Durandus of St. Pourçain

Durandus of St. Pourçain OP (* approx. 1270–1275 in Saint-Pourçain-sur-Sioule , † September 10, 1334 in Meaux ) was a theologian and philosopher; Magister, Paris (1312-13); lector sacri palatii , Avignon (1313-1317); Bishop of Limoux (August 26, 1317), Le Puy-en-Velay (appointed February 14, 1318; entry July 17, 1318) and Meaux (March 13, 1326). His epithet is "Doctor modernus".

Life

Durandus of St. Pourçain was born between 1270 and 1275 in St. Pourçain sur Sioule and entered the Dominican order in Clermont . First he started a university career. A stay in the Dominican convent of St. Jacques in Paris is documented for 1303, where he received his education as a Dominican student. Before Durandus began his sentence lecture in Paris in 1308 in order to advance to baccalaureus formatus , he was likely to have already taught at a general course of the Dominicans in the French province and explained the sentences of Petrus Lombardus there.

Above all, the written version of the first Paris sentence lecture , which, according to Durandus' own statement, had been distributed without authorization, provoked violent defensive reactions in his order. Despite this criticism, Durandus was able to obtain his master's degree in Paris as early as 1312 ; This, however, probably not without having an influential advocate, even if Durandus anticipated a more moderate tone in the second version of his commentary, which was written as part of the Paris lecture.

A year after taking up his master's degree, however, Durandus was appointed to the court of Pope Clement V in Avignon, where he worked as a lector sacri palatii .

He left the papal court in 1317 to take up the position of Bishop of Limoux . Other episcopal offices followed in Le Puy en Velay (1318–1326) and Meaux (1326–1334). During his time as bishop Durandus revised his sentence comment for the second time. He also prepared several reports for the Pope (now John XXII ), for example on the poverty (1322) and the visi dispute (1332). For this Pope Durandus also participated in the investigation and censorship of some of the theses of Wilhelm von Ockham . Durandus died as Bishop of Meaux on September 10, 1334.

Durandus' commentary on sentences

The three versions

The main theological and philosophical work of Durandus is his comprehensive commentary on the sentences of Petrus Lombardus . As already indicated, according to Josef Koch, three editors of the sentence commentary can be distinguished (after Koch designated as A, B and C). The first version (A) was made in connection with his teaching activities in the French provinces. According to Durandus, it was stolen and distributed against his will. This A version triggered violent opposition from his Dominican confreres, as it sometimes contained vehement criticism of the theses of Thomas Aquinas , and could even be interpreted as anti-Thomas. A first critical opinion came from Hervaeus Natalis in the second Quodlibet (1308). The argument with Herveus Natalis lasted a good decade and produced some polemical works on both sides.

At the time of this first statement or shortly afterwards, version B of the sentence commentary was created, which is to be classified in the context of the Paris sentence lecture (1308–1310). The generally unfriendly mood in the Dominican order towards thinkers critical of Thomas may have prompted Durandus to forego explicit criticism of Thomas Aquinas this time in order not to jeopardize his doctorate. The revision to version B therefore consists primarily in the deletion of Thomas-critical passages without replacement. However, this version was also repeatedly criticized by thinkers close to Thomas. In the fight against Durandus - alongside Hervaeus Natalis - especially Petrus de Palude and John of Naples stood out.

Durandus' sentence commentary was finalized between 1317 and 1327. Since Durandus, as bishop, was no longer subject to the jurisdiction of the Dominican Order, he was largely able to return to his original views. The basis for the revision to version C was therefore not version B, but rather the first version (A). Durandus only described this last editorial in its Explicit as his authentic commentary.

Controversies with the Dominican Order

The confrontation with his order is formative for the intellectual development of Durandus. In doing so, he not only had to face the scientific criticism of individual confreres, but two official lists of errors of the Order of Preachers were drawn up for version A and partially for version B of his commentary. Both lists were mainly compiled by John of Naples and Petrus de Palude. The first list of July 3, 1314 included 93 theses that put Durandus' loyalty to the church to the test. The second list of errors from 1316/17, which now comprised 235 theses, must be seen in close connection with the then worsening tendency of his order to establish the teaching of Thomas Aquinas as the only binding teaching of the Dominicans (1317 the canonization process of Thomas began ).

In this sense, the second list examined what deviations Durandus' set of sentences showed compared to the teachings of Thomas. This list later probably served another Durandus critic, namely Durandellus, as a template for the creation of his Evidentiae contra Durandum . Overall, the Durandus affair can be described as the “longest-running theological dispute of the order” (MM Mulchahey).

