Theories of Cognition in the Later Middle Ages

A major contribution to the history of philosophy in the later medieval period (1250–1350).

Robert Pasnau (Author)

9780521583688, Cambridge University Press

Hardback, published 28 May 1997

348 pages
23.6 x 15.9 x 2.6 cm, 0.659 kg

"...important and challenging...Pasnau handles his materials, including his own translations, deftly and with philosophical ingenuity. His book is very important, challenging, and should be read by anyone who has an interst in philosophical theories of cognition. He succeeds in leading 'a new historical perspective to contemporary thinking about the mind and knowledge.'" Journal of the History of the Neurosciences

This book is a major contribution to the history of philosophy in the later medieval period (1250–1350). It focuses on cognitive theory, a subject of intense investigation during these years. In fact many of the issues that dominate philosophy of mind and epistemology today - intentionality, mental representation, scepticism, realism - were hotly debated in the later medieval period. The book offers a careful analysis of these debates, primarily through the work of Thomas Aquinas, John Olivi, and William Ockham. Each of these figures attempts to reconceptualise cognition along direct realist lines, criticising in the process the standard Aristotelian account. Though of primary interest to medieval philosophers, the book presupposes no background knowledge of the medieval period, and will therefore interest a broader community of philosophers concerned with the origins of contemporary cognitive theory.

Introduction
Part I. Fudamentals: 1. Immateriality and Intentionality
2. Intentionality made mysterious
3. Form and representation
4. Passivity and attention
Part II. Representations and realism: 5. Are species superfluous? 6. Aquinas and direct realism
7. The veil of the species
8. Word and concept.

Subject Areas: Western philosophy: Medieval & Renaissance, c 500 to c 1600 [HPCB]