Peter Auriol On The Categories Of Action And Passion: The Second Question Of His Quodlibet

Abstract

[ William of Ockham deals with imaginary objects on several occasions in his writings, primarily in discussions involving three main issues: the ontological status of concepts and universals, the theory of supposition and the theory of definitions. Applying supposition theory to the case of chimerae, a mythological creature imagined to be composed of parts of different animals, and other impossible objects, the truth of propositions containing 'chimera' as a subject or a predicate term depends on the kind of supposition involved. Burley treats the problem of universals in various texts from throughout his whole career, modifying his original views mainly under the influence of the criticism Ockham brought forward against him. Keywords:chimerae; Walter Burley; William of Ockham , The scholastic theologians of the High Middle Ages were not about to dismiss it as a mystery known only to God and relegated for us who are in via to a blind and uncomprehending faith. They had after all rediscovered Aristotle, and Aristotle had an answer for everything in the natural world. But what natural explanation could there possibly be for waters that were outside their natural place, and—if the text of Genesis be credited—remained there? Here was the conundrum. In the Prologue to his Commentary on the Sentences Richard Fishacre calls his readers' attention to another passage in the book of Genesis, the story of Abraham being commanded by God to have sex with Hagar, the serving girl, as a condition for his impregnating his wife Sarah. Abraham obeys and the rest, as they say, is sacred history. For Fishacre Hagar represents natural philosophy, Sarah theology. Keywords:biblical text; conundrum; early Oxford masters; Genesis; natural philosophy; the division of the waters; theology ]