Boethius of Dacia (1270s) and Radulphus Brito (1290s) on the Universal Sign ‘Every’

Abstract

In this article I present the analysis of the syncategorematic term ‘omnis’ in the commentaries on the Topics by the Parisian masters of Arts Boethius of Dacia and Radulphus Brito. I shall focus on the different relations between subject, predicate and particular instances that obtain in universally quantified statements, and in particular on the relations that obtain in universally quantified statements with an empty subject. I also attempt to highlight some continuities and ruptures with respect to this problem in its 13th-century treatments, by comparing Boethius and Brito’s analyses with the earlier (first half of the century) analyses put forth by Peter of Spain and William of Sherwood.