Gottfried von Fontaines

Gottfried von Fontaines , French Godefroid de Fontaines , Latin Godefridus de Fontibus (* before 1250 in Fontaines-Hozémont (today in the municipality of Grâce-Hollogne in the Walloon province of Liège in Belgium ), Lower Lorraine ; † after 1305 in Paris ) was a philosopher and theologian of scholasticism and taught at the University of Paris . As an Aristotelian and “secular” clergyman, he was also involved in the belief / reason controversy that raged at the time at his university, which was then the academic center of the West .

life and work

Gottfried von Fontaines studied at the Faculty of Artes in Paris together with Heinrich von Gent , who had an Augustinian - Neoplatonic attitude , with Siger von Brabant , the leading Averroist in Europe , and with Thomas von Aquin . In 1285 Gottfried passed his master's degree in theology and from then on taught practically continuously until 1304. From 1291 he was a member of the board of directors, perhaps also dean , of his faculty. In 1300, Gottfried von Fontaines was also proposed as Bishop of Tournai (in today's Belgium ), but he turned it down because of conservative opposition.

His main work includes 15 Quodlibeta , written structured discussion events on various topics, as well as a collection of Scholia (remarks) on the Summa theologica of Thomas Aquinas . Even if he makes quite eclectic use of the various structures of thought in order to bring together the conflicting positions at the Paris University, from an epistemological point of view he proves to be a strict Aristotelian by linking the universals to the perception of material objects. In doing so, he expressly opposes the Neoplatonic conception of the Augustinian school, according to which perception-independent, inner, eternal ideas exist and only supernatural enlightenment can prove their true being .

Together with Heinrich von Gent, he criticized the newly founded mendicant orders and tried to prevent them from filling chairs at the University of Paris. He led numerous disputes both with the Thomists , the supporters of Thomas Aquinas, and with the Scotists , the supporters of the Franciscan Johannes Duns Scotus . Gottfried's direct importance waned in the course of the 14th century.

literature

• R. Dales: Medieval Discussions of the Eternity of the World . Brill, Leiden 1990.
• Bernd Goebel :  Gottfried von Fontaines. In: Biographisch-Bibliographisches Kirchenlexikon (BBKL). Volume 31, Bautz, Nordhausen 2010, ISBN 978-3-88309-544-8 , Sp. 502-508.
• S. Marrone: The Light of Thy Countenance. Science and Knowledge of God in the Thirteenth Century . Volume 2: God at the Core of Cognition. Brill, Leiden 2001.
• FX Putallaz: Insolente liberté. Controverses et condemnations au XIIIe siècle . Éditions Universitaires, Friborg 1995.
• JF Wippel: The Metaphysical Thought of Godfrey of Fontaines. A Study in Late Thirteenth-Century Philosophy . The Catholic University of America Press, Washington, DC 1981.
• JF Wippel: Godfrey of Fontaines at the University of Paris in the Last Quarter of the Thirteenth Century . In: JA Aertsen, K. Emery, Andreas Speer (eds.): After the conviction of 1277. Philosophy and theology at the University of Paris in the last quarter of the 13th century. Studies and texts . Miscellanea Mediaevalia, 28. de Gruyter, Berlin-New York 2001, pp. 359-389.

Web links

• John Wippel:  Entry in Edward N. Zalta (Ed.): Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy .