L'enjeu de la philosophie médiévale

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The Astrolabe

An ancient instrument for solving problems of location and distance, as well as time

Astrolábon órganon is the word used in Ptolemaeus Syntaxis 5.1 to describe a form of armillary sphere consisting of both fixed and rotating rings for determining the ecliptic co-ordinates of stars. Also called astrolabe were two-dimensional representations of the celestial sphere: over fixed disks with a representation of the horizon of the earth (in each case for a specific geographic latitude) and its parallels up to the zenith lies a rotating representation of the heavens (called ‘spider’ or ‘net’) with zodiac and indicators for some of the brightest stars. On the back is an indicator (‘alidade’) with visor plates for calculating the height of the stars. The astrolabe allows its user to determine the hours of day and night, the positions of stars, and the height and depth of objects on earth (mountains, buildings, wells). The oldest extant descriptions of the flat, planispheric astrolabe come from Iohannes Philoponus, 6th century AD, and (in Syrian) from Severus Sebokht, c. 660 AD. Indirect references may date back as early as Theon (4th cent.). Between the 8th and the 9th centuries the Arabs appropriated the knowledge of the astrolabe. At the end of the 10th century and again in the 12th century, they passed it on to Western Europe, where astrolabes were constructed up until the 17th cent. Today, one Byzantine astrolabe (from 1062) is extant, as are some 750 Arabic-Islamic astrolabes and approximately the same number of European astrolabes.

This information is abstracted from Brill's New Pauly, the English edition of the authoritative Der Neue Pauly, Encyclopaedia of the Ancient World. The encyclopaedic coverage and high academic standard of the work, the interdisciplinary and contemporary approach and clear and accessible presentation have made the New Pauly the unrivalled modern reference work for the ancient world. For more information see www.brillsnewpauly.com or visit our website catalog: www.brill.nl/bnp
Brill’s New Pauly and the complete original Der Neue Pauly, the recognized standard reference works for students and scholars of the ancient world are also available online. This dual-language edition offers basic and advanced search facilities and is fully browsable. New English translations are added as they become available. See www.paulyonline.brill.nl for more information and a demo version.

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Publications & Services> Books> Book Series> L'enjeu de la philosophie médiévale

L'enjeu de la philosophie médiévale

Études thomistes, scotistes, occamiennes et grégoriennes

André de Muralt

Books

Available
Publication year: 1993


Series:	Studien und Texte zur Geistesgeschichte des Mittelalters, 24
ISBN-13 (i)The ISBN (International Standard Book Number) has been changed from 10 to 13 digits on 1 January 2007:	978 90 04 09254 9
ISBN-10:	90 04 09254 4

Cover:	Cloth
Number of pages:	xvi, 454 pp.

List price:	€ 198.00 / US$ 294.00

Reviews

'...zweifellos einer der originellsten Beiträge der letzten Jahre zur Deutung der Philosophie des Mittelalters.'
Ruedi Imbach, Freib.Zeitschr.f.Philos.& Theol., 1994.
'Ce très riche ouvrage a en outre le mérite de dévoiler le caractère essentiellement théologique de la philosophie moderne et contemporaine, indice supplémentaire de sa parenté structurelle avec les courants scotistes et occamiens de la philosophie médiévale.'
Stefan Merckelbach, Studia Philosophica, 1994.
'Les médiévistes découviront dans cette tentative originale, qui a pour elle le témoignage de nombreux textes, de quoi nourrir abondamment leur recherche philosophie...'
François-Xavier Putallaz, Revue de Théologie et de Philosophie, 1994.

Readership

specialists of medieval philosophy.

About the author(s)

André de Muralt is Professor of Medieval Philosophy at the University of Geneva.

Ce volume dégage les racines médiévales des thèmes principaux de la philosophie contemporaine. Il montre les conséquences de la distinctio formalis sur les notions médiévales et modernes de la causalité, par là sur celles de l'esse objectivum (Scot) et du signifié propositionnel (Grégoire de Rimini) dans le connaître humain, enfin le prolongement de ces dernier thèmes dans les doctrines de l'idée de la philosophie moderne, du Satz de Bolzano, du Sinn, du Gedanke de Husserl, Frege ou Wittgenstein. Parallélement il montre, à partir des mêmes principes, l'élaboration 'voluntariste' de la notion de finalité, dans la métaphysique occamienne de l'idée divine dans les doctrines de la providence divine de Scot et de Bradwardine, comparéees à celle de Thomas D'Aquin. Il peut ainsi dégager la perspective doctrinale dans laquelles s'insèrent Molina, Leibnitz et Secrétan, sinon certaines positions de la biologie et de la physique contemporaines.
This book examines the medieval origins of certain themes in modern and contemporary philosophy. Scotus'distinctio formalis plays a fundamental role in his and Ockham's conceptions of causality, and in the medieval theories of knowledge based on the esse objectivum (Scotus and his school) and on the complexe significatum (Gregory of Rimini). These theories of knowledge are connected with the theories of ideas in modern philosophy, with Bolzano's Satz, the Sinn and the Gedanke of Frege, Husserl or Wittgenstein. The same principles determine the 'voluntarist' conception of finality, to be found in Ockham's doctrine of divine ideas, and in the doctrines of Scotus and Bradwardine on divine providence. Scotus' theory of divine causation has implications in Molina, Leibnitz, and Secrétan, whereas the position of Aquinas is surprisingly close to that of biology and physics today.

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