum, est una per formam ultimam, ut expresse dicit Philosophus VIII Metaphysicae et Commentator . . .,” Correctorium Fratris Thomae [Glorieux], p. 396. 36 For discussion of this Franciscan endorsement of William de la Mare’s Correctorium, along with detailed consideration of the response of followers of Aquinas, see Roensch, Early Thomistic School.
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theses, the actuality of matter37 and the plurality of substantial forms, supporting thereby TP1–TP5, and it contributed to the entrenchment of these theses, and to the division of Franciscans and Dominicans on philosophical grounds.38 A complex of doctrines, viz., TP1–TP5, along with, for example, the view that matter is not the principle of individuation, and the rejection of the Thomistic distinction between essence and existence, remained associated with the distinctive and quite long-lived approach that I have referred to as scholastic pluralism. Wyclif argues that, from the Thomistic viewpoint, the composition of a human being is as simple as that of an element, which is absurd. Like his Franciscan predecessors, Scotus and Ockham, he maintains that human beings and other compound substances have a pluralistic structure. He claims, for example, that “many substantial forms of different species are together in the same composite, however one will be subordinate to another, as is clear of a compound.” and “one form that is more general and another more specific, which are in the same suppositum, are ordered together, as forms of different species, as is manifestly clear of bone, of flesh, of nerve and other heterogeneous parts in man.”39 So, in Wyclif ’s view, Bossy the cow is composed of a plurality of grades of matter and of substantial forms. First, prime matter is the subject of the substantial forms of the elemental atoms,40 and differing combinations of the elements, i.e., of earth, air, fire, and 37 Among William’s arguments for his position, as especially important, are arguments that focus upon God’s omnipotence. For example: (1) The Thomistic view that matter is pure potentiality, with no positive reality, implies that God cannot make matter without form (Correctorium, p. 409, art. 108).; that God cannot cause matter to precede its form in time (ibid., p. 113, art. 27), and that God can have no idea of matter simpliciter (ibid., p. 326, art. 79; p. 389, art. 97; see also articles 4, 80, 81). But this is a denial of God’s omnipotence, and so must be false. The last point, of course, also questions divine omniscience. 38 Various lengthy replies to William’s Correctorium by Dominican Thomists appeared in short order. Four, entitled the Correctorium corruptorii, have been identified respectively as “Quare,” “Circa,” “Sciendum,” “Questione,” and the first three, with much disagreement among scholars, have been respectively attributed to Richard Knapwell, John Quidort, and William of Mackelsfield. See Glorieux, Le Correctorium corruptorii “Sciendum,” vol. II, pp. 12–19. 39 Wyclif, Trialogus, p. 92: “. . . multas formas substantiales dispares specie esse in eodem composito dum tamen una sit subordinata alteri, ut patet de mixtis. Unde sciendum, quod sicut una forma generalior et alia specialior, quae sunt in eodem supposito, ad invicem ordinantur, sic formae disparium specierum, ut manifeste patet de osse, de carne, de nervo et caeteris partibus etrogeneis in homine.” 40 Wyclif ’s distinctive account of prime matter and his analysis of elemental atoms, each of which is a composite of prime matter and a substantial form, will be examined in following sections.
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water, in turn, are the matter of the substantial forms of the minima naturalia (the compound corpuscles) that compose Bossy’s blood, bones, flesh and the like.41 Next, Bossy’s body is the matter of a supervening substantial form, i.e. Bossy’s cow soul. Scholastic pluralism provided an approach to corporeal substances that made possible an atomism that is consistent with a hylomorphic ontology. His pluralistic analysis, therefore, provided the framework for Wyclif ’s atomistic account as well as for his dualistic account of the human body and mind. 2. The Final Question 2.1. The Context of Wyclif ’s Atomism The final question posed above is: Q3: Why, in Wyclif ’s view, is a corpuscular matter theory needed in conjunction with the Aristotelian view that prime matter and substantial form are the fundamental principles of corporeal things?
To respond to this question, we turn first to Wyclif ’s context. In the fourteenth century, the nature of prime matter became a hotly debated philosophical problem. As noted above, Aquinas’s view provided grounds for identifying prime matter with pure potentiality. He, therefore, says that prime matter “does not have being (existence) per se.”42 He explains: It is sometimes under one form, and sometimes under another. But through itself matter can never exist, because—since in its nature it does not have any form, prime matter does not have existence in actuality, since existence in actuality is only from a form. But [prime matter is] only in potentiality. And so whatever is in actuality cannot be called prime matter.43
41 Wyclif used the term “minima naturalia” to refer to specific secondary particles, composed of atoms. Pierre Gassendi (1592–1655) is generally credited with the first use of the term “molecule” to identify secondary or compound particles. 42 Thomas Aquinas, De Principiis Naturae [trans. Bobick], p. 31: “Sed per se numquam potest esse.” 43 Ibid.: “Quandoque enim est sub una forma, quandoque sub alia. Sed per se numquam potest esse, quia—cum in ratione sua non habeat aliquam formam, non habet esse in actu, cum esse in actu non sit nisi a forma. Sed solum in potentia. Et ideo quidquid est in actu, non potest dici materia prima.”
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Therefore, although it is the persistent substratum, in which all substantial forms inhere and which itself inheres in nothing else, prime matter is pure potentiality. Scotus, a thoroughgoing scholastic pluralist, sought to make clear inadequacies of this account of prime matter. He distinguishes subjective potentiality from objective potentiality: For something can be in potentiality in two ways: In one way as an end; in the other way as a subject that is in potentiality toward an end (. . .) so that the subject existing is said in subjective potentiality; and the same in respect to the agent is said to be objective; they can be said to be separated, as in creation, where it is objective potentiality and not subjective, because here something is not a subject.44
His analysis and arguments raised consciousness in regard to the claim that matter, to serve as a principle of generation and corruption, must have subjective potentiality ( potentia subjectiva).45 That is, prime matter must be an actual subject to receive substantial forms.46 This means, Scotus concludes, that prime matter must actually exist, and, what is
44 John Duns Scotus, Sent., lib. 2, dist. 12, q. 1 [ Vivès], p. 556: “Aliquam enim potest dupliciter: Uno modo ut terminus; alio modo ut subjectum, quod est in potentia ad terminum . . . ita quod subjectum existens dicitur in potentia subjectiva; et eadem ut respicit agens, dicitur objectiva; possunt tamen separari, ut in creabili, ubi est potentia objectiva et not subjectiva, quia ibi non subjicitur aliquid.” 45 Ibid., pp. 556–558. The Scotistic notions of subjective potentiality and objective potentiality are clarified by a late Renaissance Scotist, Fillipo Fabri, who explains that according to Scotus: “Something can be in potentiality in two ways, one way as the end of the action of an agent, so that is said to be in potentiality that is in itself nothing, but is in the power (virtute) and the potentiality of an agent, as the world before it was created was in potentiality and in the power (virtute) of the agent God; but in itself it was nothing, and this potentiality he names objective potentiality; another way that something is in potentiality is in respect to a capacity (capax) of a subject and the reception of whatever forms, and this is subjective potentiality.” Cf. Fillipo Fabri, Philosophia naturalis Joan Duns Scoti ex quatuor libris Sententiarum et Quodlibetis collecta [Venice, 1616], p. 126: “. . . aliquid potest esse in potentiae dupliciter, uno modo, ut terminus actionis agens, et sic dicitur esse in potentia illud quod ex se nihil est, sed est in virtute, et potentia agentis, ut mundus ante quam crearetur erat in potentia et virtute agentis Dei; sed in se ipso nihil erat, et hanc potentiam appellat potentiam objectivam, alio modo aliquid est in potentia quatenus est subjectum capax, et receptivum alicuius formae, et haec est potentia subjectiva.” 46 Ibid., p. 558: “Dico igitur, quod materia est per se unum principium naturae, ut dic Philosophus primo Physicorum . . . Quod est per se subjectum mutationum substantialium, quinto Physicorum . . . Quod est terminus creationis; igitur sequitur quod est aliquid, non in potentia objectiva tantum, . . . sed oportet tunc quod sit in potentia subjectiva existens in actu . . .”
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more, must be capable of existing independently, apart from form.47 He further justifies his contention that prime matter has an “actus” (an act or actuality) of its own. Aristotelians distinguished two fundamental kinds of acts that a substance has, first the act of simply being (or existence) and second those acts that follow from its nature, e.g., fire moving upwards or earth falling downwards. Substantial form is the principle of these two acts in each substance. Prime matter, though, has just the former act, an entitative act (an act of being), that gives it actuality (actual existence).48 Scotus objects that in Aquinas’s view, prime matter is accorded only “objective potentiality” ( potentia objectiva). That is, prime matter has reality only in regard to some efficient cause and is merely the potentiality to become some x (a future object that does not yet exist), as the universe has objective potentiality in regard to God as its efficient cause, before it is created by Him. Aquinas’s prime matter, therefore, has no reality in itself (it is, in effect, nothing) and, therefore, cannot serve as the continuous and stable subject of substantial forms required for substantial change.49 The subtle doctor’s arguments had a dramatic effect upon fourteenth century matter theory. The intuition that prime matter must have a robust reality to serve as a material cause in substantial change inspired a variety of subsequent theories. A further problem was that of making sense of the extension natural to a body composed of prime matter and substantial form, if neither has extension, an issue raised by Averroes. His claim, in his De substantia orbis,50 that prime matter has indeterminate dimensions, in the light of Scotus’s opposition to all attribution of quantity to prime matter, focused attention upon this issue. The intuition that the extension of bodies must have its foundation in the nature of the matter of a substance inspired a variety of fourteenth-century interpretations of this Averroist view. 47 John Duns Scotus, Sent., lib.2, dist. 12, q. 2, p. 576: “Sed forma est causa secunda, quae non est de essentia materiae . . .; ergo Deus sine illa potest facere materiam.” 48 John Duns Scotus, Ibid., p. 589: “. . . et sicut forma est actus formalis, quia potest informare per receptionem ipsius, ita etiam materia est actus entitativus et positivus vere receptivus ipsius formae, et nihil amplius habens.” 49 John Duns Scotus, Sent., lib. 2, dist. 12, q. 1, pp. 559–561. See also discussion of Scotus’s notions of subjective potentiality and objective potentiality by Cross, The Physics of Duns Scotus: The Scientific Context of a Theological Vision, pp. 17–20; and McCord Adams, William Ockham, pp. 642–643. 50 Averroes, Sermo de substantia orbis [ Venice, 1562], p. 4: “. . . hoc subjectum recipit primus dimensiones interminates.”
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We find here stimuli that inspired two hotly debated fourteenth century issues in matter theory: MQ1: Does prime matter have an actuality [distinct reality] of its own (as Scotus claims)? MQ2: How does the extension of bodies have its foundation in prime matter? Ockham provided a distinctive response to these queries. Like Scotus, Ockham supports the dictum: prime matter has an actuality of its own. Ockham says that “matter is a certain thing actually existing in the nature of things, which is in potentiality towards all substantial forms;”51 but this potentiality is unlike “the way in which a future white is just in potentiality.”52 This potentiality is not simply the absence or a lack of some objective state, i.e., the non-existence [or privation] of a future white which can be said to be in potentiality (this lack or absence is like Scotus’s objective potentiality). Instead, prime matter is a thing that is in potentiality towards a form that it lacks (as Socrates now tan is potentially white). Further, Ockham maintains that “potentiality is not some existing thing in matter, but it is matter itself,”53 because this potentiality does not cease when matter receives a form. Matter is potentiality in respect to substantial forms generally. It may be in potentiality to one particular form or other, but even when this form is received, the potentiality in respect to substantial forms generally is not corrupted. The prime matter of air is still able to be [posse] air, but it is also potentially fire or water. Hence, potentiality is not merely a property of matter. Instead: O1: Prime matter is potentiality. So Ockham says that potentiality, and so prime matter, remains along with form. Further, prime matter can neither be generated nor
51 William of Ockham, Summula philosophiae naturalis [ Brown], p. 179: “Materia est quaedam res actualiter exsistens in rerum natura, quae est in potentia ad omnes formas substantiales.” 52 Ibid., p. 179: “. . . modum quo albedo futura est tantum in potentia”. 53 Ibid., p. 185: “. . . potentia non est aliqua res existens in materia, sed est ipsa materia.”
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destroyed, so it has no potentiality to not exist. It therefore must be something that is “truly actual from itself.”54 He also argues: That which is not can be the part or principle of no being; but matter actually is a part and a principle of a composite being. Therefore, it itself is actually a being in actu [act or actuality].55
So prime matter actually exists; it “is truly a being [ens] in actu.”56 Ockham concludes: O2: Prime matter is some thing [res] actually existing and distinguishable from form. Further, Ockham makes his prime matter a yet more robust “being in actuality.” Claiming that each entity has its individual prime matter (I have my prime matter and you have yours), he also supports the following view:57 [I]t is impossible that matter should lack extension, for it is not possible that matter should exist without having one part at a distance from another part. (. . .). [T]he parts of matter can never be in the same place. Therefore, matter always has one part at a distance from another part.
