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Theodoret's Early Christology

Paul B. Clayton, Jr.

in The Christology of Theodoret of Cyrus: Antiochene Christology from the Council of Ephesus (431) to the Council of Chalcedon (451)

This chapter explores the early works of Theodoret. These include Graecarum Affectionum Curatio, Expositio Rectae Fidei, and Quaestiones et Responsiones ad Orthodoxos.

The Emergence of Ambrosiaster

Sophie Lunn-Rockliffe

in Ambrosiaster's Political Theology

The chapter begins by explaining that two major Latin works, a set of Commentaries on all the Pauline epistles save Hebrews, and 127 Quaestiones on the Old and New Testaments are now known as the ... More

The chapter begins by explaining that two major Latin works, a set of Commentaries on all the Pauline epistles save Hebrews, and 127 Quaestiones on the Old and New Testaments are now known as the work of a single author, an anonymous author who has for over 300 years been referred to as Ambrosiaster. There have been several distinct stages in the emergence of Ambrosiaster. In the earliest phase of their circulation, portions of the Quaestiones and Commentaries were attributed by their readers to various different authors or they were said to be written anonymously. This confusion over the authorship of Ambrosiaster's works is further reflected in the manuscript tradition.Less

Ambrosiaster's Ecclesiastical Context

Sophie Lunn-Rockliffe

in Ambrosiaster's Political Theology

This chapter explores Ambrosiaster's position in and attitude towards the Roman church in the 370s and 380s. Some of the Quaestiones in particular contain clues that leads to the belief that they ... More

This chapter explores Ambrosiaster's position in and attitude towards the Roman church in the 370s and 380s. Some of the Quaestiones in particular contain clues that leads to the belief that they originated as sermons or lectures, and the possibility that Ambrosiaster wrote homiletic texts suggests he was, in fact, a cleric. The Quaestiones are given precedence in this analysis, because they are less uniform in nature than the Commentaries and contain more clues to the circumstances of their composition and delivery.Less

The Recursive Argument Method of Medieval Science

Christopher I. Beckwith

in Warriors of the Cloisters: The Central Asian Origins of Science in the Medieval World

This chapter examines the recursive argument method of medieval science. The distinctive argument method used in scientific literature from the High Middle Ages to the Enlightenment was the ... More

This chapter examines the recursive argument method of medieval science. The distinctive argument method used in scientific literature from the High Middle Ages to the Enlightenment was the “scientific method” until the scientific revolution. It is traditionally known in earlier scholarly literature as the “scholastic method” or quaestiones disputatae “disputed questions” method. Unfortunately, because of increasing scholarly confusion about the origins and meaning of the traditional term “scholastic method,” and even of the term quaestiones disputatae, it has been necessary to adopt a purely descriptive term, namely recursive argument method, also called recursive method or recursive argument. Many medieval scholars who wrote works using the recursive argument method also wrote treatises. The chapter compares the recursive argument with the treatise and dialogue argument structures and considers diffrent types of formal recursion.Less

Jerome and The Latin Vulgate

Helen Kraus

in Gender Issues in Ancient and Reformation Translations of Genesis 1-4

Known as vir trilinguis (trilingual Hebrew, Greek and Latin), Jerome is the first sole translator in this study. A convert to Christianity, much of Jerome's early adulthood seems overshadowed by a ... More

Known as vir trilinguis (trilingual Hebrew, Greek and Latin), Jerome is the first sole translator in this study. A convert to Christianity, much of Jerome's early adulthood seems overshadowed by a libido not conquered by the solitary desert life. Seeking diversion, Jerome, already a skilled Greek linguist, began to learn Hebrew. Later, in Rome, under the auspices of Pope Damasus, he translated the Hebrew Bible into Latin. While in Rome, Jerome also became spiritual guide to a community of celibate women, with whom he eventually settled near Jerusalem. Origen's hexaplar edition is frequently cited by Jerome in the latter's Quaestiones Hebraicae in Genesim. Jerome's first woman is named virago and he is the first translator to distinguish between ‘woman’ (mulier) and ‘wife’ (uxor). His renderings are largely according to the Hebraica veritas but, interestingly, Jerome seems to offer no comment on gender issues where they occur in the text.Less

The Orator and the Law

Elaine Fantham

in The Roman World of Cicero's De Oratore

This chapter begins with a discussion of how the civil law is introduced into the dialogue. It outlines the civil procedures available in the time of Cicero's dialogue —procedures which had not ... More

This chapter begins with a discussion of how the civil law is introduced into the dialogue. It outlines the civil procedures available in the time of Cicero's dialogue —procedures which had not changed significantly in Cicero's own day. It also presents a discussion of the legal experts (iuris periti) and the state of legal literature prior to Cicero's day, and then examines his presentation of actual cases.Less

