Questiones longe super librum Perihermeneias (Artistarium) 907041905X, 9789070419059

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QUESTIONES SUPER PERIHERMENEIAS

ARTISTARIUM A Series of Texts on Mediaeval Logic, Grammar & Semantics EDITORS L. M. de RIJK & E. P. BOS Leiden

H. A.G. BRAAKHUIS & C. H. KNEEPKENS Nijmegen

Vol. I: L. M. de Rijk, Anonymi auctoris franciscani Logica ,,Ad rudium" (edited from the MS Vat. lat. 946), Nijmegen 1981 Vol. 2: Ralph of Beauvais, Glosesuper Donat um, ed. C. H. Kneepkens, Nijmegen 1982 Vol. 3: L. M. de Rijk, Some 14th Century Tracts on the Probationes terminorum (Martin of Alnwick O.F.M., Richard Billingham, Edward Upton and others), Nijmegen 1982 Vol. 4: Johannes Buridanus, Questiones longe super Lib rum Perihermeneias, ed. Ria van der Lecq, Nijmegen 1983

in preparation: E. P. Bos, Johannes Hollandrinus, Logica: A Critical Edition of the Suppositiones, Fallacie, Obligationes, and Consequentie H. A.G. Braakhuis, Nicholas of Paris(?), Summe Metenses: A Complete Edition C. H. Kneepkens, Ralph of Beauvais, Liber Tytan SUPPLEMENT A to ARTISTARIUM: Vol. I: English Logic and Semantics, from the End of the Twelfth Century to the Time of Ockham and Burleigh, Nijmegen 1981

ARTISTARIUM 4

JOHANNES BURIDANUS

QUESTIONES LONGE SUPER LIBRUM PERIHERMENE IAS edited with an introduction

by RIA VAN DER LECQ

Nijmegen Ingenium PubJishers 1983

ISBN 90 70419 05 X Copyright 1983 by Ingenium Publishers, P.O. Box 1342, 6501 BH Nijmegen, The Netherlands. All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or translated in any form, by print, photoprint, microfilm, microfiche or any other means without written permission from the publisher. PRINTED by KRIPS REPRO MEPPEL, THE NETHERLANDS.

voor Eva

PREFACE

"The Logic of John Buridan" was the subject of the third European Symposium on Medieval Logic and Semantics held at the Institute of Greek and Latin Medieval Studies in Copenhagen in 1975. At that time not a single logical work of Buridan had appeared in a modern edition. Fortunately, some of Buridan' s most important works have been edited now: the ConseL{uent·:·ae (by H. Hubien in the series Ph"'.losophes f..'.5d.'.{;;aux, Louvain), and the Sopi.:smata (by T.K. Scott in the series

Grarr:mat~'.c'l.

Speculativa, Stuttgart). The present

edition is intended as a contribution to the edition of Buridan's commentari~s

on the Aristotelian Organon. The edition of John Buridan's commentary on Aristotle's Pcri-

h~rmcneias

has been made from five fourteenth-century manuscripts of which

L and Le seem to be our most reliable testimonies.

The Jn+;roduct.on contains some information about the author, the work and the manuscripts on which the edition has been based, as well as some studies on interesting topics which are treated in Buridan's commentary on

Per 'hermeneias. As will be argued in the Introd1wt:on, the work has a rather elementary character, so that it seemed to be useful to elucidate some of Buridan's remarks by means of selected passages from his other works. The

J;1troductio1; is certainly not an exhaustive treatment of the problems which are discussed in the commentary on Perihermeneias.

I wish to thank all those who have contributed to the completion of this book, especially Dr. Paul Mercken, who was kind enough to correct my offences against the English language. He is, of course, not responsible for the shortcomings that remain. The universities of Leiden and Utrecht have been generous in granting the means and creating the circumstances to make the completion of this work possible.

Leiden, July L983 Ria van der Lecq

C 0 N T E NT S VII

PREFACE TABLE OF CONTENTS

IX

INTRODUCTION

XI

1

2

3

4

THE WORK

XIII

1.1

Author - Date - Character uf the Tract

1.2

The i?:Aes"/onc s brc

0

>_

XIII

s

XIV

THE PRESENT EDITION 2.1

The Manuscripts

2.1

XVI XVI

The Establishment of the Present Edition

XIX

THE PROBLEM OF REFERENCE TO NON-EXISTING THINGS

XXI XXI

3.1

Introduction

3.2

Does 'Cf:ir.:.'i"·:c Questions on Aristotle's

Per>'.rPr>rr.enr~as

Expliciunt questiones veteris reverendi magistri Byridani, reportate Prage. Expliciunt questiones veteris artis longe Byridani per manus cuiusdam correcte et bone finite sub ... (illegible)

E

Erfurt, fl''ssensc;i, Bibl. A1·1p-:.nn. Q 246 (dated 1387)

14

Marsilius de Inghen Questions on the Ar>s 140r - 164v

~'ctus

Johannes Buridanus Questions on Per>ih,cr>mer;rdas

E' = Erfurt, r,·isscnsch. Bib&. Amplon, F 307 (dated 1385) lr -

27v

15

Marsilius de Inghen Questions on the Ar>s

Vc~t:w

Then follow in a different hand: 28r -

4lv

42r -

69v

Idem, Questions on Categor'.e

69v -

90v

Idem, Questions on Per>iher>rr.eneias

Johannes Buridanus Questions on Porphyry's Isagope

9lr - 142r

Marsilius de Inghen Questions on Ar.alytica Pr>ior>a

L

Leipzig, Univer>sitatsbibliothek 1372 (late XIVth century) Johannes Buridanus Questions on Porphyry's Isagoge Idem, Questions on Per>iher>mcneias

XVII

Johannes Buridanus Questions on Aw2Lvt -'c:a Priora 12lr - 162r

An anonymous commentary on Aristotle's

Ana 7 ytica Postcr_'.ora Inc. : De principio libri primi posteriorum primo queritur utrum de demonstratione sint quattuor cause. The author of this work has been identified as 16 Albert of Saxony.

Albertus Magnus Commentary on De generation:: c-1; corr'tpt-:one 32r - 105v

Marsilius de Inghen Questions on De generatione ct corruptione

3 folio's are left blank 109r - 12lv 109r

3 anonynous questions: Queritur utrum tres dimensiones, scilicet linea, superficies et corpus, sint res realiter adinvicem differentes in eodem subiecto. Iam queritur hoc sophisma 'omnis homo et animal differunt'. Quod probatur sic. Queritur de veritate huius 'omnis homo est'. Que improbatur'sic. Nam omnino illa universalis est falsa ubi inferius de superiori

Then follow in a different hand: 122r - 132v

Johannes Buridanus Questions on Porphyry's Isago;;e

132v - 150v

Idem, Questions on Categori,'

150v - 166v

Idem, Questions on Per-:hcrmencias

167r - 195r 195r

Idem, Questions on Analyt:ca Priora

Expl. : Et sic est finis ul time questionis et libri Priorum a magistro Iohannis Buridani et per consequens omnium questionum. Deo laus.

Then in a different hand: 195r - 197v 195r

2 anonymous questions on Pcr:l-:ern£neias

Inc.: Utrum omne futurum de necessitate eveniat. Arguitur quod sic, quia idem est dicere 'a est futurum' et 'a eveniet'. Sed verum est dicere quod omne futurum de necessitate est futurum, quia

Expl.: Ita est possibile quod ipse ... (?)hoc et

XVIII

possibile est quad ... (?) oppositum et ita possibile est quad ... (?) hoc et sic patet questio. Ir;r?. : Utrum omne futurum contingens necessario

eveniet. Videtur primo quod sic. Quodlibet futurum de necessitate eveniet, ideo quodlibet futurum contingens de necessitate eveniet.

: Consequentia patet quia aliquod futurum contingenter eveniret, igitur potest evenire et non evenire, igitur potest esse et non esse. Et sic verum est quod ... (?)

Exp~.

l98r - 222v

Johannes Buridanus Questions on Analytica Postcr:ora

Ir;c. : Scire est rei causam cognoscere. Cons tat quod ignorantia scientie opponitur privative Primo queritur circa librum Posteriorum utrum de demonstratione possit esse scientia.

Expl. : Et sic est finis ilius questionis et per consequens omnium primi libri Posteriorum quam secundi a magistro Burydano bono quantum (?) valentes (?) multum ... (?) Parysius compilate. an anonymous question

Inc. : Utrum in omni demonstratione propter quid premisse sint cause conclusionis et non in demonstratione quia. Arguitur primo quod nulla demonstratione premisse sint causa conclusionis.

Expl. : Et ex dictis patet quod rationes procedunt viis suis. Et sic patet questio.

2. 2 The Establislcncnt of t/,e Present Edition

Although it may not be easy to construct a foulproof stemma, it is possible to make some remarks concerning the relations among the manuscripts. As far as the commentary on

Per~:hcrmcncias

is concerned the five

manuscripts mentioned above can be divided into two groups, the first one containing

L and C, the other Le, E and E2

•

In order to illustrate this conclusion, I shall give a complete collation of a short passage (p. 45,30-46,10):

30 item] LeEE 2 om.LC 31 alt.album] LeEE2 album et omne quod est determinatum ad esse niger est niger LC 31 contingens] LeEE2 om.LC 32 que] 2 LeE~ om.LC 32 vera] LeEE2 vera determinate determinate L vera determinate que C 33 vera] LeEE 2 vera determinate LC 1 mundi] LeEE2 C mundum L 3 numquam] LeEE2 C unquam L 3 fuit] LeEE 2 sit LC 2 est] LeEE 2 C om.L 2 4 potest] LeEE C om. L 6 eadem] LC in eadem LeEE 2 8 illud (2x)] L 2 om.LeEE C 8 illud de future] LEE 2 C illud quod est futurum Le

XIX

9

futuro] LeEE 2

om.LC

vera] LeEE 2

9

vera et hoc de futuro LC

The specimen shows clearly that there is a close relationship between

L and C.

C is a rather inferior manuscript. It contains many errors and omissions. It is not a copy of

L, since L contains some errors which can not be found in C.

L and C dspend on a common source. The relations between Le,E and E are not so easy to establish.

E and Lr are both excellent manuscripts. Most often

they agree. Where they do not, E

agrees mostly with L. As a matter of fact,

sometimes E gives an interesting alternative reading. E2 is a rather inferior manuscript which c0ntains many errors, but it belongs to the same group as

re

and

E. With all due reservations the following stemma may be established:

c

L

I

E"

The present edition is based on the best manuscripts of the two groups,

L and

L~

respectively.

alternativP. reading of

L is used as the basic manuscript. Every

Le is given in the critical apparatus, except in the

following cases: 1) igitur/ergo 2) et/etiam or -/etiam 3) ille/ipse 4) nam/enim 5) est/sit 6) item/secundo, tertio etc. 7) notandum est/notandum, dictum est/dictum 8) difference in word order, if the meaning of the sentence has not been altered 9) orthographic differences The reading of L has been replaced by the one of Le, whenever this gives a better sense. As to the manuscripts

E, E2 and C the critical apparatus mentions

only important alternative readings. The ortography of L has largely been maintained. Capitalization and punctuation have been adapted to modern usage.

xx

3

3.1

THE PROBLEM OF REFERENCE TO NON-EXISTING THINGS

Introd,,.ct~'-:m

This chapter will be devoted to an analysis of the second question of Buridan' s commentary on Aristotle's Pc:r 'l.crmene·'as. The question is whether every name signifies something (utrum onmc nor;,;r.

signif'.cat

aliqu-~J,

p. 7

Sc7q. ) )

It discusses the semantical problem of

denotation or reference by terms that are names of non-existing things. Now there are two kinds of non-existing things: (1) things that cannot possibly exist; (2) things that do not cexist at this moment, but may exist at another time. Buridan distinguishes these two cases clearly, as we shall see.

(1) In the first place there are terms like 'chimera' and 'vacuum'. It is argued that they do not signify anything, since something that does not exist cannot be signified at all:

... iste terminus 'chimera' nichil significat aliud a chimera. Et tamen nichil est chimera. Ergo nichil omnino significat. (p.7,30-32)

(2) A similar problem arises when we consider the term 'rose' uttered in winter time, when there are no roses at all:

Similiter arguitur de termino 'rosa', posito quad nulla sit rosa. Tune: nichil est rosa. Et tamen nichil significat nisi rosam. Igitur nichil significat. (p.7,32-8,1)

After some less important remarks about the precise meaning of Aristotle's definition of a name as 'vox significativa ad placitum' Buridan proceeds to answer the main question:

Sed tune erat questio de nominibus que iam imposita sunt ad significandum, verbi gratia, sicud tangebant rationes que fiebant, utrum significatur aliquid per hanc dictionem 'chimera' vel per hoc nomen 'vacuum', posito quod impossibile est aliquid esse vacuum vel chimeram; et etiarn per hoc nornen 'rosa', quando nulla est. (9,12-16)

XXI

In order to answer the question Buridan formulates five theses ( cor;c lus·.:ones) . The first and the second are concerned with the expressions 'cl. imrra' and

'Jacu: