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Buridan on Mathematics

Buridan on Mathematics 55 Buridan on Mathematics* J. M. THIJSSEN Introduction A historical review of fourteenth century philosophy shows that dur- ing that century two rather important developments took place in the treatment of various topics in natural philosophy. One development, headed by Thomas Bradwardine (1295-1349) at Merton College (Ox- ford) began to use mathematical arguments when dealing with sub- jects of natural philosophy in order to gain a better understanding of them. The other championed by John Buridan (I 300-after 1358) and his Parisian School set out to apply semantic analyses, known as "the language of supposition", to such subject. i Such traditional black-and-white presentation of these develop- ments could give the impression, that Buridan completely ignored mathematics. Buridan's 'Physica', however, contains a number of in- teresting passages in which the author displays a very specific view on mathematics that perhaps explains why one does not find mathe- matical arguments in the further course of his natural philosophy. This article is an investigation of all the passages in Buridan's s Ques- tiones on Aristotle's Physics where there is mention of geometry and arithmetic, the two most important themes of medieval mathematics. My discussion is divided into two parts. First I http://www.deepdyve.com/assets/images/DeepDyve-Logo-lg.png Vivarium Brill

Buridan on Mathematics

Vivarium , Volume 23 (1): 55 – Jan 1, 1985

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References (12)

Publisher
Brill
Copyright
© 1985 Koninklijke Brill NV, Leiden, The Netherlands
ISSN
0042-7543
eISSN
1568-5349
DOI
10.1163/156853485X00032
Publisher site
See Article on Publisher Site

Abstract

55 Buridan on Mathematics* J. M. THIJSSEN Introduction A historical review of fourteenth century philosophy shows that dur- ing that century two rather important developments took place in the treatment of various topics in natural philosophy. One development, headed by Thomas Bradwardine (1295-1349) at Merton College (Ox- ford) began to use mathematical arguments when dealing with sub- jects of natural philosophy in order to gain a better understanding of them. The other championed by John Buridan (I 300-after 1358) and his Parisian School set out to apply semantic analyses, known as "the language of supposition", to such subject. i Such traditional black-and-white presentation of these develop- ments could give the impression, that Buridan completely ignored mathematics. Buridan's 'Physica', however, contains a number of in- teresting passages in which the author displays a very specific view on mathematics that perhaps explains why one does not find mathe- matical arguments in the further course of his natural philosophy. This article is an investigation of all the passages in Buridan's s Ques- tiones on Aristotle's Physics where there is mention of geometry and arithmetic, the two most important themes of medieval mathematics. My discussion is divided into two parts. First I

Journal

VivariumBrill

Published: Jan 1, 1985

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