ABSTRACT
As far as I am aware, Peter Abelard’s thought on nature has not been pr erly assessed and this Congress offers a convenient occasion, not to examine exhaustively every meaning given to the word nature by Abelard nor to place Abelard’s thought on nature in the context of tw century thought as a whole, but, rather more simply, to outline what appear to me to be the br features of Abelard’s idea of nature.* I shall strictly limit myself to Abe thought alone, without discussion of its sources in the past or of its significance in the twelfth century. I hope, however, that I shall be of some service those who search for a synoptic view of naturalistic thinking in the medie period and especially in the twelfth century, and I hope still more tha promote a better understanding of Abelard’s attitude to nature, the w man and reason.
