ABSTRACT

The Philosophy and Science of Roger Bacon offers new insights and research perspectives on one of the most intriguing characters of the Middle Ages, Roger Bacon. At the intersections between science and philosophy, the volume analyses central aspects of Bacon’s reflections on how nature and society can be perfected. The volume dives into the intertwining of Bacon’s philosophical stances on nature, substantial change, and hylomorphism with his scientific discussion of music, alchemy, and medicine. The Philosophy and Science of Roger Bacon also investigates Bacon’s projects of education reform and his epistemological and theological ground maintaining that humans and God are bound by wisdom, and therefore science. Finally, the volume examines how Bacon’s doctrines are related to a wider historical context, particularly in consideration of Peter John Olivi, John Pecham, Peter of Ireland, and Robert Grosseteste. The Philosophy and Science of Roger Bacon is a crucial tool for scholars and students working in the history of philosophy and science and also for a broader audience interested in Roger Bacon and his long-lasting contribution to the history of ideas.

chapter |16 pages

Introduction

ByNicola Polloni, Yael Kedar

chapter 1|19 pages

Roger Bacon on nature

ByMichela Pereira

chapter 3|22 pages

Roger Bacon on substantial change

ByCecilia Trifogli

chapter 4|22 pages

Roger Bacon on the conceivability of matter

ByNicola Polloni

chapter 5|14 pages

Ens rationis

Über die vielfache Bedeutung des Gedankendingbegriffs
ByTheo Kobusch

chapter 8|18 pages

Sound is not made of rays

Roger Bacon’s rejection of heavenly music
ByYael Kedar

chapter 9|16 pages

Roger Bacon’s medical alchemy and the multiplication of species

ByMeagan S. Allen

chapter 10|13 pages

From longitudo vitae to prolungatio vitae

Peter of Ireland and Roger Bacon on life and death
ByMichael W. Dunne

chapter 11|15 pages

Bacon/Olivi

Un état des lieux
ByDominique Demange

chapter 12|17 pages

The soul in Roger Bacon and John Pecham

ByCaleb Colley

chapter 13|25 pages

Plato’s unholy Trinity

The life, death, and afterlife of the anima mundi in the Middle Ages
ByJack P. Cunningham