St. Thomas and the First Cause of Moral Evil

Lawrence Dewan

in Wisdom, Law, and Virtue: Essays in Thomistic Ethics

In seeking the first cause of moral evil, St. Thomas Aquinas was not content to speak only of the deficiency in the will's choice, nor again to speak only of the freedom of ... More

In seeking the first cause of moral evil, St. Thomas Aquinas was not content to speak only of the deficiency in the will's choice, nor again to speak only of the freedom of the will itself, taken as a good thing created by God. Rather, between these two, namely, the privative deficiency and the good nature, he insisted on the necessity to posit in the free operation of the will a pure negation, a non-considering of the rule, that is in no way culpable, nor indeed in any sense an evil, but that is absolutely indispensable for an adequate conception of the first cause of moral evil. This chapter investigates the first cause of moral evil as presented in the Summa contra gentiles (SCG) 3.10 that we find the requirement for the first time and Quaestiones disputatae de malo 1.3.Less

Fabricius’s Galeno-Aristotelian Teleomechanics of Muscle

Peter Distelzweig

in The Life Sciences in Early Modern Philosophy

Hieronymus Fabricius ab Aquapendente [Girolamo Fabrici, c. 1533–1619] was a long-time professor of anatomy at Padua and a participant in and contributor to the renaissance of anatomical studies in ... More

Hieronymus Fabricius ab Aquapendente [Girolamo Fabrici, c. 1533–1619] was a long-time professor of anatomy at Padua and a participant in and contributor to the renaissance of anatomical studies in the 16th century. While still deeply influenced by the Galenic medical tradition, Fabricius’ approach to anatomy was especially Aristotelian and natural philosophical. The goal of Fabricius anatomy was scientia of the part of animals articulated using Galenic concepts of action and use. Interestingly, in his works on muscles and joints Fabricius also employs mathematical mechanics. Here I argue that Fabricius aims to integrate mathematical mechanics into his characteristic Galeno-Aristotelian teleological explanations of muscle and bone anatomy. I argue further that Fabricius’ use of mechanics is Aristotelian in two senses: (1) the (pseudo-)Aristotelian Quaestiones Mechanicae serve as his primary reference point; and (2) he thinks of mechanics as an Aristotelian subordinate science. His is an Aristotelian, teleological, and non-reductive use of mechanics.Less

Drinking, Table Talk, and Plutarch’s Contemporaries

Philip A. Stadter

in Plutarch and his Roman Readers

Plutarch’s reported after-dinner conversations in Table Talk suggest an ideal world of social intercourse among friends both Greek and Roman. He insists that the purpose of a symposium or drinking ... More

Plutarch’s reported after-dinner conversations in Table Talk suggest an ideal world of social intercourse among friends both Greek and Roman. He insists that the purpose of a symposium or drinking party is to make friends and reinforce prior friendships through a shared experience of wine and intelligent conversation. The Muses, represented especially by such conversation, must join Dionysus, for without them communal drinking can rapidly descend into quarrels, ill-will, and even violence. It is the duty of the symposiarchos or leader of the drinking to moderate the party through understanding of each individual, if possible, and introducing appropriate subjects. Both the proems of the individual books and many conversations treat the proper topics for discussion, such as some problem of popular philosophy or literature, or the experiences of participants. Random chit-chat or mockery should be avoided. Plutarch thus implicitly corrects the less cultivated behaviour often to be found in his contemporary society, working through implication rather than reproof.Less

Leading the Party, Leading the City: The Symposiarch as politikos

Philip A. Stadter

in Plutarch and his Roman Readers

Plutarch’s description in Table Talk of a symposiarchos or leader of a dinner party (Quaestiones Conviviales 1.4, 620A–622B) offers many similarities to the political leader described in Praecepts ... More

Plutarch’s description in Table Talk of a symposiarchos or leader of a dinner party (Quaestiones Conviviales 1.4, 620A–622B) offers many similarities to the political leader described in Praecepts for Politicians. Both aim at reducing division and rivalry and encouraging concord. It is desirable that the guests know each other and the host: problems may arise when one guest invites another unknown to the host, or especially when a prominent person, such as a Roman official, arrives with a whole retinue. In these cases the risk of offence or ill-temper is greater. The symposiarch himself should be sympotkotatos, devoted to the symposium and the friendship and concord of its participants. Politics is to be avoided as a subject, as all mockery and insult. In the ninth book, Plutarch’s teacher Ammonius is an admirable leader, carefully regulating the party with conversation and music. Plutarch stresses that neither a city nor a party is ever in a stable state: the leader must always exercise constant care.Less