The Venerable Inceptor here argues that for matter to be divisible into parts, extension (length, breadth, and depth) is essential to matter. Distinctive of Ockham’s account of matter is his claim: O3: Quantity or extension is not anything apart from prime matter. Prime matter essentially has quantity or extension, which is here analyzed as parts outside of parts. Matter is not different from its parts, nor is it therefore different from extension or quantity or dimensions.58
Ibid., p. 180: “. . . vere actu ex se ipsa”. Ibid., p. 186: “. . . illud quod non est, nullius entis potest esse pars vel principium; sed materia actualiter est pars et principium entis compositi, igitur ipsa est actualiter entitas in actu.” 56 Ibid.: “. . . sit vere ens in actu.” 57 Ibid., p. 191: “. . . impossibile est quod sit materia sine extensione: non enim est possibile quod materia sit nisi habeat partem distantem a parte . . . numquam partes materiae possunt esse in eodem loco. Et ideo semper materia habet partem distantem a parte.” 58 Ibid., pp. 191–192. 54 55
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Wyclif finds unsatisfactory Ockham’s response to these two questions. In regard to MQ1: Is prime matter an actual entity?, Wyclif agrees with Ockham’s contention (O2) that prime matter has a positive reality of its own. But how can a potentiality have actuality? If, as Ockham claims, prime matter is potentiality simpliciter (O1), how can prime matter have a positive reality? Still, Wyclif says (Tr, p. 87), citing Aristotle, that prime matter has no quiddity, no quality, no character at all.59 He takes this claim very literally. This raises the problem: How can that which has no character whatsoever have a positive reality? In regard to MQ2: in which way does extension (or quantity) have its source in prime matter? Wyclif claims, as noted above, that prime matter has no quantity or quality. Prime matter, therefore, cannot essentially be identified with extension, as Ockham claims (O3). But Wyclif, nonetheless agrees that prime matter is the source of extension. This raises the perplexing question: How can prime matter, independently of any quantity or characteristics in itself, be the source of extension? Interestingly, Wyclif ’s distinctive atomism contributes to his response to these quandaries. His atomism, therefore, is not only consistent with his hylomorphism (scholastic pluralism), i.e., with his scholastic matter/ form theory. His atomism enables him to resolve problems in matter theory that, in his view, confounded his Aristotelian predecessors and contemporaries. We turn first to MQ1 (Is prime matter is an actual entity?). In his Logicae continuatio, Wyclif provides his prime matter with a palpable reality. He contends that prime matter is: composed from indivisibilia [indivisible points], and occupying every possible place, not corruptible according to any of its parts, except accidentally by the division or separation of one of its parts from the rest.60
Likewise, he explains, in his Trialogus that time is a continuum composed of indivisibilia, i.e., instants, and so too prime matter (“occupying every possible place” in the world) is a continuum composed of indestructible indivisibilia (indivisible points). [ Tr, p. 88] Although each indivisible point has no quantity, no quality, no character at all, indivisibilia make his prime matter entitative. Hence, prime matter has actuality. 59 Wyclif, Trialogus [ Lechler], p. 87: “Aristoteles autem dicit septimo Metaphisicae, quod nec est quid nec quale nec aliquid aliorum entium . . .” 60 LC3.9, p. 119: “. . . esse ex indivisibilibus composita, et occupare omnem locum possibilem nec esse secundum eius partem aliquam corruptibilem, nisi forte per divisionem vel separacionem unius partis a reliqua.”
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In response to MQ2 (In which way does matter have quantity?), Wyclif ’s contends that indivisibilia, constituting prime matter, also provide it with extension. He claims: “the world is composed from certain atoms, and cannot be increased or diminished, or arranged in a straight line or another figure, for the number of atoms [multitudinem athomorum] is a cause from which such a continuous quantity and such a figure naturally immutably follows.”61 In his view, the totality of indivisible points or atoms defines the matter of the world. Further, each indivisible point has its position relative to fixed points at the centre and poles of the world, and no two points can occupy the same position. As a result, indivisibilia, though unextended, are, in effect, impenetrable, so they cannot overlap or interpenetrate each other, nor can there be an actual place where there is no point (because every line is actually composed of points). As a result, indivisibilia must be located contiguously, one next to the other. This entails, in Wyclif ’s view, that the totality of contiguous corporeal indivisibilia define the total size and shape of the world, and, thereby, its extension. Although Wyclif rejects Ockham’s view that extension belongs to prime matter, extension is produced by the contiguous indivisibilia that constitute prime matter.62 Wyclif, therefore, responds to these fourteenth-century concerns by employing indivisible points (identified as primitive atoms) both to provide matter with a robust reality (actuality) and to account for how matter provides extension to corporeal things. We might, however, note that though Wyclif ’s atomistic account is effective in resolving some problems in matter theory, this utility of his indivisibilia does not entail the existence of atoms. One might argue that this provides some rationale for accepting indivisibilia. But it does not explain the grounds and motivation for Wyclif ’s atomism. We are still left with the question of why Wyclif adopted an atomistic account, especially in the light of the almost universal rejection of atomism and arguments against it provided by his contemporaries.
61 LC3.9, p. 1: “. . . mundum componi ex certis athomis, et nec posse majorari nec minorari nec moveri recte localiter vel aliter figurari, ita quod tantam multitudinem athomorum consequitur tanta quantitas continua et talis figura, propter causas immutabiles naturales.” 62 It should be noted that, although Wyclif adopts an atomistic account, he clearly departs from the Ancient atomists in his rejection of a void.
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Second, we should also note that Wyclif goes beyond indivisibilia theory. He develops a full blown atomistic account that presumes elemental corpuscles and, in turn, compound particles. This also raises the question of the reason for his commitment to an atomistic account. Following is a further exploration of this question. What I wish to show is that his atomism was motivated and inspired by his distinctive methodology, which he identifies as the “logic of scripture” (logica scripture). Although this too will not provide us with a proof that atoms exist, it will provide further insight into the rationale for Wyclif ’s atomism. 2.2. Why did Wyclif Develop a Corpuscular Matter Theory? Wyclif ’s Methodology Wyclif adopted a distinctive methodology for the acquisition of truth. In his De Veritate Sacrae Scripturae, he contends that all truth is in Scripture.63 As such, we turn to Scripture as the source of all truths. This includes truths of natural philosophy. Further, Wyclif contends that, though Scripture provides only truth, the language of Scripture is frequently figurative. This requires appropriate interpretation. We are aided in this endeavour, in particular, by what Wyclif calls the logic of scripture,64 which he explores and expounds in his lengthy Tractatus de logica. From this viewpoint, logic, properly employed, follows and clarifies Scripture. In turn, the logic of Scripture enables us to understand how to retain consistency of interpretation throughout Scripture, to analyze conceptions, including those involving equivocation, to identify the various well-formed structures of terms and correctly interpret these, to draw valid consequences from inter-connected propositions, to formulate sound arguments in support of interpretations of Scripture, and, thereby, to make correct judgements in interpreting Scripture and in supporting interpretations of Scripture. Intensifying Wyclif ’s confidence in his view is his Augustinian commitment to the foundation of truth in faith, which he claims is correctly given only by Scripture. Further, reason supports what we here are taught by faith. Reason plays a significant role for Wyclif. He takes seriously the Augustinian claim that reason enables us to understand
De Veritate Sacrae Scripturae [ Buddensieg], hereafter cited as DVSS. For an excellent abridged translation, see John Wyclif, On the Truth of the Holy Scripture [trans. Levy]. 64 Wyclif explains (Tractatus De Logica, Proemium): “Motus sum per quosdam legis dei amicos certum tractatum ad declarandam logicam sacre scripture compilare.” 63
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what we believe. Through the logic of scripture, reason provides clarification and confirmation of what we believe by faith. Therefore Wyclif presumes the following methodological principle: The authoritative source of all truth is scripture. The correct interpretation of scripture is guided by the logic of scripture.65 His logic of scripture would seem to have its foundation in a method for the acquisition of all knowledge, natural and spiritual, much like the following: 1. Guided by logic, i.e., an understanding of literal and figurative language, the logical role of terms and of propositions, and the like: formulate an interpretive thesis of a scriptural truth. 2. Use logic (rules of the relations of propositions, rules of inference, etc.): to test for internal consistency with other propositions of scripture; to test for support from interpretations provided by reliable commentators, e.g., Wyclif mentions Augustine, Jerome, Ambrose, Lincoln,; to test for consistency with evidence of sense and reason. 3. Use logic to: draw conclusions from the thesis presumed. 4. Use logic to: test conclusions for consistency with other scriptural truths; with evidence of sense and reason. 5. If inconsistencies (contradictions) result, reject the interpretive thesis. If it is consistent and well supported, retain the thesis. In Wyclif ’s view, his logic of Scripture provides the principles of correct reasoning that aid us in interpreting scripture accurately and in understanding what we believe by faith. Scripture, thereby, provides the “matter of knowledge” (materia de scire)66 and is the focus of his discussion of logical proofs. Our Oxford master, therefore, explains in his discussion of prime matter that “ignorance of true physics makes moderns give too little weight to Scripture and to impose upon the sacred doctors, ignorance of logic or philosophy . . .”.67 Instead, “Scripture will be the model . . .,
Wyclif, DVSS, esp. part 1, ch. 3. Wyclif, Tractatus de logica, Proemium. 67 Wyclif, De M&F, p. 218: “Ignorancia huiusmodi veritatum physicarum facit modernos parum pendere scripturam et imponere sanctis doctoribus ignoranciam loyce vel philosophie . . .” 65 66
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not only in respect to right living, but also in speaking the truth and philosophical wisdom. Now however . . . we make our logic the rule correcting scripture, . . . when, however, it ought to be on the contrary.”68 From this viewpoint, there are no foolproof authorities, but some early doctors of the Church, especially Augustine, are a more reliable guide to truth because they are so well attuned to the meaning of scripture. So, in response to some objections, Wyclif says: “For a solution to these, one ought to assume the grammar and logic of the holy doctors, which they elicit from Scripture.”69 He also tells us that other or secular (in Wyclif ’s words, ‘foreign’) logics are numerous (as many as there are logic masters) and shortlived (“a foreign logic endures for barely twenty years”).70 “The logic of Scripture, however, stands eternally, because it has been established by the indestructible truth . . .”.71 Nonetheless, Wyclif contends that “Aristotle’s logic is correct for the most part, and consistent with the logic of Scripture.”72 Still, Aristotle, though a great philosopher, has committed errors. [DVSS, p. 29] Aristotle correctly understood the logical investigation of language, but logic cannot be secure independently of a foundation of truth that is its subject, and this foundation of truth is the words of Scripture. Using this method, Wyclif explains the account of prime matter that he learned from Scripture by interpreting the “true proposition, Genesis 1: ‘In the beginning God created heaven and earth’.” “In the beginning God created heaven and earth.” That is: In the word God created a spiritual and a corporeal creature. From which, ordered also with admirable subtlety common to all, he calls the same creature the said corporeal essence (under the idea that is matter) earth, water, and abyss, because common people cannot understand the corporeal nature under the idea that is matter; so it is necessary to have these express the names of sensible things, that are most unformed. Nor is it falsely named, as is said after; and towards showing that it is unformed, he calls it void, vacuum, and darkness. These said privations however are nothing except
68 Ibid., p. 219: “. . . scriptura fuit exemplar . . ., nedum ad recte vivendum, sed ad vere loquendum et philosophice sapiendum. Nunc autem . . . constituimus loycam nostram tanquam regulam rectificantem scripturam, . . . cum tamen debet esse e contra.” 69 Ibid., p. 235: “Pro solucione istorum oportet supponere grammaticam et loycam sanctorum doctorum, quam eliciunt ex scriptura.” 70 DVSS, p. 54: “. . . vix durat una aliena logica per viginti annos . . .” 71 Ibid.: “Logica autem scripture in eternum stat, cum fundatur independenter a fama vel favore hominum infringibili veritate.” 72 DVSS, p. 47: “. . . logica Aristotelia, que ut plurimum est recta, sit logica scripture . . .”
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Wyclif formulates an interpretive thesis of the scriptural truth provided in Genesis 1, namely: “In the word,” i.e., in His act of creation, God created two kinds of creature, corporeal and spiritual. And, alternatively, he says: In the beginning, “the first essence (i.e., God) before all substance created two essences, . . . namely, a corporeal essence and an incorporeal essence.”74 Further, looking at Genesis 1 beyond this passage (“earth, water, abyss,” “void, vacuum, darkness”), and considering Augustine’s exegesis,75 Wyclif analyses the latter (essencia incorporea) as angels (immaterial substantial forms that exist per se) and the former (essencia corporea) as unformed prime matter (matter without any inhering material substantial form). He further explains this passage. Wyclif describes the “incorporeal essence” as “pure per se stans,”76 “a substance that is indivisible in respect to mass and intelligible in respect to operation, which are creatures most proximate to God, which philosophers in respect to their innate action call intelligences, and in respect to their duty to us they call these angels.”77 The incorporeal essence consists in separately existing individual created Minds, intelligibilia, created immediately by God, with powers of intellect, will, and memory. Wyclif adopted the common scholastic view that each angelic substance is indivisible, because what is immaterial is not extended, and only extended entities are divisible.
73 De M&F, pp. 209–210: “In principio creavit deus celum et terram; id est: In verbo creavit deus spirtualem creaturam et corpoream. Unde ordinate et mirabili subtilitate communiter eandem creaturam vocat dictam essenciam corpoream (sub racione qua est materia) terram, aquam et abissum, quia rudis populus non sufficiebat comprehendere naturam corpoream sub racione qua materia; ideo necesse habuit illam exprimere nominibus rerum sensibilium, que maxime accidunt ad informitatem. Nec false nominat, ut post dicetur;. et ad testandum eius informitatem dicit eam inanem, vacuam et tenebrosam. Dicte autem privaciones non sunt nisi informitates materie huius. Post hoc (natura non tempore) facta est, prima die ordinis, lux in forma substantiali in primo instanti temporis et materia naturaliter, non temporaliter, ante idem instans.” 74 DCH, p. 24: “. . . prima essencia ante omnem substanciam creavit duas essencias, . . ., scilicet essenciam corpoream et essenciam incorpoream.” 75 De M&F, p. 209: “Et ille est sensus Augustini, 12 de Confessione, ubi, priusquam declarat angelum et materiam priman esse creaturam dei . . .” 76 De M&F, p. 177. 77 Ibid.: “. . . substancie quoad molem indivisibiles et intelligibiles quoad operacionem, que sunt creature deo proxime, quas philosophi ab innata accione vocant intelligencias, et nostri ab officio vocant eos angelos.”
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Further, bodies are composed of prime matter and material substantial forms. In Wyclif ’s view, unlike spiritual substantial forms, which exist per se and can never inhere in prime matter, material substantial forms inhere in prime matter and cannot exist apart from prime matter.78 Prime matter, however, has a robust reality. First, prime matter is the corporeal essence. That is, this essence (prime matter) provides the material foundation that makes my cat Jake, my cherry tree, my gold ring each a corporeal thing. Further, as noted above, Wyclif describes prime matter as “composed from indivisibilia” [LC 3.9, p. 119]. And, likewise, in his Trialogus, he says: “componitur ex suis partibus quantitativis usque ad sua indivisibilia . . .” [Tr, 88]. As such, Wyclif ’s interpretation of Genesis 1 has the consequence that: In the beginning, God created two kinds of indivisibilia, spiritual and corporeal. So, Wyclif explaining the grades of simplicity in the created world, tells us, first, that the highest grade of simplicity is “the divine nature,”79 which, existing in eternity (outside of the instants of time and all other created indivisibilia) excludes all possibility of variation, succession, or of composition from parts. “In the second grade,” i.e., the first grade of simplicity of the created world, “are created spirits and other indivisibilia without quantitative parts, such as points, instants, and the like.”80 The latter are the fundamental parts of material things, i.e., of prime matter, from which, along with substantial form, are composed elemental corpuscles, and these, in turn, combine to form compound particles (minima naturalia), which are identified by Wyclif with subsequent higher grades of simplicity respectively.81 These grades of matter will be explored in greater depth in the following section.
78 Tr, p. 87: “Non autem intelligo formam substantialem materiae primae esse aliquid, quod potest per se existere . . .” 79 De M&F, p. 199: “In summo igitur gradu simplicitatis est natura divina, excludens possibilitatem ad quamcunque composicionem ex paratibus, vel variacionem in accidentibus . . .” 80 Ibid.: “In secundo gradu sunt spiritus creati et alia indivisibilia quoad partes quantitativus, ut punctis, instans, et similia.” 81 Ibid.: “In tercio gradu sunt materia et forme substanciales vel accidentales, non habentes partes quantitativas disparium naturarum.” (matter and form considered separately). “In quarto gradu sunt quatuor elementa, quorum quelibet pars quantitativa est eiusdem nature cum toto.” (elemental corpuscles, and collections of the same kind of elemental corpuscle); and “in isto gradu sunt multa omogenia, quorum quelibet pars quantitativa per se sensibiliter est eiusdem nature cum suo toto, ut caro, os, nervus, et cetera” (compound particles, and collections of the same kind of compound particle).
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Wyclif ’s atomism further explains the account of creation in Genesis 1 and is consistent with his interpretation of Scripture more generally. Further, his indivisibilia help him to resolve a variety of objections that features of his interpretation can raise.82 Consideration of this role of Wyclif ’s indivisibilia is a complex project and beyond the scope of this chapter. We might just note that the consistency with a variety of passages in scripture and the explanatory role of indivisibilia in relation to scripture is important to Wyclif. In addition, he cites Scripture in direct support of indivisibilia. In his Trialogus, Wyclif raises the question of whether a body or whatever continuum is composed from parts that are indivisible and not extended, or divisible and extended.83 If the second, he says, then all parts are always further divisible into other parts, so the number of parts assigned to A in the beginning is not the total number of parts in A.84 He responds, citing Gen 1:31 (“God sees all that He made.”)85 in defense of indivisibilia: “I suppose with Augustine and the faith of Scripture, that just as God sees all that he made, so he distinctly understands all parts of whatever continuum, so that no further or different components of a continuum can be given. And on that basis the reasoning seems plainly to proceed.”86 Wyclif here supports the view that
82 See, for example, his discussion (De M&F, pp. 187–88) of how an explanation consistent with nature can be provided for such seeming miracles as the change of Lot’s wife to a pillar of salt by understanding this as a rapid relocation, possible for God, of salt particles from other parts of her body to her surface. Likewise, explaining that the change of water to wine is not the creation of a new substance (De M&F, p. 188): “Facillimum namque est auctori nature capere minucias elementorum vel inordinate sparsas vel noviter generatas, et armonice componere illas, ut forma serpentis vel vini, vel quecunque alia de potencia materie educibilis, statim resultat; cum nichil ibi creatur, sed vel generatur pure naturaliter, vel prius generatur aliter situaliter.” 83 Wyclif, Tr, p. 83. “Capiatur A corpus vel quodcunque continuum, et noto omnes ejus partes, ex quibus componitur; et quaero ulterius, utrum sunt indivisibiles et non quantae, vel divisibiles atque magnae.” 84 Ibid.: “Si secundo modo, tunc omnes illae partes et quaelibet earum est divisibilis in partes ulteriores, ergo numerus illarum assignatus in principio non est numerus totalis omnium partium A signati.” 85 See also Kenny, Wyclif, p. 62: “But the work frequently repeats that scripture contains all truth, and in one passage Wyclif even offers to prove his own atomic theory out of it, from the beginning of Genesis and from Matthew 10:30.” This citation from Matthew is as follows: “But the very hairs of your head are all numbered.” 86 Wyclif, Tr, p. 83: “In ista autem responsione suppono cum Augustino et fide scripturae, quod sicut Deus vidit cuncta quae fecerat, sic distinctissime intelligit omnes partes cujuscunque continui, sic quod non est dare ulteriores vel alias ipsum continuum componentes; et sic videtur ratio plane procedere.”
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God’s distinct understanding of “all parts of whatever continuum”87 entails a fixed total number of primitive parts that are not further divisible (“no further or different components of the continuum can be given”).88 This interpretation of Scripture led him to the twofold consequence of supporting finitism and atomism. Wyclif contends that only God, existing in eternity (outside of the instants of time and points of space), is infinite. He says: “It is impossible that any substance or points or any other thing besides God is simply infinite.”89 Wyclif, therefore, asserts the following principle of finitude: whatever actually exists is finite.90 Consistent with this principle, he concludes that every continuum, including the created universe as a whole, must have minimal parts that cannot be further divided. This entails that prime matter cannot be infinitely divisible. Instead prime matter is, in Wyclif ’s words, composed from indivisible points or atoms [Tr, p. 88]. He further supports this claim by citing Ecclesiastes 1891 and 192 which he interprets to mean first, that God created a complete world, every instant of time and whatever exists in time, however simple or complex, each at its proper time and place.93 What is more, this entails that God eternally has a distinct Idea of every part of His Creation.94 S.H. Thomson points out, as a foundation for Wyclif ’s atomism, Wyclif ’s identification, in De Materia et Forma95 of the possible with God’s knowledge of his creation (that is, whatever has real possibility is in God’s mind because,
See preceding footnote. See preceding footnote. 89 See, for example, LC 3.9, p. 36: “Unde impossibile est quod aliquis numerus substanciarum vel punctorum, vel aliud preter deum sit simpliciter infinitum.” 90 For Wyclif ’s support for finitism, see also LC 3.9, pp. 37–38. Wyclif contends (LC 3.9, 37): “Omnem ergo numerum qui excedit ingenium nostrum ad aptandum sibi terminum specificum naturalem vocamus infinitum.” 91 De M&F, p. 222: “Qui vivit in eternum creavit omnia simul.” 92 Ibid.: “. . . nihil novi sub sole.” 93 See, also Wyclif ’s claim that, at the beginning of time, God created all things simultaneously, Tr. p. 86: “Deus creavit omnia simul;” “. . . qui vivit in aeternum, creavit omnia simul,” and also LC 3.9, p. 56: “. . . Deus ordinat istos propter melius ordinis universi.” 94 See, for example, LC 3.9, p. 36: “Ymmo deus satis noscit quomodo omne quadratum per se sensible integratur ex partibus minimis et principiis eorum indivisibilibus cumulatis. Et sic dicitur de qualibet alia figura principiata ab indivisibilibus primi numeri, ut figurati. Novit eciam in qua proporcione quicunque numerus punctorum se habet ad alium . . .” 95 De M&F, pp. 234–235. 87 88
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as Wyclif says: “God sees all that he has made.”).96 Thomson, explaining the rationale for Wyclif ’s atomism, says: “Increase or decrease in the magnitude of the universe is likewise unthinkable, for whatever has being already exists in God’s thought . . . That is to say, that whatever is known to God has reality, and the smallest possible unit of space or time, the point or the instant becomes quite real.”97 Kretzmann similarly says: “Why, then, was Wyclif an indivisibilist? . . . All that we have seen that might have prompted such a belief on his part is certain theological considerations, especially concerning the requirements of omniscience, and I think there can be no doubt that they are indeed the bedrock of his indivisibilism.”98 He explains this claim: God alone knows the detailed composition of things out of indivisibles, but in Wyclif ’s view that sort of knowledge necessarily includes knowing the precise number of the indivisible constituents of the world and of each thing in it. If there are literally infinitely many points in a line, then, it is logically impossible that anyone, even omniscient God himself, can know the number of its points. And the principle reason why it will not do to say simply that God knows that there are infinitely many of them is, I think, that since they are real and natural, God made them; and omniscient God must know each of his creatures individually. As Wyclif puts it more than once, quoting or paraphrasing Genesis 1:31, ‘God sees all the things that he has made.’99
Like Democritus and Epicurus, Wyclif claims that his primitive atoms (i.e. points) are indivisible, but, quite unlike Democritus and Epicurus, interestingly enough, Wyclif ’s fundamental motivation for this view is theological. It is his interpretation of Scripture, in particular, that inspired Wyclif ’s atomism. As required by his methodology, this interpretation of Scripture is further supported by reason and experience. These supporting arguments and the atomistic view that he developed will be considered in the final section.
96 Wyclif says, at this point in De M&F (Ibid.): “Et talis veritas est racio vel exemplar quod deus necessario videt, et videndo illud quod est essencialiter divina essencia, videt omnes creaturas, si sint in tempore suo.” 97 Thomson, “The Philosophical Basis of Wyclif ’s Theology,” p. 112. 98 Kretzmann, “Continua, Indivisibles, and Change in Wyclif ’s Logic of Scripture,” p. 50. 99 Kretzmann, Ibid., p. 45. See Kretzmann (Ibid., pp. 51–63) for Wyclif ’s interesting discussion of the terms “incipit” and “desinit,” and, in this context, Wyclif ’s indivisibilist analysis of motion. Kretzmann discusses, in particular, LC 2.14 (a chapter in Wyclif ’s Logicae Continuatio that examines the terms “incipit” and “desinit”), pp. 191–195.
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3. Wyclif’s Atomism While their hylomorphic ontology led Wyclif ’s predecessors to reject atomism, he used his hierarchical and pluralistic analysis of composite substances to justify his atomism. From Wyclif ’s viewpoint: 1. Prime matter is constituted by a finite number of indivisible unextended atoms (indivisibilia). 2. Indivisibilia, united by an appropriate elemental substantial form, are extended elemental atoms of earth, air, fire, and water. 3. Elemental atoms, in different proportional arrangements, compose minima naturalia (compound particles), which are the fundamental particles of compound bodies. Each compound particle has a supervening substantial form. 4. Homœomerous compound bodies, e.g. blood, bones, flesh, nerves (each with its distinctive kind of compound particle), compose animal bodies, which are animated by a supervening organic soul. 5. An appropriate animal body united with a spiritual human soul, a human mind, composes a human person [a rational animal]. 6. The total set of indivisible atoms, which are the minimal units composing all individual material substances, define the shape and size of the world. Wyclif cites Democritus and Plato as authorities in support of his atomistic view. [Tr, pp. 83–84; LC 3.9, P. 132].100 He, like Democritus, contends that the fundamental building blocks of natural things are atoms. But, unlike Democritus, Wyclif claims that there are several grades of atoms, all of which were formed by God at Creation. The simplest atoms, like the atoms of Democritus, are indivisible, impenetrable, immutable, indestructible. But unlike the atoms of Democritus, Wyclif ’s indivisible atoms are unextended. Further, in Wyclif ’s view, extended elemental corpuscles (which, though relatively stable, are divisible) are composed of a structure of these unextended indivisible atoms and an elemental substantial form. Next, compound particles (called minima naturalia), in turn, are composed of a structure of elemental corpuscles and a supervening substantial form. Compound particles
100 See also LC 3.9, 61, where Wyclif speaks of the ancient view of five simple corporeal figures associated with the four simple elemental bodies and a neutral element.
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themselves are substances, that, like living things, have a hierarchical and pluralistic structure. Wyclif ’s grades of atoms (i.e., his indivisible points, elemental corpuscles, and compound particles) are the subject of what follows. 3.1. Wyclif ’s Indivisible Atoms Like in other works of his time, in Wyclif ’s Logicae Continuatio the term ‘indivisibilia’ refers to points of a continuum, in particular, of space, time, or motion. Indivisibilia are unextended entities, and are therefore not physical atoms. But, Wyclif also argues, unlike his contemporaries that bodies are in fact composed of physical atoms, which are themselves composed of indivisible and unextended points (i.e., of indivisible and unextended atoms).101 This requires explanation. The common view at Wyclif ’s time was the Aristotelian view that a continuum is not composed of actual indivisibilia, but rather is infinitely divisible. Wyclif sided, instead, with those who maintained that a continuum is composed of actual points.102 His chief adversaries were the nominalists, the most prominent of whom was medieval giant, William of Ockham, who maintained that the term “indivisibilia,” refers to nothing actual; these “beings of reason” have a negative connotation, namely, a lack of extension, like, for example, the limit of a line.103 The most common view of the opposition was that points are merely potential, not actual. Wyclif ’s divisibilist opponents maintained: TD1: There are no actual indivisibilia. TD2: Indivisible and unextended points cannot be arranged contiguously to produce a continuous line. Wyclif maintains instead: TI1: A finite and fixed number of actual indivisible points determine the extension and figure of the universe. See, for example, LC 3.9, 1. For an excellent discussion of the status of these views at Wyclif ’s time, see Kretzmann, “Continua, Indivisibles, and Change in Wyclif ’s Logic of Scripture.” 103 William of Ockham, De sacramento altaris [Birch]. For an excellent discussion of Ockham’s view, see McCord Adams, William Ockham, pp. 201–212. 101
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TI2: Space, time, and motion are all composed of parts or points. TI3: Indivisible points are the prime matter of all bodies in the world. The evangelical doctor argues that, as Aristotle claims, points are naturally prior to a line, and so are a necessary condition for a line to be. Therefore, points cause a line. But they are not an extrinsic cause. They are therefore an intrinsic cause and are consequently part of a line. [LC 3.9, p. 30] He contends that Aristotle maintains that points compose a line, lines a surface, and surfaces a volume. Further, parts always precede the whole of thing. So points must be actual, as the component parts that compose a line. In addition, if all the points are removed from a line, surely nothing remains; so a line must be composed of actual points. He also argues, citing Aristotle, that an instant is the principle of time and unity of number and each is required for these to be. Likewise, a point is the principle of a line and therefore actual points are required for a line to be. Otherwise the points contained in a line could be successively removed without reducing the length of the line. So all points could be removed and it could remain the same line. But that which can be removed without changing a subject is an accident of that subject. So that which is the principle of a line will be an accident of that line, which is absurd [LC 3.9, p. 30]. Wyclif cites Lincoln, i.e. Grosseteste, in support of actual points in a line,104 but also disagrees with this predecessor, who claims a line is composed of an infinite number of actual points. The evangelical doctor, who rejects the possibility of any actual infinite in nature, agrees instead, for example, with Chatton105 and Crathorn,106 that a continuum must be composed of a finite number of points, which are immediately contiguous to one another. He argues: that which is infinite cannot be known. But we know continua of space, motion, and time, so the component smallest parts of these, though they cannot be apprehended by our senses are indirectly known by us, and, further, they must actually be known by God.
LC 3.9, p. 35. For discussion of Walter Chatton, see V. Zubov, “Walter Catton, Gérard d’Odon et Nicolas Bonet.” 106 For discussion of Crathorn’s view, see Robert, “William Crathorn’s Mereotopological Atomism” in this volume. 104 105
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This leads Wyclif to a distinctive account of space or place and of the matter that composes what exists. Points, visible to God, are the component parts of space and the matter of what exists. [LC 3.9, p. 2ff.]107 Space is the locus of points, and the place of a particular point is its site relative to certain fixed points, those at the centre and poles. Wyclif identifies the contiguity of two points, A and B, with the absence of anything between A and B. Two points compose a line, three a surface, four a volume. In his view, a finite number of points defines the extension of space,108 and, in accordance with God’s design at Creation, fixed numbers of points, united by an appropriate elemental substantial form, compose the four elemental atoms, those of earth, air, fire and water, which, in turn, are the matter of all compound bodies. Clearly Wyclif ’s indivisible atoms are not like those of Democritus, whose atoms have size, shape, and motion. Wyclif ’s indivisibilia or points have no extension, no qualities, no characteristics at all. Nonetheless, their contiguity produces the size and shape of the world and of the elementary corpuscles that compose that world. Further, Wyclif ’s world is a plenum, so he, also, rejects Democritean motion of atoms in a void. Still, his primitive atoms can move relative to fixed points at the center and the poles by one point successively replacing another. 3.2. Wyclif ’s Elemental Atoms and Minima Naturalia In the second part of section one above, we found two conflicting analyses of the ontological structure of material substances, that is, two
107 See Wyclif ’s interesting argument, LC 3.9, pp. 33–34, supporting his view that the world is composed of contiguous points. He argues: God has the power to make a substance the size of a point (“nullus theologus negaret quin Deus de potentia aboluta potest facere substanciam punctualem”), and that if God can do this, he can likewise juxtapose points contiguously (“Nec dubium quin, si Deus potest unum punct[u]ale producere, potest et quodlibet juxtaponere.”). It is clear that, from such points, God can make a single extended substance (“Et ultra patet quod Deus potest ex talibus non quantis facere unum quantum)”. Suppose God creates at every point in the world such a punctual substance, and annihilates all continuous substance, preserving punctual substances. (“Creet Deus ad omnem situm punct[u]alem mundi unam substanciam punct[u]alem, et annichilet post omnem substanciam continuam, servando punct[u]ales substancias inmotas”). Wyclif proceeds to argue that this would change nothing. Further, this is possible. So, it cannot be concluded that this is not so in fact. (“Nec dubito quin, admisso hoc pro possibili, omnes philosophi mundi non haberent infallibilem evidenciam ad concludendum quod non est sic de facto”). 108 See LC 3.9, p. 42 for Wyclif ’s argument that because the number of points composing the world entail its size and shape, so it cannot be larger or other than it is, this nonetheless does not detract from God’s infinite power.
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renditions of how a substance is a composite of prime matter and substantial form, namely, scholastic monism and scholastic pluralism. Scholastics were also divided in their analyses of the physical structure of compound substances. Wyclif here examines the vexing scholastic problem of how, in the generation of a new substance, the elements remain in a mixed (i.e., compound) body.109 He distinguishes three basic sorts of analyses, identified by Wyclif as those of the moderns, of Averroes, and of Avicenna [LC 3.9, pp. 75–79]. Wyclif cites Aristotle’s definition of a “mixtio” (compound): “mixtio est miscibilium alteratorum unio” (A mixed substance is the alteration of the mixables (the elements) so that they will be one) [LC 3.9, p. 74].110 His scholastics contemporaries, following Aristotle, commonly agreed that the four elements (earth, air, fire, and water) are simple bodies, that all other material substances are compound bodies, and that the four elements are the fundamental physical principles in the generation of each compound body. This was also Wyclif ’s view. Further, he explains the process of generation. In the dissolution of compound substances, there is a fine division of elements into small parts, and these elemental particles interact, and are mixed together in a regular quantitative proportion, which gives rise to a compound substantial form (also a common scholastic view). Further, Wyclif agrees with his peers that this in fact produces a single compound substance. But scholastics disagreed about how, as Aristotle claims, the elements remain potentially in a mixed body. The evangelical doctor presumes that the traditional three analyses of the moderns, Averroes, and Avicenna are the choices available to reason, and he argues that only one of these, which supports an atomistic account, is a viable alternative. Wyclif tells us that most of his contemporaries take the modern view that generation of a compound is caused by the interaction of the elements, but, in fact, no elements actually remain when a superadded compound form arises [LC 3.9, p. 76]. For example, the followers of Thomas Aquinas claim that each compound substance is a composite of prime matter and just one substantial form, so, in a new mixed 109 For a detailed discussion of the scholastic problem of how the elements remain in the mixed, see Maier, An der Grenze von Scholastik und Naturwissenschaft, pp. 1–140. 110 Aristotle, On Generation and Corruption, 1, ch. 10, 327b–328b. See also Wyclif, Tr., pp. 88–89: “Mixta autem concipio sic componi, cum secundum Aristotelem mixtio sit mixtibilium alteratorum unio; elementa enim secundum partes indivisibiles vel saltem nobis insensibiles ad invicem commiscentur, et formae superadditae resultant, habita proportione mixtionis sufficienti ad illam formam superadditam principiandum.”
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body, the elements cannot actually remain with their proper forms. The ontological structure presupposed is inconsistent with the continuity of the elements. So, when a compound form is generated, the four elemental forms are concomitantly destroyed.111 Scotus and Ockham agree that inorganic compounds are homogeneous substances, so gold or lead must have just one substantial form throughout. When a compound form arises, the elements are destroyed. This became the most prevalent fourteenth-century view. But Wyclif finds this view unacceptable. He argues, first, that this “modern” view is inconsistent with the definition of an element, “for an element is the intrinsic cause of a thing.”112 Not unreasonably, Wyclif demands that elements actually compose the body that they cause. Second, the ‘modern’ view is inconsistent with experience. “For both in art (i.e., alchemy or chemistry) and in nature it is known that from parts of a compound different elements result, as in the dissolution of stones, the calcination of metals . . .”.113 Wyclif here asserts the following principle of composition: a body must be composed of that into which it is resolved. So compounds must be composed of these elements. This principle reappeared in the seventeenth century in writings, for example, of Daniel Sennert and David Gorlaeus in support of their atomistic views.114 Here Wyclif argues that the corruption of mixed bodies provides evidence that is inconsistent with the “modern” view of how compounds are formed. He contends: if compounds are resolved into the elements, as we find they are in the natural dissolution of putrefying flesh or fish or in chemical or metallurgical processes, then compounds must be actually composed of the elements [LC 3.9, p. 77].115
111 From the Thomistic viewpoint, since a substance can have no more than one substantial form, when the mixed form is generated, the elemental forms are destroyed. The result is that the elements themselves vanish, but they are said to remain ‘virtually,’ for the elemental qualities are a subset of the qualities of the new mixed form. This view of Aquinas, in fact, developed over time. For discussion of this development, see Zavalloni, Richard de Mediavilla et la controverse sur la pluralité des formes. 112 LC 3.9, p. 76: “Nam elementum, ut huiusmodi, est causa intrinseca rei . . .” 113 LC 3.9, p. 77: “Nam tam arte quam natura cognoscitur ex partibus mixtorum elementa dispariter resultare, ut in dissolucionibus lapidum, calcancionibus metallorum . . .” 114 For discussion of this seventeenth century development, see my paper “Sennert’s Sea Change: Atoms and Causes.” 115 Wyclif appears here to demonstrate some familiarity with and interest in the alchemical views of his time.
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An alternative account, ascribed to Averroes116 is the view that each element actually remains in a compound substance, but the substantial form of each is reduced in intensity [LC 3.9, p. 75]. In the words of Cambiolus of Bologna, a fourteenth-century Averroist: “These four forms are refracted in a certain median form, which informs one matter.”117 Here, just as when blue and yellow interact, each is reduced in intensity and a new form, that of green, is produced, so too when the contrary elements interact, their forms are reduced in intensity to produce a single new median compound form. The elements therefore remain in a compound body, but they remain in an altered state. Wyclif maintains that this view is also inconsistent, in this case with the nature of substantial forms. Socrates can become more hot in the summer, less hot in the winter, more tanned by the sun, less corpulent in old age, but he cannot become more or less of a human being at any stage of his life. Humanity, unlike hotness or brightness, does not admit of degrees. In Wyclif ’s view, by parity of reason, no substantial form can admit of more or less; fire cannot become more or less fiery nor air more or less airy.118 So the Averroist account also will not do. Wyclif concludes: “I believe (. . .) that the elements are really in a compound, according to their own proper forms and places, as Avicenna says [ primo causarum ca. 3 and many other places].”119 Some Aristotelians adopted the Avicennist view that the elements actually remain in a compound. For example, both Richard of Middleton (before Wyclif ) and, after Wyclif, Paul of Venice (c. 1369–1429) maintain that the 116 Wyclif, LC 3.9, p. 75: “Patet ista posicio 3 de celo 67.” See Aristotle, De Caelo, Book 3, folio 67, Aristotelis Opera cum Averrois Commentariis [Venice, 1562–1574], vol. 5, p. 227: “Dicemus quod formae istorum elementorum substantiales sunt diminutae formis substantialibus perfectis et quasi esse est medium inter formas, et accidentia, et immo non fuit impose ut formae eorum substantiales ad miscerent, et proveniret ex collectione earum alia forma, sicut, cum albedo et nigredo admiscentur, fiunt ex eis mixti colores medii.” 117 Cambiolus of Bologna, “Utrum elementa maneant in mixto secundum proprias formas aut solum secundum esse virtuale,” Ms. Vat. Ott. 318, ff. 4v–8r, edited by Kuksewicz, Averroïsme Bolonais au XIV e Siècle, p. 151: “. . . iste forme quatuor sunt refracte in quandam formam mediam, que informat unam materiam.” 118 Wyclif, LC 3.9, p. 75 “. . . essencia que est forma substancialis, non suscipit magis et minus pocius de substanciis elementaribus quam de mixtis; ut sicut nichil est reliquo magis homo, sic nec aliquid est reliquo magis ignis.” 119 Wyclif, LC 3.9, p. 79: “Credo 3am sentenciam in hac parte; scilicet, quod elementa sunt realiter in mixto secundum situs and formas proprias, ut dicit Avicenna, primo causarum, ca 3, et alibi multis locis.” So Wyclif says (LC 3.9, p. 80) that the juxtaposition of corpuscles (i.e., elemental atoms) constitutes a true compound (“juxtaposicio corpusculorum, ceteris requisitis, constituunt vere mixtum”).