Teaching

Durandus' thinking is shaped by the scientific examination of Thomas Aquinas, so that his theses gain in profile, especially when compared to the teaching of Aquinas. Three primary areas of interest can be identified: in metaphysical terms Durandus showed himself interested in the problem of relation ; in psychological terms the problem of spiritual knowledge was in the foreground; in epistemological terms he dealt with the creation of knowledge and the problem of truth.

The metaphysical status of the relation

Durandus deals with the problem of the metaphysical status of relation in the context of his discussions on the Trinity . Durandus adds one aspect to the Aristotelian theory of categories by not only distinguishing between two modes of being , namely substantial and accidental being, but also dividing the accidents into absolute ( quality and quantity ) and relative accidents (the remaining seven categories ). While the Aristotelian model is based on the distinction between subsistence and inherence , the Durandus model aims at the distinction between subsistence and dependence . Fundamental for the character of the relation is the natural alignment to another or the dependence on another. The category of relation is understood as a mere inner disposition, as a pure modus essendi of its substrate without being independent. This substrate can be both a substance and an absolute accident. But since the different modi essendi enable a real distinction, Durandus can explain the real difference of the three persons in the divine trinity in this way without endangering the unity of the divine substance.

The doctrine of a threefold modus essendi on which this idea is based is inspired by Heinrich von Gent 's doctrine of modes, but also by the considerations of Jacob von Viterbo .

Psychological considerations

Durandus' psychological considerations also show a certain similarity to Heinrich von Gent. Durandus understands the spiritual soul as the sole form of man, which, seen from both Aristotle and Thomas Aquinas, represents a consistent application and continuation of the Aristotelian instruments. With his strong emphasis on the unity of the spiritual soul, however, he again moves away from Thomas's conceptions when, in his version C, he finally denied the difference between the soul and its vegetative forces or negated the difference between understanding and will.

His act psychological considerations are also not in line with Thomas. In this, Durandus only ascribes the effect of a conditio sine qua non to the objects , the original activity is attributable to the faculties of the soul . The acts themselves are understood as current relations (in the sense described above) of the assets to the objects.

This is where, for example, the identification of verbum mentis with the act of knowledge in Durandus is based. The “word of the spirit”, which with Thomas stands at the end of the abstraction process and represents the object of knowledge in the sense of a “medium in quo” of knowledge, is simply characterized by Durandus as being real identical to the act of knowledge.

Epistemological Problems

The cognitive process

In epistemology, too, Durandus deviates from Thomas' eminently Aristotelian epistemology , since he rejects both the assumption of species intelligibiles and species sensibiles as explanatory models for the cognitive process and consequently also regards the intellectus agens as superfluous. For Durandus a direct influence of the objects on the intellectus possibilis is not only possible, but the only reasonably justifiable procedure in the cognitive process. The object “goes through” a three-stage process. Extramental things are first presented to the mind as a phantasy image, then recorded in the simplex apprehensio , in order to finally determine the content of the act of cognition, as the object is now "obiective" in the mind. However, this is not, as in some classical epistemology, a process of abstraction , i.e. the active preparation of a formal meaning from its material circumstances, but a psychological process of continually disregarding the conditions that determine the object.

A temporal priority of the individual results from this conception. Even if the general is presented as first emerging in the understanding, Durandus nevertheless admits that it has an objective basis in the nature of things in common. Durandus is therefore only a “ conceptualist ” in that he regards universals as conceptual phenomena.

The principle of individuation

Starting from the assumption that only single things, singularia , have extramental existence, Durandus adopts four principles that are to apply at the same time as principles of individuation as well as the constitution of being, namely the two extrinsic principles goal and activity and the two intrinsic principles form and matter . What is extrinsically active is the main reason for individuation, as it not only effects extrinsically the individuation of matter, whose intrinsic individuation principle consists in the form, but also extrinsically the individuation of the form, which in turn is also individuated by matter - but only accompanying ( concomitanter ).

The constitution of truth

In his treatment of the problem of truth , Durandus changes the adequacy theory of Thomas Aquinas to a conformity theory. According to this, truth consists in “the conformity of the thing as it is known to itself, insofar as it is ( veritas est conformitas rei, ut intellecta est, ad se ipsam secundum illud, quod est )”, that is, in the relation between the thing as recognized and the nature of the matter. So there can only be truth in the knowing mind, which can determine something as true, when the “thing known” and “thing in nature” coincide.

