A Thomistic Defense of "Nature" in Avicenna’s Physics
Avicenna offers a novel definition of "nature" as a power in his Physics of the Healing. Some have seen in this redefinition a radical departure from Aristotle. James Weisheipl, for one, rejected Avicenna’s definition as a mistaken interpretation of Aristotle and as a position incompatible...
Main Author: | |
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Format: | Electronic Article |
Language: | English |
Check availability: | HBZ Gateway |
Journals Online & Print: | |
Fernleihe: | Fernleihe für die Fachinformationsdienste |
Published: |
Sciendo
2021
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In: |
European journal for the study of Thomas Aquinas
Year: 2021, Volume: 39, Issue: 1, Pages: 43-60 |
RelBib Classification: | KAE Church history 900-1300; high Middle Ages TG High Middle Ages VA Philosophy |
Further subjects: | B
Avicenna
B Nature B Hylomorphism B Causality B Power |
Online Access: |
Volltext (kostenfrei) |
Summary: | Avicenna offers a novel definition of "nature" as a power in his Physics of the Healing. Some have seen in this redefinition a radical departure from Aristotle. James Weisheipl, for one, rejected Avicenna’s definition as a mistaken interpretation of Aristotle and as a position incompatible with Thomas Aquinas. In Weisheipl’s view, Avicenna reifies form into a kind of motor of the natural being, a conception earlier rejected by Thomas Aquinas in several works. In this study, I offer a Thomistic defense of Avicenna by investigating the definition of nature and its relation to matter and form. |
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ISSN: | 2657-3555 |
Contains: | Enthalten in: European journal for the study of Thomas Aquinas
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Persistent identifiers: | DOI: 10.2478/ejsta-2021-0003 |