7 ideas
16587 | Prime matter is halfway between non-existence and existence [Averroes] |
Full Idea: Prime matter falls halfway, as it were, between complete non-existence and actual existence. | |
From: Averroes (Ibn Rushd) (Commentary on 'Physics' [1190], I.70), quoted by Robert Pasnau - Metaphysical Themes 1274-1671 03.1 |
22142 | In future, only logical limits can be placed on divine omnipotence [Anon (Par), by Boulter] |
Full Idea: The Condemnation stipulated that all portions of the ancient intellectual heritage that placed non-logical limits on divine omnipotence were no longer to be tolerated. ...Philosophers now had to entertain the wildest ideas with all seriousness. | |
From: report of Anon (Par) (The Condemnation of 1277 [1277]) by Stephen Boulter - Why Medieval Philosophy Matters 3 | |
A reaction: Boulter identifies this as 'the ultimate source of Hume's philosophical delirium'. Presumably the angels-on-a-pinhead stuff originated with this. It is crazy to think that the only limit on possible existence is logic. Can God make a planet of uranium? |
16716 | It is heresy to require self-evident foundational principles in order to be certain [Anon (Par)] |
Full Idea: Heresy 151: 'To have certainty regarding any conclusion, it must be founded on self-evident principles'. | |
From: Anon (Par) (The Condemnation of 1277 [1277], 151), quoted by Robert Pasnau - Metaphysical Themes 1274-1671 20.3 | |
A reaction: The correct view is obviously to found certainty on faith and authority. It is one thing to be told that foundationalism is a poor theory, but another to be told it is a heresy, and thus a potential capital crime! |
5845 | Niceratus learnt the whole of Homer by heart, as a guide to goodness [Xenophon] |
Full Idea: Niceratus said that his father, because he was concerned to make him a good man, made him learn the whole works of Homer, and he could still repeat by heart the entire 'Iliad' and 'Odyssey'. | |
From: Xenophon (Symposium [c.391 BCE], 3.5) | |
A reaction: This clearly shows the status which Homer had in the teaching of morality in the time of Socrates, and it is precisely this acceptance of authority which he was challenging, in his attempts to analyse the true basis of virtue |
1866 | It is heresy to teach that history repeats every 36,000 years [Anon (Par)] |
Full Idea: It is heresy to teach that with all the heavenly bodies coming back to the same point after a period of thirty-six thousand years, the same effects as now exist will reappear. | |
From: Anon (Par) (The Condemnation of 1277 [1277], §92) |
1865 | It is heresy to teach that natural impossibilities cannot even be achieved by God [Anon (Par)] |
Full Idea: It is heresy to teach that what is absolutely impossible according to nature cannot be brought about by God or another agent. | |
From: Anon (Par) (The Condemnation of 1277 [1277], §17) |
1864 | It is heresy to teach that we can know God by his essence in this mortal life [Anon (Par)] |
Full Idea: It is heresy to teach that we can know God by his essence in this mortal life. | |
From: Anon (Par) (The Condemnation of 1277 [1277], §9) |