ABSTRACT
In 1640 Brynjolf Sveinsson began a Latin commentary on the Dialecticae of Petrus Ramus at the Latin school of Sklholt, in Iceland. He abandoned the enterprise in 1643 and the Commentary' remained unfinished. The order of the topics in the Commentary' is determined by the order of Ramus' Dialecticae. By the time of Brynjolf's Commentary' Ramism was more or less outdated at the University of Copenhagen, and most if not all of the professors were Neo-Aristotelians. Brynjolf appears to view the universe as a unified entity where everything is related to everything else in a dialectical relation. Part of Brynjolf's familiarity with Greek and Latin poets and authors might therefore derive from his teaching years in Roskilde. The latter possibility might be pursued by exploring the relation between the Greek teaching at Roskilde Gymnasium and the Commentary. The dialectical concepts seem to have an ontological dimension as well or at least to take the precedence of ontological concepts.