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elemental forms remain extended uniformly throughout a compound substance. In Paul’s description, the elemental forms remain as inhering but not informing [i.e., not determining] forms.120 But Wyclif also finds this way of interpreting Avicenna’s view unacceptable. This homogeneous distribution of the elements throughout a substance will not do, because substantial forms of the same grade cannot be in the same part of matter at the same time. First, Wyclif contends, a substantial form cannot inhere in a substance without informing it. Second, earth and water cannot occupy the same place at the same time. Instead, Wyclif recommends a solution that he well knew virtually all of his Aristotelian contemporaries found unacceptable. He maintains that the elements remain as minuscule atomic parts, too small to be perceived, so that all compound bodies are in fact heterogeneous. Like seventeenth century atomists, he here distinguishes appearance and reality. The problem that his contemporaries found with the view that he accepted was that the interaction of elements would not produce a compound substance. The claim here is that if air, earth, fire, and water actually remain “according to their own proper forms and places”121 (as corpuscles or atoms), this would produce a mere mixture of many substances, a collection or a heap. The result would be not a single compound substance (mixtio) which must be homogeneous, but merely an aggregation of corpuscles. Wyclif explains this objection: “First, it is seen that it is not properly mixed, but is a juxtaposition of corpuscles; that thus, one having the eyes of Lynceus will see in which way whatever element would be in a place separately; and in this way likewise humans and all genera of bodies are mixed in the world, and there would be no superadded substantial form; since no compound would be truly something one.”122 He
120 Paul of Venice, Expositio super libros De genertione et corruptione [Venice, 1498], f. 63a, explains of the elements: “They do not remain as a composition of form with matter, but rather do they remain as forms inhering in matter . . .” (. . . non manent secundum compositione forme cum materiae; manenteni bene inherentia forme ad materia); and, f. 63b–c: “The form of the mixed itself . . . informs and inheres. However other forms, namely of the elements, inhere and do not inform.” (Ipsa forma mixti . . . informat et inheret; alie autem forme ut elemententorum inherent et non informant.”) 121 Wyclif, LC 3.9, p. 79. 122 Wyclif, LC 3.9, pp. 79–80: “Primo, videtur quod proprie non sit mixtio, sed iuxtaposicio corpusculorum; quod sic, habens occulos linceos videret quomodo quodlibet elementum foret seorsum positum; et sic per idem homines et omnia genera corporeum essent commixta in mundo, et nulla foret forma substancialis superaddita; cum nullum mixtum foret vere aliquod unum.”
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rejects this conclusion: “To that is denied the first consequent (i.e., no superadded substantial form), because the juxtaposition of corpuscles, with other requisites, constitutes a true compound.”123 This is because when cats or cows or human beings are mixed together with others in the world, this is “not towards an end that results in a substantial form constituting a substantial compound of a different species.”124 When elemental corpuscles are mixed together, it is towards such an end. Hence: 1. Fido, Mungojerry, and Dumbo cannot combine to compose a new substance that has its own specific substantial form. 2. But all agree that the elements (earth, air, fire, and water) can combine in an appropriate proportional relation to produce a new compound substance with its own substantial form. 3. Therefore, elemental corpuscles can do so. Dogs and cats and elephants are merely collections or aggregates of entities. The elemental corpuscles are not. Unlike a mere aggregate of entities, elements, in an appropriate proportional relation, can compose a distinct compound substance with a higher grade of substantial form. So, Wyclif contends, elemental corpuscles can act “towards an end that results in a (distinct superadded) substantial form constituting a substantial compound of a different species.”125 Wyclif, therefore, claims that in substantial change, the elemental corpuscles interact and, towards the end of generating a new substance, they are mixed together in a regular quantitative proportion. This process produces what Wyclif calls minima naturalia (analogous to molecules),126 and, in each of these, different proportional relations of the elemental particles are naturally associated with and so give rise to different compound substantial forms. The apparent homogeneity of a golden globe is the sameness of a supervening compound form in each compound particle of that substance. He concludes: “whoever speaks 123 Wyclif, LC 3.9, p. 80: “Ad illud negatur prima consequencia, cum iuxtaposicio corpusculorum, ceteris requisitis, constituunt vere mixtum.” 124 Ibid.: “Et sic conceditur homines commisceri ad invicem cum aliis, et proporcionaliter de ceteris partibus huius mundi, sed non ad finem quod forma substancialis resultet constituens mixtum substanciale disparis specie.” 125 Ibid. 126 Ibid.: “. . . quod philosophi secundum gradum minimum vocant minimum naturale.”
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truly of a compound [mixtio] ought to concede either small bodies [corpora parva] or the matter of bodies to be juxtaposed, and to be continued by a superadded form.”127 Wyclif here claims a twofold consequence of his Avicennist view, first, there must be orderly structures of contiguous ( juxtaposed) elemental atoms, and second, a mixed body, i.e., each natural minimum (or compound particle), must be determined by a distinct super-added substantial form. This leads him to a view in which, each compound material substance, organic and inorganic, is composed of a plurality of substantial forms. Gold or salt, blood, bones or flesh are each a single mixed substance because each is composed of homoeomerous minima naturalia. Wyclif ’s world is therefore composed of orderly structures of particles and organized by collections of like substances. Air is each air atom and any collection of these atoms; salt is a natural minimum composed of a particular proportional organization of elemental atoms and a supervening salt form, and salt is any collection of such compound particles. A human being is a particular composite of body and mind, and humanity is the collection of all such substances. At Creation, God created material indivisibilia, and, in turn, from combinations of these, produced the size and shape of the elementary corpuscles (of earth, air, fire and water) that compose Wyclif ’s world. This is a world composed of elementary units, and, in turn, of compound units and orderly collections and combinations of these. It seems that Wyclif thought it necessary to accept, on the basis of reason and observation, that the elements fundamental to the formation of a compound body must remain in that body, and he was willing to accept as logical consequences of this view, enduring elemental corpuscles and a plurality of substantial forms in every compound substance. Further, in accordance with his methodology, this conclusion of reason is consistent with his finitist interpretation of Scripture and his consequent commitment to an atomistic account of the natural world. 4. Conclusion John Wyclif has long been cast in the role of an innovator, and, in particular, as the morning star of the Protestant Reformation. What I 127 Ibid.: “. . . cum omnes vere loquentes de mixtione oportet concedere vel corpora parva, vel materias corporum, iuxtaponi, et per formam superadditam continuari.”
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have tried to show is that this is a limited picture of the innovations of this now little known figure. In the context of his Aristotelian ontology, Wyclif provides an interesting atomistic account of the natural world. Further, here too he anticipates some later views, though his particular theory as a whole remains distinctive. For example, like seventeenth century atomist Daniel Sennert, Wyclif maintains that the fundamental building blocks are indivisible atoms and both of these atomists cite Democritus in support of their atomistic views.128 But both depart significantly from Democritean atomism. Unlike Democritus, both claim that there are several grades of atoms, all of which were formed by God at Creation. Both assume elemental corpuscles (of earth, air, fire, and water), and both claim that each elemental corpuscle is a substance that is a composite of prime matter and a substantial form. Both also claim that combinations of elemental units, in turn, constitute compound particles, which are hierarchically composed of a structure of elemental corpuscles and a supervening substantial form. Both develop atomistic accounts in the context of Aristotelian hylomorphism and scholastic pluralism (the view that a compound substance can have a plurality of substantial forms). Sennert, however, praises Democritus, because this ancient atomist realized that since bodies cannot come to be from nothing nor from points, there must be smallest physical particles.129 Sennert’s primitive indivisible units are extended elemental atoms. Wyclif adds a simpler grade of matter. Our Oxford master, rejecting that bodies cannot be composed ultimately of points, makes that very claim. His indivisible atoms, cast as the fundamental building blocks of extended bodies, are not blocks at all. That is, they are not extended physical units; they have no length, breadth, or depth. According to Wyclif, elemental corpuscles are themselves composed from some structure (known to God) of unextended indivisible atoms, and these elemental corpuscles are the extended atomic units fundamental to all bodies in the world. To conclude, I have here argued that Wyclif ’s atomism was motivated not simply by the ancient atomism of, for example, Democritus or Plato, authorities he cites [Tr p. 84; LC 3.9, p. 132], nor simply by
128 For Daniel Sennert’s atomistic theory, see Daniel Sennert, Hypomnemata Physica, “De Atomis, & Mistione,” [ Lyon, 1650], pp. 156–167. See also Michael, “Sennert’s Sea Change: Atoms and Causes.” 129 Sennert, ibid., p. 158: “Cum enim videret Democritus, corpora naturalia neque ex nihilo, neque ex punctis fieri, necessario statuit, ea ex minimis corpusculis componi.”
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rational arguments and the explanatory power of atomism nor by the evidence of experience, though he draws upon reason and experience to justify his atomistic view. As discussed above, these factors contributed to his development of a corpuscular matter theory, but these were not his principal motivation. Instead, surprisingly enough, Wyclif ’s corpuscular theory of matter was prompted, perhaps most acutely, by the requirements of his distinctive methodology, which employs Scripture as the source of all truth. Sennert was a physician and a chemist, and his conversion to an atomistic view was influenced, to a large extent, by his commitment to the distinctive scientific method proposed in Iacopo Zabarella’s logic.130 It is instructive to note that, in Wyclif ’s case, interesting scientific developments were inspired, at least in part, by theological motives. These considerations have led me to conclude that Wyclif ’s natural philosophy, though now largely neglected, is in fact of great interest, not simply because of the theories he proposed, but also (in the light of lessons to be learned from history), as an invaluable resource for understanding the problems, perspectives, and strategies influencing the development of atomism, and, indeed, the eventual rise of modern science.
130 Iacopo Zabarella, Opera Logica [ Venice, 1586]. There were many editions of this work.
BLASIUS OF PARMA FACING ATOMIST ASSUMPTIONS Joël Biard Fourteenth-century arts masters offered better and more thorough accounts of atomism than their predecessors, even when they intended primarily to criticize it. The masters knew Democritus only indirectly through Aristotle’s various critical works, especially De generatione et corruptione. But, as Aristotle linked the Democritean conception of elements with the notion of the indivisible,1 the whole study of continuum and indivisibles that has been developed in the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries, both in physical and mathematical contexts, invites us to confront atomism.2 Not only did Thomas Bradwardine provide an overview of the various solutions to problems associated with the continuum,3 but Walter Chatton, Nicholas Bonetus, and Gerard of Odo (if we assume that Nicholas of Autrecourt had no direct influence on those debates) made much more consistent the atomist hypothesis, whether one adheres to it or rejects it. In his various writings on natural philosophy Blasius of Parma often develops issues which are not strictly Aristotelian. A marginal comment in a manuscript copy of the second draft of his commentary on the Physics, raises the question of Blasius’s acquaintance with the atomist thesis: This question is dealt with in the first book On the Heavens, you also find it determined by Gerard of Odo in a small powerful book, at the
See De Generatione et corruptione, I, 1, 314 a 21–24. Hence, Democritus is quoted twice in Nicole Oresme’s Questions on De generatione and corruptione. Concerning the definition of the element, he mentions the Aristotelian definition according to which the element is that in which the body is reduced. He distinguishes three possible interpretations: “. . . pro cuius expositione est sciendum quod triplex est dissolutio: quedam in partes integrales, et sic intelligit Democritus corpora resolvi in elementa, id est athoma . . .” (Nicole Oresme, Questiones super De generatione et corruptione, [Caroti], pp. 199–200). 3 The text of the Tractatus de continuo has been edited by John Murdoch, in Geometry and the Continuum in the Fourteenth Century, pp. 139–471. Some extracts have been translated into French in Sabine Rommevaux, “Bradwardine: Le continu,” pp. 89–135. 1 2
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joël biard beginning of which one can find the Questions on the Physics by Thomas the English.4
This marginal note is probably not from Blasius, but rather from the copyist.5 Nevertheless, it invites us to compare the various authors, a comparison that, unfortunately, I won’t be able to carry out in this short chapter. Still, it suggests that atomism constitutes the horizon for these questions about the continuum. At any rate, it makes it clear that atomism cannot be eliminated from the discussion. It is hard to say much else about this remark insofar as it would require a better understanding of Blasius overall conception of matter. Unfortunately, the lack of a critical edition of the Questions on the Physics makes it extremely difficult to get any comprehensive picture of the whole set of his conceptions, inasmuch as it is quite possible that Blasius changed his mind on this topic.6 Blasius’s attitude towards atomism, or rather his use of atomist arguments, is related to two main problems. The first one concerns the void, a problem I will not deal with in detail in this chapter. On this point, Blasius defends an original position. He denies the real existence of a void while accepting at the same time a hypothetical void as fecund for studying the nature of motion, both in his Questions on Bradwardine’s Treatise on Proportions as well as in his Questions on the Physics. Concerning the first treatise, he utilizes the assumption that a void exists when discussing Bradwardine’s rule in order to determine the motion and speed of a body in the absence of a resisting medium.7 This approach allows him to dissociate the temporal factor from the form accomplished in and by a motion (either a qualitative form, in the case of an alteration, or distance, in the case of a local motion). He scrutizines this hypothesis much more extensively in the Question on the Physics. Here, 4 “Tangitur etiam hec question I° Celi; habes etiam ipsam determinatam per Gerardum Odonis in libro parvo viridi, in cuius principio sunt Questiones Physicorum secundum Thomam Anglicum,” in Questiones Physicorum, VI, q. 2, Ms. BAV, Vat. Lat. 2159, f. 164va (in margine), quoted according to Federici Vescovini, Astrologia e scienza, p. 340. For the Questiones de Celo, see bk. I, q. 8, in Ms. Milano, Biblioteca Ambrosiana P 120 sup. 5 Bernardus a Campanea di Verona (See Federici Vescovini, loc. cit.; and Caroti, I codici di Bernardo Campagna. Filosofia e medicina alla fine del sec. XIV ). 6 This is Graziella Federici Vescovini’s claim (op. cit.), who argues that Blasius modified or smoothed out his theses between the first and the second redaction of his Questions on the Physics after the condemnation of 1396. 7 See Blasius of Parma, Questiones circa tractatum proportionum magistri Thome Bradwardini [ Biard & Rommevaux], pp. 164–166 and p. 174.