Sources and aftermath

In addition to the aforementioned Heinrich von Gent, Durandus was influenced by Aegidius Romanus , Petrus von Auvergne , Jakob von Metz and Duns Scotus , among others . Durandus himself influenced thinkers such as Herveus Natalis , Petrus de Palude and John of Naples, who comment on Durandus' theses in detail in their works. Durandus mostly took their criticism into account in his last sentence commentary.

Durandus also found opponents and supporters outside the Dominican Order, e. B. Prosper from Reggio Emilia, Thomas Wylton, Petrus Aureoli , Guido Terreni and Johannes Baconthorp . In the 15th century, a Thomist like Johannes Capreolus was expressly interested in refuting Durandus. Durandus' solution to the problem of communication between angels is still fought against by Gabriel Vázquez and Francisco Suárez in the 16th century (B. Roling).

Durandus' aftermath is attested both by the large number of surviving manuscripts and by the fifteen editions that were printed in the 16th century, all of which represent the third edition of his commentary. In 1561 the “ nominalistic ” chair at the University of Salamanca was named after Durandus, after reading Gregory of Rimini had been replaced by Durandus in 1528.

Works

In addition to the sentence commentary, five Quodlibeta (1312-17), a treatise De habitibus and other works, including some expert reports as well as sermons and individual quaestions, have been preserved (cf. Käppeli, SOPMA, I, 339-350).

The edition of the first edition of the sentence commentary is being prepared at the Thomas Institute of the University of Cologne as part of a DFG project.

literature

( see the more complete bibliography on the homepage of the Thomas Institute)

• RL Friedman: Durand of St. Pourçain , in: JJE Gracia / TB Noone (eds.), A Companion to Philosophy in the Middle Ages, Malden, MA 2003, 249-253;
• ders .: On the Trial of a Philosophical Debate: Durand of St. Pourçain vs. Thomas Wylton on Simultaneous Acts in the Intellect , in: St.F. Brown / Theo Kobusch with Thomas Dewender (eds.), Acts of the Conference “Philosophical Debates at the University of Paris in the First Quarter of the Fourteenth Century”, Leiden 2005 (to be published soon);
• MG Henninger: Durand of Saint Pourçain (B. CA. 1270; D. 1334) , in: JJE Gracia (ed.): Individuation in Scholasticism. The Later Middle Ages and the Counter-Reformation, 1150-1650, Albany 1994, 319-332;
• I. Iribarren: Durandus of St Pourçain . A dominican theologian in the shadow of Aquinas (Oxford Theological Monographs), Oxford 2005;
• Thomas Jeschke (2012). “… Via virtual divinam assistant. Scotus and Durandus on the impassibility of the glorified bodies. Aristotelian philosophy revisited? " , in: Philosophia: E-Journal of Philosophy and Culture , 1/2012, 103–125.
• Thomas Käppeli OP: Scriptores Ordinis Praedicatorum Medii Aevi , I, Rome 1970;
• Josef Koch: Durandus de S. Porciano OP research on the dispute over Thomas Aquinas at the beginning of the 14th century. First part: Foundations of literary history (contributions to the history of the philosophy of the Middle Ages. Texts and studies 26), Münster i. W. 1927;
• ders .: Small writings (Storia e letteratura. Raccolta di studi e testi 127/128), 2 vols., Rome 1973;
• MM Mulchahey: "First the bow is bent in study ...". Dominican Education before 1350 (Studies and Texts, 132), Toronto 1998;
• HJ Müller: The doctrine of verbum mentis in Spanish scholasticism . Studies of the historical development and understanding of this doctrine by Toletus, the Conimbricens and Suarez, Diss., Münster i. W. 1968;
• B. Roling: Locutio angelica . The discussion of angel language as an anticipation of a speech act theory in the Middle Ages and early modern times (Studies and Texts on the Spiritual History of the Middle Ages, 97), Brill, Leiden - Boston 2008, Brill e-Book .
• Mischa von Perger: “The concept of truth according to Durandus von Saint-Pourçain. With the Question “Utrum veritas sit in rebus vel in anima” from In Sent. I, version A, and related texts ”, in: Archivum Fratrum Praedicatorum 74 (2004), 127–224.

Web links

• Homepage of the Durandus project at the Thomas Institute Cologne
• Durandus bibliography , Thomas Institute, Cologne
• Further links , Thomas Institute, Cologne