Abstract
This article considers the definition of metaphysics of Dietrich of Freiberg (1250-1320) and challenges Albert Zimmermann’s reading of his metaphysics as rational theology. The aim is to prove that metaphysics is not identical to rational theology. First, we inquire into the subject and the proper definition of theology (science of God), distinguished from rational theology (science of being in relation to God). Second, we distinguish rational theology from metaphysics in the proper sense, which is defined by Dietrich as the study of being qua being. Within this framework, metaphysics is the science of being and its consequent properties, organized according to per se modes of predication, and it deals with the formal components of substance. Such a characterisation of metaphysics as different from rational theology offers a new perspective on Dietrich of Freiberg’s sources and influences by revealing a closer proximity to authors such as Avicenna and Aquinas, rather than to Averroes or to neoplatonic thinkers like Master Eckhart (as most scholars assume).
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