Ockham on the Virtues

Ockham on the Virtues
Author: Rega Wood
Publisher: Purdue University Press
Total Pages: 320
Release: 1997
Genre: Philosophy
ISBN: 9781557530967

One of the world's great philosophers, William of Ockham's On the Connection of the Virtues (De connexione virtutum) provides insightful perspectives on ordinary issues of human conduct. Written in reasonably simple and nontechnical language, it is translated into English here for the first time. Ockham's views on many subjects have been misunderstood, his views on ethics as much as any. This book is designed to avoid some pitfalls that arise in reading medieval philosophy generally and Ockham in particular. Wood begins her introduction with an account of what is known about Ockham's life and works and with a discussion of his place in the history of philosophy, followed by a brief general guide to his views. Finally, there is a historical account of the medieval debate on the connection of the virtues, to which Ockham's treatise is an important contribution. Problems of interpretation are addressed in the commentary, which follows the translation. Translation, commentary, and introduction provide students of Ockham's treatise with what they need to appreciate his stance on ethical issues and to approach his arguments critically.

William of Ockham: Questions on Virtue, Goodness, and the Will

William of Ockham: Questions on Virtue, Goodness, and the Will
Author:
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Total Pages: 374
Release: 2021-05-06
Genre: Philosophy
ISBN: 1108588107

William of Ockham (d. 1347) was among the most influential and the most notorious thinkers of the late Middle Ages. In the twenty-seven questions translated in this volume, most never before published in English, he considers a host of theological and philosophical issues, including the nature of virtue and vice, the relationship between the intellect and the will, the scope of human freedom, the possibility of God's creating a better world, the role of love and hatred in practical reasoning, whether God could command someone to do wrong, and more. In answering these questions, Ockham critically engages with the ethical thought of such predecessors as Aristotle, Augustine, Thomas Aquinas, and John Duns Scotus. Students and scholars of both philosophy and historical theology will appreciate the accessible translations and ample explanatory notes on the text.

The Cardinal Virtues in the Middle Ages

The Cardinal Virtues in the Middle Ages
Author: István Pieter Bejczy
Publisher: BRILL
Total Pages: 370
Release: 2011-08-11
Genre: History
ISBN: 9004210148

Exploring the history of the cardinal virtues from patristic times to the late fourteenth century, this book offers a comprehensive view of the development of moral debate in the Latin Middle Ages.

Conscience and Other Virtues

Conscience and Other Virtues
Author: Douglas C. Langston
Publisher: Penn State Press
Total Pages: 201
Release: 2015-08-26
Genre: Philosophy
ISBN: 0271031166

Conscience, once a core concept for ethics, has mostly disappeared from modern moral theory. In this book Douglas Langston traces its intellectual history to account for its neglect while arguing for its still vital importance, if correctly understood. In medieval times, Langston shows in Part I, the notions of "conscientia" and "synderesis" from which our contemporary concept of conscience derives were closely connected to Greek ideas about the virtues and practical reason, although in Christianized form. As modified by Luther, Butler, and Kant, however, conscience later came to be regarded as a faculty like will and intellect, and when faculty psychology fell into disrepute, so did the role of conscience in moral philosophy. A view of mature conscience that sees it as relational, with cognitive, emotional, and conative dimensions, can survive the criticisms of conscience as faculty. In Part II, through discussions of Freud, Ryle, and other modern thinkers, Langston proceeds to reconstruct conscience as a viable philosophical concept. Finally, in Part III, this better grounded concept is connected with the modern revival of virtue ethics, and Langston shows how crucial conscience is to a theory of virtue because it is fundamental to the training of any morally good person.

The Cambridge Companion to Ockham

The Cambridge Companion to Ockham
Author: Paul Vincent Spade
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Total Pages: 440
Release: 1999-12-13
Genre: Philosophy
ISBN: 9780521587907

Offers a full discussion of all significant aspects of this medieval philosopher's thought.

Martin Luther's Understanding of God's Two Kingdoms

Martin Luther's Understanding of God's Two Kingdoms
Author: William J. Wright
Publisher: Baker Academic
Total Pages: 208
Release: 2010
Genre: Biography & Autobiography
ISBN: 0801038847

A leading Reformation scholar historically reassesses the original breadth of Luther's theology of the two kingdoms and the cultural contexts from which it emerged.

Eliminativism, Objects, and Persons

Eliminativism, Objects, and Persons
Author: Jiri Benovsky
Publisher: Routledge
Total Pages: 289
Release: 2018-09-03
Genre: Philosophy
ISBN: 0429816618

In Eliminativism, Objects, and Persons, Jiri Benovsky defends the view that he doesn't exist. In this book, he also defends the view that this book itself doesn't exist. But this did not prevent him to write the book, and although in Benovsky's view you don't exist either, this does not prevent you to read it. Benovsky defends a brand of non-exceptionalist eliminativism. Some eliminativists, typically focusing on ordinary material objects such as chairs and hammers, make exceptions, for instance for blue whales (that is, living beings) or for persons (that is, conscious organisms). Benovsky takes one by one all types of allegedly existing objects like chairs, whales, and persons and shows that from the metaphysical point of view they are more trouble than they are worth—we are much better off without them. He thus defends an eliminativist view about ordinary objects as well as the 'no-Self' view, where he explores connections between metaphysics, phenomenology, and Buddhist thought. He then also considers the case of aesthetic objects, focusing on musical works and photographs, and shows that the claim of their non-existence solves the many problems that arise when one tries to find an appropriate ontological category for them, and that such an eliminativist view is more natural than what we might have thought. The arguments provided here are always topic-specific: each type of entity is given its own type of treatment, thus proving a varied and solid foundation for a generalized, non-exceptionalist, full-blown eliminativist worldview.

A Companion to Jan Hus

A Companion to Jan Hus
Author: Ota Pavlicek
Publisher: BRILL
Total Pages: 457
Release: 2015-02-24
Genre: Philosophy
ISBN: 9004282726

A Companion to Jan Hus includes eleven substantial essays covering the central aspects of the life, thought and commemoration of Jan Hus († 1415), Czech theologian, reformer and martyr. Besides older experienced specialists in the Hussite studies, also younger researchers who enter the scientific discourse with new approaches participated in the volume. Experts and students alike will profit from this guide to Jan Hus, who was well known as follower of John Wyclif and forerunner of Martin Luther. Burning of Jan Hus at the stake at the Council of Constance gave rise in Bohemia to religious and social revolt that ushered the European reformations of the 16th century.