Albert of Saxony (philosopher)
|
|
Albert of Saxony (Albertus de Saxonia, c. 1316-1390) was a leading teacher of the Faculty of Arts at the University of Paris from about 1350 to 1380. He was Master of Arts at Paris, then Rector of the University of Vienna, and finally Bishop of Halberstadt (Germany). He was a pupil of Jean Buridan and was very much influenced by Buridan's teachings on physics and logic. As a natural philosopher, he worked in the tradition of John Buridan and contributed to the spread of Parisian natural philosophy throughout Italy and central Europe. Albert's work in logic also shows strong influence by William of Ockham, whose commentaries on the logica vetus (on Porphyry, and Aristotle's Catagoriae and De interpretatione) were made the subject of a series of works called Quaestiones by Albert.
Albert of Saxony's teachings on logic and metaphysics were extremely influential. Although Buridan remained the predominant figure in logic, Albert's Perutilis logica was destined to serve as a popular text because of its systematic nature and also because it takes up and develops essential aspects of the Ockhamist position. But it was his commentary on Aristotle's Physics that was especially widely read. Many manuscripts of it can be found in France and Italy, in Erfurt and Prague. Albert's Physics basically guaranteed the transmission of the Parisian tradition in Italy, where it was authoritative along with the works of Heytesbury and John Dumbleton. His commentary on Aristotle's De caelo was also influential, eventually eclipsing Buridan's commentary on this text. Blasius of Parma read it in Bologna between 1379 and 1382. A little later, it enjoyed a wide audience at Vienna. His Treatise on Proportions was often quoted in Italy where, in addition to the texts of Bradwardine and Oresme, it influenced the application of the theory of proportions to motion.
Albert played an essential role in the diffusion throughout Italy and central Europe of Parisian ideas which bore the mark of Buridan's teachings, but which were also clearly shaped by Albert's own grasp of English innovations. At the same time, Albert was not merely a compiler of the work of others. He knew how to construct proofs of undeniable originality on many topics in logic and physics.
Works
- Question on the Squaring of the Circle
- Treatise on Proportions
- Perutilis logica (Very Useful Logic)
- Quaestiones on the Ars Vetus
- Quaestiones on the Posterior Analytics
- Quaestiones logicales (Logical Questions)
- De consequentiis (On Consequences) - attributed
- De locis dialecticis (On Dialectical Topics) - attributed
- Sophismata
Links
Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy entry (http://plato.stanford.edu/entries/albert-saxony/)