Boethius of Dacia: ‘On the Highest Good’
The name Boethius of Dacia evokes today an image of a radical thinker, who championed the cause of philosophical freedom, even at the expense of his religious beliefs. His writings have earned him, together with his contemporary, Siger of Brabant, the title of leader of the ‘Latin Averroists’ or ‘He...
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| Format: | Electronic Article |
| Language: | English |
| Check availability: | HBZ Gateway |
| Journals Online & Print: | Drawer...
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| Interlibrary Loan: | Interlibrary Loan for the Fachinformationsdienste (Specialized Information Services in Germany) |
| Published: |
1987
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| In: |
Traditio
Year: 1987, Volume: 43, Pages: 199-214 |
| Online Access: |
Volltext (JSTOR) Volltext (lizenzpflichtig) Volltext (lizenzpflichtig) |
| Summary: | The name Boethius of Dacia evokes today an image of a radical thinker, who championed the cause of philosophical freedom, even at the expense of his religious beliefs. His writings have earned him, together with his contemporary, Siger of Brabant, the title of leader of the ‘Latin Averroists’ or ‘Heterodox Aristotelians.’ Boethius’ treatise on the highest good has contributed greatly to the modern opinion of Boethius as a radical thinker. M. Grabmann, who rediscovered the De summo bono, considered the work to be a clear expression of the anti-Christian tendencies inherent in ‘Latin Averroism’; and P. Mandonnet saw the short treatise to be the most radical expression of a program of the natural life, the purest rationalism, and a total denial of the Christian order. More recently, this view has been modified by F. Van Steenberghen and his students, who argue that Boethius of Dacia is indeed a Christian thinker, and in no way excludes ‘supernatural beatitude’ from his notion of the highest good. They point out that, as a teacher of Aristotelian philosophy, Boethius’ main concern is the summum bonum which can be attained on earth. As a result, the De summo bono is a characteristic product of the Arts Faculty at Paris. |
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| ISSN: | 2166-5508 |
| Contains: | Enthalten in: Traditio
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| Persistent identifiers: | DOI: 10.1017/S0362152900012538 |