Seminar on philosophical texts by medieval authors

Teacher(s)

Counet Jean-Michel ;

Language

Français

Online resources

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Prerequisites

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Main themes

The course requires a direct and frequent exposure to Medieval texts. We shall either study a particular text (from beginning to end or jumping around in it), or extracts from different authors addressing a specific problem. We shall examine these texts from a historical perspective. We shall shell out their sources, insisting on the fact that Medieval thinkers believed they were on the threshold of different traditions and heritages: biblical and theological, patristical, philosophical (Ancient, Arab, and Jewish thought). From a doctrinal point of view, we shall also show what was innovative in these texts when they were written and in their cultural context. If the need arises, we shall underline their posterity, especially their influence on Modern thought. On top of this historical approach, we shall also examine the argumentative strategies of the texts themselves, highlighting their logical and conceptual rigor, which makes for excellent training for the students' reading skills. The texts will be explained by the lecturer: the goal is to give examples of reading methods and to indicate the necessary tools for a proper reading of these texts. The students will be asked to do complementary readings.

Aims

The aim of the course is to teach the students how to "read" Medieval texts on their own. In other words, by overcoming the cultural distance separating us from the texts, the students should come to understand the workings and uses of the texts and the methods necessary for explaining them,. thus providing the capacity for further independent research in this area.

The contribution of this Teaching Unit to the development and command of the skills and learning outcomes of the programme(s) can be accessed at the end of this sheet, in the section entitled “Programmes/courses offering this Teaching Unit”.

Evaluation methods

Oral examination on the whole matter. Particular question chosen and prepared by the student

Teaching methods

Lectures by the professor, sketches out of the students. Discussions

Content

The seminar  will tuns on the thought of Nicholas of Cusa (1401-1464). He is seen as the last philosopher of the Middle Ages and the firs thinker of Modern Times. The  lectures aim at introducing to his philosophy in all its aspects : theology, cosmology, anthropology, doctrine of learned ignorance,  coincidence of the opposites and so on.  The lectures will  particularly focus on the De Visione Dei (The Vision of God)  for it's a good gateway to the general doctrine.

Bibliography

Basic Bibliography

Jean-Michel Counet, Mathématiques et dialectique chez Nicolas de Cuse, Paris, Vrin, 2000

Frédéric Vengeon,  Nicolas de Cues, le monde humain. Métaphysique de l'infini et anthropologie, Grenoble, Jérôme Million, 2011.

Maurice de Gandillac, La Philosophie de Nicolas de Cues, Paris, Aubier Montaigne, 1941.

Jasper Hopkins,  A concise introduction to the philosophy of Nicholas of Cusa, University of Minnesota Press, 1978.

Hans Blumenberg,La Légitimité des Temps modernes, Paris, Gallimard, 1998

Ernst Cassirer, Individu et cosmos dans la Philosophie de la Renaissance, Paris, éditions  de Minuit, 1983.

Other information

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