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an entire question is devoted to the possibility of motion in the void.8 It seems likely that he takes as a starting point the traditional opinion—since Ibn Baja—that motion would be instantaneous in a void since, resistance being equal to zero, the ratio of force/resistance would be infinite. Denying the possibility of an infinite speed, he transforms this objection against a void into a useful hypothesis. He admits that a motion in the void would be successive. It can therefore be assigned a certain speed and be used in order to compare motion in the void with motion in a given medium. However interesting this question concerning a hypothetical void may be, it does not seem explicitly connected with atomism. The situation is different in the case of the continuum. It should be noted, however, that by way of the first article in question 1 of book 6 of the Physics (devoted to the continuum) Blasius introduces a problem, albeit quite briefly, concerning the motion of two mixed bodies—unequal in quantity but similar with regard to their mixture—in the void. While it might simply be a purely scholastic exercise, without any link to the question,9 it may suggest a strong connection between the problem of the void and that of the continuum. Dealing with the continuum, Blasius develops a moderate and complex position on indivisibles. 1. The Composition of the Continuum Blasius of Parma examines the composition of the continuum in questions 1 and 2 of book 6 of the second version of his Physics commentary. I will deal with some related passages from the first version of this text later.10 In the first question, Blasius asks whether one may conclude with valid reasons that a continuum is composed of indivisibles. The second question tackles the problem from the opposite perspective, asking whether a continuum is infinitely divisible. 8 Questiones Physicorum (second redaction), IV, 5, Ms. BAV, Vat. Lat. 2159, ff. 122vb– 126rb. 9 In some textbooks, we may find sophisms introduced as exercises, but without any link to the topic; this is the case in the Questions on the Logical Tracts, according to a usual practice in Northern Italian Universities. See A. Maierù, “I commenti bolognese ai Tractatus di Pietro Hispano.” 10 The first version corresponds to the lectures given in Padua between 1382 and 1388; we only have the two first books. The second version, of which we have a complete text, corresponds to the lectures given in Pavia in 1397. See Federici Vescovini, Astrologia e scienza, p. 430 and pp. 433–434.
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In the first question, Blasius adopts an attitude that can be found in other texts which makes it particularly difficult to figure out his positions. In the determinatio of the second article of the question, he seems to embrace the opposed views (the same attitude is found, for example, in the lengthy Question on intension and remission of forms).11 This procedure obviously makes it difficult to assess which one corresponds to his own position: does he set forth the various possible answers because of his inability to settle the issue? Is he subtly more inclined towards one of the answers without making it explicit (whatever may be his reasons to do so)? Does he implicitly oppose each point of view? With these interpretive problems in mind, here is how he introduces the second article: I begin the second article, in which I will answer the question in a negative way, and then I will make you understand that the question can be affirmatively defended.12
The refusal to consider the continuum as composed of indivisibles is based on a very traditional style of argumentation, which from the outset relies on geometry. Indeed, Blasius demands that one accepts a Euclidean principle according to which any line can be divided into two equal parts. Such a claim, as we well know, is particularly problematic if a line is made up of points, above all if they exist in a finite number. The argument unfolds in three quick steps. The first part (arguments 1 and 2) considers the number of points into which a line can be divided: it can be neither even nor odd. The second part claims that a line can neither be made up of an infinite nor of a finite number of points (conclusions 3 and 4). The assumption of a finite number is invalidated by the preceding arguments. If the number is infinite, then the line is either finite or infinite. It cannot be infinite, so it should be finite. Again, it is asked whether its half is composed of a finite or an infinite number of points. Finally, arguments 5 and 6 proceed to a quick generalization concerning the composition of a surface from lines, and a body from surfaces.
11 This question has been edited by Federici Vescovini, “La Questio de intensione et remissione formarum de Biagio Pelacani di Parma,” pp. 432–535. 12 “Transeo ad secundum in quo determinabo questionem pro parte negativa et tandem dabo tibi intelligere questionem posse sustentari pro parte affirmativa,” Ms. BAV, Vat. Lat. 2159, f. 162va.
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All of this is nothing but ordinary reasoning against the composition of a continuum from indivisibles and we may even say that he goes far less deeply into the details than did English scholars at the beginning of the fourteenth century. But it is interesting that he introduces—only as a defensible position for the time being—the assumption that the continuum is composed of indivisibles: “Now I present some conclusions which can be defended without contradiction from the other point of view”.13 Blasius then opts for the infinitist solution outlined in the first five conclusions. 1. “Even if a line were made up of points, we could not infer that it is made up of an odd or even number of points”.14 The purpose is to set aside the aforesaid contradiction between an odd and even number of points, of which the line would be made up in this case. How to proceed from here? At this moment, Blasius takes up the proportional parts of a continuum, which are neither even nor odd. 2. “Even if a line were made up of points, we could not infer that it is made up of a finite number of points”.15 This is a consequence of the former conclusion. 3. “If a line were made up of points, it would be made up of an infinite number of points”.16 Indeed, if it is made up of points, it will be a finite or an infinite number of points. Yet it cannot be a finite number, according to the preceding conclusion. 4. “That any line is made up of an infinite number of points does not include any contradiction”.17 The rationale is very weak: the opposite cannot be demonstrated, and no contradiction follows. But Blasius significantly adds that many learned people support this claim: “multi sapientes tenuerunt illud”.18 He will come back to this problem later: “To say that a line is made up of points is not 13 “Nunc pono conclusiones pro alia parte defensibiles a contradictione,” ibid., f. 162vb. 14 “licet linea esset ex punctis composita, non ex hoc posset determinari illa esse ex punctis paribus vel imparibus compositam,” ibid. ff. 162va–163ra. 15 “licet linea esset composita ex punctis, non ex hoc determinari posset illam ex punctis finitis esse compositam,” ibid. f. 163ra. 16 “si aliqua linea est composita ex punctis, ipsa composita esset ex punctis infinitis,” ibid., f. 163ra. 17 “quod omnis linea sit composita ex punctis infinitis contradictionem non includit,” ibid., f. 163ra. 18 Ibid., f. 163ra.
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inconsistent with the principles of the mathematicians, nor with the writings of the philosophers”.19 5. The fifth conclusion introduces unequal infinites. Apparently, the conclusion is related to a particular point: it is contradictory to claim that there are as many points in the circumference as in the diameter of a circle since, in this case, they would be equal (as the diagonal and the side of a square, and so on). Therefore, given that an infinite multitude of points has been accepted, there exists another one infinitely larger.20 Another consequence follows: “multitude” has to be understood in a broader sense than “number”. An infinite multitude of points is not a number: ‘Multitude’ is more general than ‘number’, so that any number is a multitude, but not conversely. Indeed, the term ‘number’ adds to ‘multitude’ the idea of numerability or being able to be numbered. But here, the term ‘multitude’ does not connote it.21
These passages make plausible the assumption of a composition from an infinity of points. That assumption remains, however, within the framework of a mathematical discussion, even if the examples are basic. The only way to get out of the contradiction is to suppose another meaning for the infinite continuum—without any possibility of being precise about that meaning. The idea of point remains rather vague. Nevertheless, article 3 will attempt to make the hypothesis more reliable by examining some of the difficulties that result from it. First, under these conditions, one asks whether a line can be divided into equal parts. If one posits a finite number of points, it will generate contradictions, not if one posits an infinite number of points. Second, one asks whether it is possible to remove a point from the whole multitude of points in a line. It is answered negatively. Third, one asks whether a line is resolvable into points. It is answered positively, but it is resolvable only potentially. Here, Blasius may seem to contradict himself or, at least, to attenuate his first aim. Anyway, he
19 “dicere lineam esse compositam ex punctis non repugnat principiis mathematicorum, nec sermonibus philosophorum,” ibid., f. 163rb. 20 “Ex quibus sequitur quod data multitudine punctorum infinita est alia maior in infinitum,” ibid., f. 163ra. 21 “multitudo est superius ad numerum, sic quod omnis numerus est multitudo, et non econtra. Addit enim hic terminus ‘numerus’ supra multitudinem numerabile vel posse numerari. Sed hic terminus ‘multitudo’ non connotat hoc,” ibid., f. 163rb.
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clearly wants to preserve an infinitely divisible continuum for mathematical objects. More interesting is the fourth difficulty. The preceding assumptions being accepted, Blasius asks whether points are immediately adjacent to one another. Here, two alternative answers are indicated: it may be said that a point is immediately adjacent to another, but since it has no part, it touches it as a whole and not by one of its parts (this relates to the problem of contact, something which Blasius paid great attention to in other texts),22 or it may be said that contact only concerns magnitudes, in which case a point cannot be said to be touching another, nor to be distant from another. The following difficulties and their solutions deal with the notion of limit: firstly the limit of a line, and then, quite lengthily, the limit of a quality that would be exclusively limited by another one. I leave out these developments, which would suppose a detailed examination of the status of a quality and of the theory of the intension of forms. The second question returns to the main problem, but tackling it from the opposite direction. It is asked whether a continuum is infinitely divisible. It is here that the copyist mentions Gerard of Odo. But the reciprocity between the two questions is only apparent. The first question stuck with simple mathematical examples (or, in the end, with some considerations on the limit of a quality). Here, we actually find a long set of similar arguments, at the beginning of the part quod non. Indeed, in the second set of arguments (introduced by “Secundo ad principale”), fifteen are of a rather mathematical sort, and the last three deal with motion. But it is preceded by another shorter series that immerse us in a different clime made of purely physical examples: a wire fence resisting a pulling force; water freezing in a clogged vase (curiously enough such a phenomenon is supposed to create void); a ray refracted when passing from one medium to another with a different density. The question’s determinatio provides a set of terminological clarifications, which are taken from the first draft of the text, which I will have to deal with later. The first details concern the categorematic and syncategorematic meaning of the infinite, that is to say, its determination
22 See the question “Utrum duo corpora dura possunt se tangere,” mss. Venice, Bibl. Marc. Lat. cl. VI, 155 (3377) = codex 18, Valentinelli IV, 230, ff. 105ra–112ra; Bologna, Bibl. Univ. 2567; a copy in Oxford Canon. Misc. 177, ff. 155ra–158vb gives a different text; but we find the same text in the Questiones de anima, Ms. BAV, Vat. Chig. O. IV. 41, ff. 195ra–197rb, and Naples, Bibl. Naz., VIII. G. 74, ff. 128r–136r.
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according to the place of the term in a sentence and the various definitions that can be given to it. These topics had become almost commonplaces from the second quarter of the fourteenth century, after the eighteenth sophisma of William Heystesbury’s Sophismata and after John Buridan’s, Gregory of Rimini’s and Albert of Saxony’s work.23 Blasius next provides some more details about the terms “divisible” and “indivisible”. What is important here is the distinction between two meanings of “indivisible”: In one sense, something is said to be divisible because it is naturally able to be divided, and conversely, something is said to be indivisible because it is not naturally able to be divided. In another sense, something is said to be divisible because, although it is not naturally able to be divided, one can nevertheless think that it is divisible without any contradiction. Hence, the heavens are actually divisible, as well as anything that has parts located one apart from the other.24
In question 10 of book 1 in the first version of his Physics, Blasius makes the same distinction, with some additional details. A one foot piece of earth is used as an example of a thing able to be divided. It is not impossible to divide it into two or three pieces, etc. (by means of an actualis divisio). The sun, the heavens and the eighth sphere are examples of the second sense. But Blasius also presents this distinction between the two senses by opposing the “real division” and the “intellectual division”.25 After a last terminological clarification concerning proportionality, the second question continues and establishes conclusions concerning the ratio of the whole to its parts. These conclusions will be put to the test in the third article.26 Curiously enough, Blasius is so concerned about establishing that a line is infinitely divisible, mostly by means of a sequence of divisions into proportional parts, that he seems to reconsider what he has established in the preceding question concerning the
23 On this topic, texts from John Buridan and Gregory of Rimini can be read in the textbook De la théologie aux mathématiques, respectively pp. 253–279 and 197–219. See also, Joël Biard, “Albert de Saxe et les sophismes de l’infini,” pp. 288–303. 24 “Uno modo dicitur aliquid divisibile quia illud est aptum natum dividi, et per oppositum aliquid dicitur indivisibile quia non est aptum natum dividi. Alio modo dicitur aliquid divisibile quia licet non sit aptum natum dividi potest tamen sine contradictione intelligi quod sit divisibile. Et sic celum bene est divisibile, et omne habens partem situaliter extra partem”, Ms. BAV, Vat. Lat. 2159, f. 166vb. 25 Ms. BAV, Vat. Chigi O IV 41, f. 245ra. 26 Some passages examine in particular the summons of proportional parts.
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composition from points. Conclusions 1, 2, and 3 assert that a line is not made up of points, neither finite nor infinite in number.27 However, this contradiction should be taken as relative. In the first question, one considers composition and makes the assumption that a line is composed of an infinity of points. In the second question, one considers division and insists on the infinite divisibility, from a geometrical point of view as well as from a physical one, as we will see. Now, about this point, we find once again an argument Blasius had used in question 10 of book 1 in the first draft. Before considering infinite division into proportional parts, he sets out as a preliminary condition that a line is not composed of points, neither a finite nor an infinite number. In the first draft, Blasius’s position was not limited to the theses supported in this question: question 11 asks whether there are limits to the greatness and smallness of natural bodies. 2. Indivisibles and Minima Naturalia The first version of Blasius’s Physics, question 10, concerns the division of a continuum. This is immediately followed by a question about the limits that one should assign to the greatness and smallness of natural bodies. Even if the conceptual context is quite different, we should take the proximity of these two questions quite seriously. Before considering this problem, it is necessary to examine another text, one of those where Blasius explicitly deals with the indivisible.28 This text is question 15 of book 1 On Generation and Corruption where it is asked: “Can an indivisible be altered?”29 The question has undoubtedly a twofold motive. First, having no parts, it seems that an indivisible cannot move, neither locally nor qualitatively. Again, the question of the relation between a quality and a subject is raised, whether the subject be imagined as indivisible (as a point) or as something indivisible informing a material and divisible subject (as the soul). For this reason, the text supplements other passages where the soul is conceived as an indivisible.
