Auctores Britannici Medii Aevi - Böcker

This edition of the known works of an important monastic theologian includes a completely revised edition of his influential Disputatio Iudei et Christani.

Grosseteste is a crucially important figure in the history of English learning, representing the last flowering of a fully native tradition of scholarship. His Hexaemeron is rare among works of this period in giving such a wide and deep insight into the medieval world view. A work of Grosseteste's early maturity (probably completed around 1235) it is a commentary on the early chapters of Genesis, on the six days of creation, and gives him a context for expounding his attitude to theology, to the world, and to the place of human beings in that world. It is a masterly compilation and reconciliation of conflicting Greek and Latin authorities, handled with great confidence, which gives a supremely rich account of the unity of medieval learning, where the study of God includes the study of the whole world.

This volume completes the first full edition of the later work of the medieval philosopher and theologian Henry of Harclay. In colloboration with Raymond Edwards, an English translation is printed on facing pages, making this work available to a much wider audience. The twenty-nine Quaestiones Ordinariae cover a range of topics in metaphysics, theology, physical science, philosophical anthropology and ethics, which were among the most important of those debated in the early fourteenth century. The articles provide a window to this era, as Harclay discusses many of the main questions of his day: whether and why we choose what is evil, how God can know the future and we can still be free, what a virtue is, whether the human soul survives death, whether all things are made up of atoms. This edition enables us to evaluate Harclay, not only in relation to other notable thinkers of his time (such as John Duns Scotus and William of Ockham) but to appreciate the inner coherence of his own thought. An extensive introduction to Harclay's life, works and doctrine is provided. The volumes will also benefit scholars following the debates among lesser-studied thinkers such as William of Alnwick, Thomas of Sutton, Nicholas Trivet, and Robert Walsingham, whom this edition shows to have been in dialogue with Harclay during the years of the composition of his Quaestiones, 1310-1317. Because of the clarity of Harclay's thought and style, now mirrored in the English translation, the Quaestiones Ordinariae are an ideal way to introduce students to key problems in medieval philosophy, as well as to enable scholars to deepen their knowledge of the debates of this period. Questions 1-14, together with an extensive introduction, were published as volume XVII in the Auctores series.

Thomas Wylton's Quaestio de anima intellectiva is one of the most significant medieval treatments of the intellectual soul. This edition of the Latin text is accompanied by an en face English translation by Gail Trimble. The detailed introduction guides the reader through the intricacies of the transmission of the text as well as its philosophical contents. Wylton's Quaestio presents a strong and controversial defence of Averroes' interpretation of Aristotelian psychology. In his comparison of Averroes' view with the Catholic doctrine of the human soul, as defined by the Council of Vienne, Wylton highlights the rationality of the Arabic philosopher's stance and raises strong arguments against the commonly accepted opinion of Catholic thinkers, such as Thomas Aquinas and his followers. Wylton's Quaestio had a strong influence on his contemporaries and in particular on the most eminent exponent of Latin Averroism, John of Jandun, who included long passages from Wylton's treatise in his commentary on Aristotle's On the Soul. Wylton also addresses fundamental philosophical issues: the ontological status of a subsisting form, the existence of universal things as components of individuals, and the possibility of intellectual knowledge of universals as well as singulars. This combination of polemics and engaging philosophical reflection is one of the distinguishing features of Wylton's text and makes his work of significance to historians, philosophers, and theologians.

William of Ockham was a medieval English philosopher and theologian (he was born about 1285, perhaps as late as 1288, and died in 1347 or 1348). In 1328 Ockham turned away from 'pure' philosophy and theology to polemic. From that year until the end of his life he worked to overthrow what he saw as the tyranny of Pope John XXII (1316-1334) and of his successors Popes Benedict XII (1334-1342) and Clement VI (1342-1352). This campaign led him into questions of ecclesiology (the study of the nature and structure of the Christian Church, e.g. of the functions and powers of the pope) and political philosophy.The Dialogus purports to be a transcript made by a mature student of lengthy discussions between himself and a university master about the various opinions of the learned on the matters disputed between John XXII and the dissident Franciscans. The student is usually the initiator; he chooses the topics, asks most of the questions and decides when he has heard enough. The master is, so to speak, an expert witness whom the student examines.This volume publishes an edition of two elements of the Dialogus. Part 2 of the Dialogus is not in dialogue form and may not to be the work of Ockham himself. Part 3 is divided into two tracts. Tract 1, which is reproduced in this volume, is on the power of the Pope and clergy.Liberal thinking in modern times builds on certain earlier ancient and medieval political ideas, which Ockham reasserted, defended and helped to perpetuate. Thus there are elements in his ecclesiology and political philosophy that anticipate the views of Locke, Mill, and other modern liberals.

