Aims

By the end of this course, the student shall be able to use tools helpful for research in the history of Ancient or Medieval Philosophy: for specific bibliography, for identifying the sources contained in the texts, and for a precise understanding of philosophical concepts.
The student will also be able to follow the history and the transmission of various philosophical texts from Antiquity to the Middle Ages. The students' attention will be drawn to the problems posed by the translation of Greek, Arab, and Hebrew texts into Latin. The student will learn how to locate the manuscripts that preserved original texts and translations of key Ancient and Medieval works, and he/she will also learn how to use the databases available in different domains: bibliographical and lexicographical.

Main themes

The course retraces the history of the transmission of Ancient and Medieval philosophical texts, placing the emphasis on problems specific to that transmission. In order to do this, we shall address the history of Medieval libraries, the question of the Latin translations of Greek, Arab, and Hebrew texts, as well as the working method particular to the Medievals, appealing specifically to the auctoritates.
The philosophical and scientific sources available, crucial for the elaboration of various doctrines, are the subject of a detailed examination.
Translations are the origin of numerous neologisms in the Latin language. Consequently, we shall undertake a lexicographical analysis of various concepts to determine their various meanings. Computers can be used to consult databases of texts containing multiple uses of the terms to be studied.
Furthermore, the locating of sources is made much easier through research via the computer. Practical exercises will allow the students to become familiar with these IT tools and the new methods of research these have heralded.
Finally, an unpublished work will form the base for our research of preserved manuscripts and for the identification of the sources contained in that text.

Content and teaching methods

" This course is divided in two parts :

- the first is theoretical and shall introduce the students to the history of philosophical lexicography from Antiquity to the renaissance. Then, the tools available for this kind of research will be examined : ancien and medieval lexica and glossaries, modern and recent publications as well as electronic databases.

- the second part is practical. Each student, with the help of those tools, shall study a concept with the help of the available tools".

Other information (prerequisite, evaluation (assessment methods), course materials recommended readings, ...)

Pre-requisites:
Knowledge of Latin and of Latin paleography.

Assessment:
The assessment bears both on the knowledge of the theoretical part of the course and on the exercises done during the course.

Supporting Material:
Paleographic materials. Latin texts containing sources to be identified and concepts to be translated and analyzed.

Course Holder/Course Supervisor:
The professor organizes the assignments; the students must subsequently do the assignment outside the class.

Programmes in which this activity is taught