Ms BAV, Vat. Lat. 2159, f. 167ra. Blasius also deals more or less directly with the indivisible in his Commentary on the Heavens, and his Questions on the Soul. 29 “Consequenter queritur utrum indivisibile possit alterari” (Questiones de generatione et corruptione, I, q. 15, ms. BAV, Vat. Chigi O IV 41, f. 23rb sqq.) 27 28
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The terminological clarifications given in the first article will be retained here: a point can be conceived in two different ways. On this occasion, Blasius uses the verb “ymaginari”: First article: I notice that we can imagine points in a continuum in two ways. In the first sense, they have a position in a continuum; in the second they do not. An example of the first acceptation: if a line were made up of points. An example of the second acceptation: the intellective soul, which is in the human body although it does not have a position and a place in the human body.30
This distinction goes beyond the difference between the two meanings of the division presented in the second redaction of the Physics, namely the real and the intellectual one. There, Blasius argued that the Heavens could not be divided, although one could distinguish in them some differences in position. Here, it is about a reality that is not susceptible of division, neither real nor imaginary, since by itself, without considering the body it animates, it has no parts, in whatever sense. Blasius makes it clear that this meaning will not be relevant in the remainder of the question: “. . . this distinction is made insofar as the question only deals with an indivisible which has a position in a continuum”.31 Therefore, in this question, he does not really consider whether a spiritual indivisible, such as the intellective soul, can be altered—even if he incidentally mentions the classic problem of whether a soul could suffer in the infernal fire.32 Following G. Federici Vesconvini’s analysis, it seems that in the Questions on the Heavens, Blasius considers the soul as infinitely divisible from a physical point of view. The only relevant point for our present matter is once again Blasius’s claim that everything is divisible from a physical point of view:
30 “Pro primo articulo noto duplicter possumus ymaginari puncta in continuo. Uno modo quod habeant positionem in continuo, secundo modo quod non. Exemplum de primo si linea componeretur ex punctis. Exemplum de secundo sicut de anima intellectiva que est in corpore humano licet non habeat positionem et situm in corpore humano,” Questiones de generatione et corruptione, I, q. 15, Ms. BAV, Vat. Chigi O IV 41, f. 23rb. 31 “ista distinctio posita est pro tanto quia questio querit solum de indivisibile habente positionem in continuo,” ibid., f. 23rb. 32 Ibid., f. 24rb–va.
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Given any thing that is one, it is divisible since it is a natural thing, and the intellective soul is no exception since, from a physical point of view, it is not indivisible.33
On the other hand, the mathematical concept of the indivisible may be applied mutatis mutandis to the soul which is compared to a point in the De generatione et corruptione. Like a prime number, the intellective soul would be only divisible by itself or by the unit. For this reason, it would be considered as a ratio of equality (ratio equalitatis). The above-mentioned question from De generatione et corruptione tends to show the contradiction that might result from the possibility of a physical indivisible: Secondly I notice that, for the question asked, in no way one should imagine that indivisibles have a position in a continuum. However, we want to seek and examine some difficulties that would follow from such an thought experiment (tali ymaginatione).34
Does it mean that Blasius denies any form of physical minima? It is well known that since the thirteenth century minima naturalia have sometimes been distinguished from indivisibles. This notion finds its origin in a passage from Aristotle’s Physics where he objected to Anaxagoras’s idea that the constituent parts of a natural whole cannot be of any size whatsoever.35 Averroes developed the idea and Roger Bacon and Albert the Great introduced it to the Latin world. It continues to appear up to the Renaissance, especially in texts of Italian natural philosophy. The natural minimum is determined by the nature of each substance. However, the status of this minimum can vary: sometimes it is the minimum capable of producing an effect, sometimes it is the minimum perceptible by the senses. As a consequence, the concept of a natural miminum opened itself to various kinds of philosophical issues. Duns Scotus denied the opposition between quantum and naturalia, and he criticized those who
33 “quacumque re data que est una, illa est divisibilis quia est una naturalis res, nec fiat instantia de anima intellectiva quia, physice loquendo, ipsa non est indivisibilis,” See Questiones de Celo, I, qu. 9, Ms. Milano, Ambrosiana P 120 sup, f. 23ra—according to Federici Vescovini, op. cit., p. 338, n. 32. 34 “Noto secundo quod nullo modo propter questionem propositam ymaginandum est quod aliqua indivisibilia habeant positionem in continuo. Tamen volumus querere et videre aliquas difficultates sequentes ex tali ymaginatione,” Questiones de generatione et corruptione, I, 15, Ms. BAV, Vat. Chigi O IV 41, f. 23va. 35 Aristotle, Physics, I, 4, 187 b 13–188 a 5. On the medieval history of this notion, see John E. Murdoch, “The Medieval and Renaissance Tradition of minima naturalia,” pp. 91–131.
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accepted some physical minima, while admitting at the same time their incompatibility with mathematics.36 As for Blasius, he will not set the mathematical point of view against the physical point of view. As we have already seen, matter is infinitely divisible. On the other hand, he introduces the idea of a necessary proportions among natural beings, along with the idea of limits beyond and below which a natural being ceases to exist. This is the subject matter of question 11 of book 1 of Blasius’s Physics in its first redaction: “Eleven, we ask whether any natural body is limited by its greatness and shortness”.37 In this question, Blasius does not talk about indivisibles but only about natural limits. We are leaving the field of mathematical indivisibilism, but on the other hand, if the term ‘atom’ is not used in this context, we come very close to the idea of the smallest part of a body that can exist, including the elements. The problem is raised from the beginning of the first article: As regards the first article, here is a first remark: that a body be limited in greatness and smallness is equivalent to the fact that in relation to it there should be two limits, of greatness and smallness, which cannot be naturally exceeded.38
Beyond the results expressed in such and such a conclusion, it is the general thought process that is interesting. The limit can be considered from the point of view of greatness and smallness or from the point of view of active and passive powers. Greatness and smallness clearly imply the consideration of matter or subject, and on the other hand, the powers imply the consideration of the relationship between matter and form, and this from two different points of view: either from the point of view of the introduction of a form into matter, or from the point of view of the conservation of a substantial form. In the latter case, Blasius still further differentiates the case of a substantial form educed or likely to be educed from matter, and the case of the intellective soul coming to animate matter.
See Ordinatio [Balic], II, dist. 2, p. 2, qu. 5, pp. 305–306. “Queritur undecimo utrum omne corpus naturale sit in magnitudine et parvitate limitatum,” Quaestiones Physicorum (1a redactio), ms. BAV, Vat. Chigi, O IV 41, f. 250ra. 38 “Quantum ad primum articulum sit primum notabile quod corpus esse in magnitudine[m] <et> parvitate limitatum est idem quod respectu eius sint duo termini magnitudinis et parvitatis quod egredi naturaliter non contingat,” ibid., f. 250va. 36 37
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Here, I only reconstruct the main theses regarding the minimum. The general tendency is to deny a minimum to simple elements, considered in themselves. This is the case in the fifth and sixth conclusions dealing with the example of fire. Blasius will later contend that this holds for any element:39 “there is no minimum of fire since for any given fire, its half will be smaller”.40 Here we do not consider the existing fire, but a conceivable or imaginable one. On the one hand, it seems infinitely divisible. On the other hand, there exists a fire smaller than any other: “There is a minimum of fire existing by itself and separately”.41 More interesting is the position of a minimum fire between certain limits in a given medium. Here we catch a glimpse of the motives behind Blasius’s thought: he wants to introduce ratios between a minimum of matter, a medium, and, possibly, relations of power and resistance. “There is a minimum of fire that can subsist in such a way and such a time in this medium”.42 The conclusions are reminiscent of the various cases according to which such an element can subsist or be corrupted, in such and such a medium and such and such a time. However, we still remain within the framework of infinite divisions. The case is different for mixed bodies which, of course, constitute the most important part of our world. In this case, the connections to be kept gain more and more importance. We will first consider unanimated mixed bodies. They can be treated as simple bodies from the standpoint of permanency and decay: “In no time a mixed and unanimated whole can subsist in a medium”.43 The aim is actually to prevent permanency. But a difference should be noted between unanimated mixed bodies and animated mixed bodies. Paradoxically, the first ones are modified or destroyed if we remove a part. For example, if we remove a part of a stone, we will have another stone or no stone at all. The second ones can subsist if we remove a part, for example, if we remove Socrates’s hand. They are destroyed when the whole is destroyed. Hence, in the case of animated bodies or animals, there is a given maximum and a
39 “et notetis quod in huiusmodi conclusionibus nominamus ignem sed quicquid est dictum de ignis, intelligatis de quocumque alio simplici corpore,” ibid. f. 251rb. 40 “Non datur minimus ignis quia quocumque dato eius medietas est minor,” ibid. 41 “Datur minimus ignis per se seorsum existens,” ibid. 42 “Datur minimum ignis qui in hoc medio potest sic et taliter permanere per tantum tempus,” ibid. 43 “Per nullum tempus potest aliquod mixtum totum inanimatum in aliquo medio permanere,” ibid.
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given minimum. But there is no absolute minimum if we consider that a part of the animal is animated. 3. Conclusion The sequence of questions in the first redaction of the Questions on the Physics is not meaningless. After studying the mathematical division of the continuum, Blasius of Parma wonders whether there are physical minima. It is difficult to class him within a predefined grid of positions about indivisibles. Blasius is certainly not an atomist in the strict sense, since matter is infinitely divisible according to him. Nevertheless, like some of his contemporaries, he cannot avoid problems connected with indivisibility. He addresses these problems in various places, defending some positions that at first glance may even seem contradictory. In fact, his goal is to present various points of view. But unlike his habits on other occasions, the aim is not only to contrast the mathematician’s and the physicist’s differing points of view. His distinctions cross these two disciplinary fields. From a mathematical point of view, the composition and the division of a continuum are to be treated differently. Concerning composition, two different claims have been developed. The first one takes up the traditional geometrical criticism of indivisibles. The other one is more original and admits composition from an infinite number of indivisibles. This non-contradictory assumption is acceptable in mathematics provided that one redefines some concepts, such as the concept of whole and parts. Concerning division, the infinite division of mathematical objects must be accepted. From a natural point of view, the infinite divisibility of matter must be admitted without reserve. But natural bodies are composed of matter and form. Some connections are established and must be maintained for the generation and permanency of such and such natural bodies. These connections are not only the more relevant and interesting elements to be studied, they also define the limits within which any such being is conceivable. It is all the more true if the form in question is a soul, since it is indivisible when it is considered in its simple connection to itself, and divisible when it is considered as the form of a natural body.
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Whitehead, A.N., An Enquiry Concerning the Principles of Natural Knowledge. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1925. ——, The Concept of Nature. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1920 (reprinted in 1955). Wilson, C., William Heytesbury: Medieval Logic and the Rise of Mathematical Physics. Madison, Wis.: University of Wisconsin Press, 1956. Wolfson, H.A., The philosophy of the Kalam, Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard University Press, 1976. Workman, H.B., John Wyclif, A Study of the English Medieval Church. 2 vols. Oxford: Clarendon, 1926. Zavalloni, R., Richard de Mediavilla et la controverse sur la pluralité des formes. Louvain: Ed. de l’institut supérieur de philosophie, 1951. Zubov, V.P., “Walter Catton, Gérard d’Odon et Nicolas Bonet.” Physis: rivista di storia della scienza, 1 (1959), pp. 261–278. ——, “Jean Buridan et les concepts du point au XIVe siècle.” Medieval and Renaissance Studies, 5 (1961), pp. 63–95.
