Thomas Wylton on Cognition

Cecilia Trifogli is Professor of Medieval Philosophy at the University of Oxford and Fellow of the British Academy. She has published extensively on the medieval tradition of Aristotle’s natural philosophy and psychology. She is the author of a book on the English commentaries on the Physics (Oxford Physics in the Thirteenth Century, Brill 2000). She also works on the critical editions of medieval philosophical texts. For the Auctores Britannici Medii Aevi series, she edited Wylton’s Question on the Intellectual Soul (together with L. O. Nielsen and G. Trimble, ABMA 19) and Geoffrey of Aspall’s Questions on Aristotle’s Physics (together with S. Donati and J. Ashworth, ABMA 26-27). Lauge Olaf Nielsen is Professor emeritus of Church History at the University of Copenhagen and a member of the Royal Danish Academy of Sciences and Letters. He has published extensively on medieval and early modern theology and philosophy and produced several critical editions of Latin medieval philosophical and theological texts.

• AcknowledgementsIntroduction 1. Life and writings of Thomas Wylton 2. Wylton’s questions on cognition edited in this volume 3. Overview of the questions 4. Manuscript tradition and editorial principles 4.1 Manuscripts 4.2 Quality of the manuscripts and editorial principles 5. Presentation of the text 6. Contents of the questions 6.1 Question 1: Whether because of God’s perfect and distinct cognition of creatures and their production it is necessary to posit in God distinct ideal rationes that correspond to the creatures cognized. 6.2 Question 2: Whether we can reach the genuine truth about material things in the natural light of our intellect by means of the species abstracted from such things or whether we need eternal rules or rationes in which we cognize such truth. 6.3 Question 3: Whether we can carry out a scientific investigation about some properties of God by our natural light starting from sensible things. 6.4 Question 4: Whether we can reach certain and evident cognition of any truths that can be known about God and creatures by the light of our own proper kind. 6.5 Question 5: Whether man can reach the certitude of science or wisdom of the theological truths that can be cognized about God in the light of faith together with the natural light. 6.6 Question 6: Whether in addition to the cognition of the theological truths by faith, which illiterate believers have, the doctors of theology also have science in the strict sense or wisdom of these truths by virtue of a superior supernatural light. 6.7 Question 7: Whether theology is one habit. 6.8 Question 8: Whether there can be many acts of understanding in the intellect simultaneously. 6.9 Question 9: Whether the intellect can form a word for a singular different from that for its universal or whether our intellect can form two words for two singulars. 6.10 Question 10: Whether the following claims are compatible: (i) that there is a per se and primary adequate object of a power, and (ii) that something that is not per se contained under its adequate object is per se cognized by that power.Appendix: Missing questions BibliographyQUAESTIONES DE COGNITIONE Tabula quaestionum Quaestio 1: An propter cognitionem Dei creaturarum perfectam et distinctam et productionem earum sit necesse ponere in Deo rationes distinctas ideales correspondentes creaturis. Appendix: De relatione reali Quaestio 2: An possimus sufficienter attingere ad sinceram veritatem in rebus materialibus in lumine naturali intellectus nostri mediantibus speciebus abstractis ab huiusmodi rebus, vel egeamus regulis vel rationibus aeternis in quibus cognoscamus huiusmodi veritatem. Quaestio 3: An in lumine naturali ex rebus sensibilibus possimus scientifice aliqua investigare de Deo. Quaestio 4: Utrum in lumine proprii generis possimus attingere ad cognitionem certam et evidentem cuiuslibet veritatis scibilis et cognoscibilis de Deo et creaturis. Quaestio 5: Utrum in lumine fidei una cum lumine naturali possit homo attingere ad certitudinem scientiae vel sapientiae quantum ad veritates theologicas de Deo cognoscibiles. Quaestio 6: Utrum theologiae doctores ultra notitiam de veritatibus theologicis per fidem, quam habent fideles illitterati, habeant in aliquo lumine superiore supernaturali scientiam proprie dictam vel sapientiam de eisdem veritatibus. Quaestio 7: Utrum theologia sit unus habitus. Quaestio 8: Utrum possint esse simul plures intellectiones in intellectu. Appendix 1: Reportatio Appendix 2: John Baconthorpe, Utrum homo vel angelus possit simul intelligere plura ut plura (In Sent. II, dist. 10, q. unica). Quaestio 9: Utrum intellectus possit formare aliud verbum de singulari a verbo sui universalis vel utrum intellectus noster possit de duobus singularibus formare duo verba. Quaestio 10: An ista simul stent, quod aliquid sit obiectum adaequatum per se et primum alicui potentiae, et tamen quod aliquid cognoscatur per se ab illa potentia quod non continetur per se sub obiecto adaequato.Index Auctorum Index Sacrae Scripturae Index Nominum Index Verborum Potiorum