INDEX OF ANCIENT, MEDIEVAL AND RENAISSANCE AUTHORS Adam Buckfield 58, 236, 245 Adam of Marsh 153 Adam of Wodeham 16, 40, 88, 127, 130, 139, 171, 182, 236, 238, 240, 244 Albert of Saxony 18, 23, 25, 228, 235, 236 Albert the Great 5, 42, 112, 114, 116, 235, 236 Alexander of Aphrodisias 22 Al-Ghazali (Algazel) 7, 19, 66, 68, 87, 236, 245 Anaxagoras 15, 112, 113, 114, 231 Aristotle 2, 3, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 15, 17, 18, 19, 21, 22, 24, 25, 27, 30, 32, 33, 34, 35, 37, 38, 39, 40, 41, 42, 44, 45, 47, 48, 50, 51, 52, 53, 57, 58, 63, 64, 73, 77, 83, 85, 88, 89, 107, 108, 109, 110, 111, 112, 113, 114, 116, 117, 123, 124, 126, 127, 129, 130, 134, 136, 137, 140, 141, 142, 143, 144, 147, 153, 160, 161, 162, 170, 184, 188, 190, 192, 199, 203, 211, 213, 215, 221, 231, 236 Augustine 4, 14, 53, 55, 202, 203, 204, 206 Averroes 26, 111, 191, 196, 213, 215, 231 Avicenna 10, 19, 87, 213, 215, 216, 236 Bede the Venerable 3 Benedict Hesse 84 Blasius of Parma 7, 14, 221–234 Bonaventure 22, 23, 236 Cambiolus of Bologna 215 Campanus of Novara 35, 36, 74 Cicero 3, 6, 114, 236 Daniel Sennert 186, 188, 189, 214, 219, 220, 236 David of Dinant 5 Democritus 1, 2, 3, 5, 6, 7, 12, 17, 18, 27, 69, 90, 105, 108, 112, 113, 114, 116, 117, 123, 136, 139, 146, 153, 161, 162, 208, 209, 212, 219, 221
Diogene Laertius
34
Epicurus 3, 4, 5, 12, 17, 34, 90, 146, 208, Etienne Gaudet 162, 165, 166, 208 Euclid 10, 19, 20, 21, 22, 26, 35, 36, 67, 70, 72, 83, 237 Filipo Fabri 195 Franscesco Patrizi 148 Gaetano of Thiene 138 Galileo Galilei 15, 23, 39, 237, 243 Gerard of Cremona 162 Gerard of Odo 6, 7, 10, 11, 16, 17, 18, 25, 26, 31, 34, 85–106, 107, 127, 138, 140, 141, 142, 160, 170, 171, 174, 183, 211, 221, 222, 227, 235, 240, 245, 246 Giuseppe Veronese 25, 237 Godfrey of Fontaines 36, 37, 101, 237 Gregory of Rimini 23, 31, 37, 140, 160, 228, 237 Henry of Harclay 7, 9, 10, 14, 16, 17, 19, 20, 22, 23, 25, 26, 27, 28, 30, 31, 35, 40, 96, 127, 134, 136, 139, 140, 141, 142, 143, 161, 170, 171, 235, 244 Iacopo Zabarella 220, 237 Ibn Baja 223 Isaac Israeli 162, 237 Isidore of Seville 3, 15 Jan Hus 186 John Buridan 12, 13, 15, 20, 24, 25, 33, 40, 84, 85, 125, 126, 158, 163–182, 228, 235, 237, 240, 245, 246 John Dorp 40 John Duns Scotus 7, 10, 17, 19, 46, 66, 67, 68, 69, 70, 82, 87, 159, 162, 190, 195, 196, 231, 237, 240, 245 John Gedeonis 16, 86 John Major 84, 237 John Quidort 193
248
index of ancient, medieval and renaissance authors
John of Jandun 189 John of Mirecourt 37, 244 John of Ripa 37, 235, 237 John of Salisbury 4 John Pecham 189, 192 John Tarteys 18, 235 John the Canon 16, 31, 87, 138, 235, 237 John Wyclif 6, 7, 13, 16, 34, 153, 154, 161, 183–220, 237, 242, 243, 245 Julius Caesar Scaliger 186, 237 Lactantius 4, 237 Leucippus 3, 69 Lucretius 3, 4, 5, 6, 12, 17, 22, 237 Marbode of Rennes 4, 237 Marc Trivisano 86 Michel of Montecalerio 7, 12, 13, 158, 163–182, 235, 240 Moses Maïmonides 12, 108, 116, 117, 119, 123, 152, 153, 162, 235, 237, 242 Nicholas of Autrecourt 1, 6, 7, 11, 14, 16, 34, 86, 105, 106, 107–126, 127, 138, 149, 153, 157, 221, 238, 240, 241, 244 Nicholas Bonetus 16, 18, 86, 87, 105, 107, 127, 138, 238 Nicole Oresme 18, 23, 25, 37, 64, 221, 235, 238, 240, 243 Parmenide 15 Paul of Venice 215, 216, 238 Peter Abelard 8, 238 Peter Ceffons 37, 243, 244 Peter Lombard 41, 81, 87, 127 Peter of John Olivi 64, 238 Peter of Spain 32, 238 Philoponus 22, 238 Plato 2, 3, 7, 10, 14, 18, 27, 76, 209, 219 Plutarch 22 Poggio Bracciolini 3 Prisician 3 Proclus 22 Rhaban Maur 3 Richard Fishacre 49, 238
Richard Fitzralph 66, 246 Richard Kilvington 7, 32, 65–84, 235, 241, 242 Richard Knapwell 193 Richard of Middleton 189, 192, 214, 215, 246 Richard Rufus 3, 7, 9, 39–64, 235, 238, 242 Robert Grosseteste 5, 23, 40, 47, 50, 53, 141, 238 Robert Kilwardby 32, 189 Roger Bacon 5, 69, 231, 238 Roger Roseth 16, 83, 84, 238 Roger Swinshead 37 Theophrastus 18 Thomas Aquinas 5, 13, 152, 189, 190, 191, 192, 194, 196, 213, 214, 238, 239, 240 Thomas Bradwardine 7, 16, 18, 19, 20, 23, 24, 26, 27, 32, 33, 34, 36, 37, 66, 75, 82, 87, 221, 222, 235, 236, 238, 240, 241, 243, 244, 245 Thomas of York 153 Urso of Salerno
5
Vincent of Beauvais
4
Walter Burley 7, 16, 22, 31, 66, 100, 145, 163, 172, 173, 175, 178, 180, 181, 238, 239 Walter Chatton 7, 10, 16, 17, 19, 20, 86, 87, 88, 105, 127, 136, 139, 140, 159, 182, 183, 211, 221, 238, 239, 246 William Crathorn 6, 7, 12, 33, 34, 127–162, 211, 235, 238, 241 William Heytesbury 32, 66, 228, 246 William de la Mare 192, 193, 238 William of Alwick 16, 27, 28, 96, 235 William of Champeaux 8 William of Conches 2, 3, 5, 15, 238 William of Ockham 16, 23, 24, 30, 40, 56, 66, 67, 68, 70, 71, 75, 82, 116, 127, 145, 190, 196, 197, 210, 238, 240, 241, 243, 244 William of Mackesfield 193 Zeno (of Elea)
10, 30, 83
INDEX OF MODERN AND CONTEMPORARY AUTHORS Allard, G.H. 239, 244 Alliney, G. 239, 242 Anawati, G.C. 5, 152, 239 Annas, J.E. 39, 239 Argerami, O. 23, 240 Ashworth, E.J. 40, 239 Asztalos, M. 239 Bachelard, G. 2, 239 Baffioni, C. 239 Bakker, P.J.J.M. 85, 239 Barnes, J. 41, 236 Bazan, C. 236 Bentley, R. 23 Biard, J. 14, 134, 145, 164, 222, 228, 236, 239, 241, 245 Boas, G. 86, 239 Boehner, Ph. 29, 239 Bostock, D. 42, 236 Braakhuis, H.A.G. 245 Brancacci, A. 6, 239 Burns, S. 61 Caroti, S. 66, 221, 222, 231, 239, 240, 241, 243 Celeyrette, J. 7, 12, 13, 134, 158, 164, 239, 240, 241, 245 Chandler, B. 240 Cohen, I.B. 23, 240 Conti, A.D. 183, 240 Cosman, M. 240 Courtenay, W.J. 66, 127, 163, 164, 166, 240 Cote, A. 134, 240 Cova, L. 239, 242 Crombie, A.C. 240 Cross, R. 196, 240 Dales, R.C. 23, 240 De Rijk, L.M. 8, 32, 85, 238, 240 Dhanani, A. 151, 240 Dijksterhuis, E.J. 188, 189, 240 Donati, S. 41, 240 Duhem, P. 15, 86, 87, 240 Dumont, S. 101, 240 Dutton, B. 116, 240 Dziewicki, M.H. 185, 237
Ebbs, G. 61 Elders, L. 239, 240 Federici-Vescovini, G. 222, 223, 224, 230, 231, 240 Frede, M. 42, 236 Freudenthal, G. 152, 241 Fruteau de Laclos, F. 107, 241 Gauthier, R.-A. 236 Gimaret, D. 151, 152, 241 Glorieux, P. 192, 193, 236, 238 Gnassounou, B. 120, 241 Goddu, A. 75, 241 Gorlaeus, D. 214 Grant, E. 19, 96, 123, 126, 147, 148, 241 Grellard, C. 6, 11, 106, 107, 110, 120, 123, 126, 138, 153, 157, 241, 242 Hallamaa, O. Ibrahim, T.
84 152
Jacquart, D. 5, 121 Jolivet, J. 151 Jung-Palczewska, E. 66 Kaluza, Z. 107, 110, 113, 115, 116, 118, 123, 156, 163, 164 Kennedy, L. 108 Kenny, A. 183, 185, 186, 206 Kistler, M. 120 Kluxen, W. 152, 153 Knuuttila, S. 32 Kretzmann, B. 18, 66 Kretzmann, N. 10, 18, 66, 154, 183, 208, 210 Kuksewicz, Z. 215 Lamy, A. 145, 175, 181 Lasswitz, K. 1 Lawlor, K. 61 Lear, J. 40, 41, 42, 45 Leff, G. 186 Leijenhorst, C. 243 Lévy, T. 245
250
index of modern and contemporary authors
Lohr, C.H. 85 Lüthy, C. 1 Mabilleau, L. 1 Machamer, P.K. 243 Maddy, P. 60 Maier, A. 15, 65, 66, 86, 87, 213 Maierù, A. 223 Marmo, C. 243 Mazet, E. 37 McCord Adams, M. 190, 196, 210 McVaugh, M.R. 245 Menard, J. 239 Mendell, H. 40 Mendelsohn, E. 243 Meyerson, E. 107 Michael, B. 163, 164 Michael, E. 6, 13, 14, 149, 154, 155, 156, 161, 183, 219 Michalski, K. 163 Molière 120 Molland, G. 5, 36 Morel, P.-M. 6 Murdoch, J.E. 1, 2, 3, 5, 6, 8, 15, 16, 18, 20, 23, 26, 32, 35, 37, 40, 64, 66, 74, 75, 86, 87, 88, 96, 98, 105, 107, 123, 127, 134, 137, 139, 141, 143, 149, 153, 162, 170, 182, 221, 231 Newman, W.R. 1, 23 Newton, I. 1, 113 Nuchelmans, G. 164 O’Connor, T. 61 O’Donnell, J.R. 106, 149 Pabst, B. 1, 15, 154, 183 Panaccio, C. 127 Pasnau, R. 127 Patzig, G. 42 Perler, D. 127 Philippe, J. 3, 4 Pines, S. 151 Pini, G. 61
Podkoński, R. 10, 66, 68, 75 Powell, H. 58 Pyle, A. 1, 113, 153 Rashed, R. 245 Read, S. 245 Richter, V. 24, 129 Robert, A. 6, 12, 127, 211 Roberts, L.D. 245 Roensch, J. 192 Rommevaux, S. 221, 222 Rosier-Catach, I. 145 Sagadeyef, A. 152 Sergeant, S.D. 183, 245 Schabel, C. 65, 85 Schepers, H. 127 Sergeant, L. 183 Smith, B. 128 Snyder, J. 61 Sorabji, R. 60 Sylla, E. 245 Synan, E. 88, 96, 139, 149, 182 Thijssen, J.M.M.H. 84, 85, 174 Thomson, S.H. 208 Thomson, W.R. 154, 183 Van Melsen, A.G.
1
Walsh, J.J. 85 Walsh, K. 66 Weijers, O. 85, 166 White, M. 64 Whitehead, A.N. 25 Wilson, C. 32 Wolfson, H.A. 151 Wood, R. 3, 9, 30, 130, 141, 171 Workman, H.B. 183, 185 Zavalloni, R. 189, 192, 214 Zubov, V.P. 12, 86, 87, 105, 163, 165, 166
History of Science and Medicine Library Medieval and Early Modern Science Subseries Editors: J.M.M.H. Thijssen and C.H. Lüthy
1. FRUTON, J.S. Fermentation: Vital or Chemical Process? 2006. ISBN 978 90 04 15268 7 2. PIETIKAINEN, P. Neurosis and Modernity. The Age of Nervousness in Sweden. 2007. ISBN 978 90 04 16075 0 3. ROOS, A.M. The Salt of the Earth. Natural Philosophy, Medicine, and Chymistry in England, 1650-1750. 2007. ISBN 978 90 04 16176 4 4. EASTWOOD, B.S. Ordering the Heavens. Roman Astronomy and Cosmology in the Carolingian Renaissance. 2007. ISBN 978 90 04 16186 3 (Published as Vol. 8 in the subseries Medieval and Early Modern Science) 5. LEU, U.B., R. KELLER & S. WEIDMANN. Conrad Gessner’s Private Library. 2008. ISBN 978 90 04 16723 0 6. HOGENHUIS, L.A.H. Cognition and Recognition: On the Origin of Movement. Rademaker (1887-1957): A Biography. 2009. ISBN 978 90 04 16836 7 7. DAVIDS, C.A. The Rise and Decline of Dutch Technological Leadership. Technology, Economy and Culture in the Netherlands, 1350-1800 (2 vols.). 2008. ISBN 978 90 04 16865 7 (Published as Vol. 1 in the subseries Knowledge Infrastructure and Knowledge Economy) 8. GRELLARD, C. & A. ROBERT (eds.). Atomism in Late Medieval Philosophy and Theology. 2009. ISBN 978 90 04 17217 3 (Published as Vol. 9 in the subseries Medieval and Early Modern Science) 9. FURDELL, E.L. Fatal Thirst. Diabetes in Britain until Insulin. 2009. ISBN 978 90 04 17250 0
Published previously in the Medieval and Early Modern Science book series: 1. LÜTHY, C., J.E. MURDOCH & W.R. NEWMAN (eds.). Late Medieval and Early Modern Corpuscular Matter Theories. 2001. ISBN 978 90 04 11516 3 2. THIJSSEN, J.M.M.H. & J. ZUPKO (eds.). Metaphysics and Natural Philosophy of John Buridan. 2001. ISBN 978 90 04 11514 9 3. LEIJENHORST, C. The Mechanization of Aristotelianism. The Late Aristotelian Setting of Thomas Hobbes’ Natural Philosophy. 2002. ISBN 978 90 04 11729 7
4. VANDEN BROECKE, S. The Limits of Influence. Pico, Louvain, and the Crisis of Renaissance Astrology. 2002. ISBN 978 90 04 13169 9 5. LEIJENHORST, C., C. LÜTHY & J.M.M.H. THIJSSEN (eds.). The Dynamics of Aristotelian Natural Philosophy from Antiquity to the Seventeenth Century. 2002. ISBN 978 90 04 12240 6 6. FORRESTER, J.M. & J. HENRY (eds.). Jean Fernel’s On the Hidden Causes of Things. Forms, Souls, and Occult Diseases in Renaissance Medicine. 2005. ISBN 978 90 04 14128 5 7. BURTON, D. Nicole Oresme’s De visione stellarum (On Seeing the Stars). A Critical Edition of Oresme’s Treatise on Optics and Atmospheric Refraction, with an Introduction, Commentary, and English Translation. 2006. ISBN 978 90 04 15370 7