Richard Rufus of Cornwall was an early Scholastic philosopher-theologian who taught at the Universities of Paris and Oxford between 1231 and 1255. In those years he played a vital part in the transformation of philosophy and theology in early thirteenth-century Western Europe. He pioneered the teaching of metaphysics, physics, chemistry, psychology, and ethics. At Paris Rufus gave the earliest lectures on Aristotelian physics and metaphysics of which a record survives. Although acknowledged as a great scholar in his lifetime, his devotion to the Franciscan ideal of humility led him deliberately to seek obscurity and for 500 years his work was lost or misattributed. This is the second volume of Richard Rufus's writings in the Auctores Britannici Medii Aevi series, a companion to In Physicam Aristotelis also edited by Professor Rega Wood.De Generatione et corruptione is particularly notable for its accounts of divisibility, growth and Aristotelian mixture. This transforms our understanding of the introduction of Aristotelian natural philosophy to the West and provides insight into the early history and prehistory of chemistry.

Since the publication of the edition of John Blund's Tractatus de anima by the British Academy in 1970 there has been widespread acceptance of the importance of this text for the history of thought. Blund (ca. 1175-1248) was probably one of the first commentators on the libri naturales at Paris before the prohibition of 1210, and later introduced them to Oxford. Indeed, apart from the prohibitions of 1210 and 1215, the De anima of Blund is the one text which sheds light on the first reception of Aristotle at Paris. The text was probably composed at Paris, before 1204. Blund taught arts at Paris ca. 1200-1205, then at Oxford towards 1207-1209. He returned to study theology at Paris during the interdict (1208-1214) and the contemporaneous suspension of the schools at Oxford (1209-1214). He was regent in theology at Paris for twelve years, and taught theology at Oxford after 1229.With the Tractatus a whole area of philosophical speculation - namely Greek and Arabic psychology - arrived at Oxford, where it would continue to grow and be debated throughout the century. Blund did not know Averroës but he reflects the state of Latin Aristotelianism during the first third of the thirteenth century. Like his contemporaries Blund regarded the De anima of Avicenna as a commentary on Aristotle; indeed they found it clearer than the text of Aristotle and were guided by it. Blund is faithful to Aristotle and to Avicenna, rejecting, for example, the binarium famosissimum drawn from the Fons vitae of Avicebron. In expounding the doctrine of Aristotle and following the plan laid out by Avicenna, he considers the arguments for and against before offering his own reasoned position in the solutio. He defends the role of the philosopher as considering the nature of the soul and as distinct from theological considerations.This new English translation makes available this important text to a wider audience of scholars interested in philosophy, theology, medieval history and the history of science and psychology. Students who are learning medieval Latin will be able to follow the original Latin with the help of the parallel translation and text notes.

Before Stephen Langton († 1228) was consecrated Archbishop of Canterbury, he was a prominent master of theology, belonging to the first generation of masters working in the Theology Faculty of the University of Paris. The Quaestiones Theologie constitute his chief theological work. The manuscript tradition of the Quaestiones originates in written reports (reportationes) of oral disputations held by Langton in Paris between c. 1180 and 1206. They reflect the development of Parisian educational practices and bring the contemporary reader very close to the first university lessons. The volume offers the first critical edition of Stephen Langton's Quaestiones Theologiae, Book I, containing 23 Quaestiones on theological language, Trinity and God's attributes. Each question is accompanied by a critical apparatus, extensive source notes and a separate philological introduction which explains the history of transmission and the main editorial problems of each text. The volume also contains a general introduction to the whole corpus of Langton's Quaestiones, a presentation of philosophical and theological contents of Book I (including a chapter by E. Jennifer Ashworth) and an appendix, offering the first critical edition of a short fragment of Langton's Summa.The edition offered in this book, and the philological analysis which precedes it, represent a significant contribution to the history of the early scholasticism, offering a ground-breaking study of an extremely complex work, which originates in oral teaching.

Robert Kilwardby (d.1279) was an English scholar who lectured on logic and grammar at the University of Paris in the 1230s. His lectures earned him widespread fame in Europe. Throughout the thirteenth century and up to the sixteenth, Kilwardby's lectures on Aristotle's Prior Analytics were considered to contain the authoritative exposition of Aristotle's syllogistic logic. They were published at Venice in 1499.Written in the heady atmosphere of the early 1200s, when long-forgotten Aristotelian works were being rediscovered, Kilwardby's commentary is the work of a penetrating philosophical intellect intent not only on understanding Aristotle's logic but on pushing it to its limits. The present edition, in two volumes, contains the first critical edition of the lectures, together with an English translation. Part 1 contains an extensive introduction, placing Kilwardby's work within its historical context and demonstrating its importance both as an exposition of Aristotle's text and as an original contribution to philosophical logic. It also contains Lectures 1-38. Part 2 contains Lectures 39-77 and the comprehensive indexes.

Robert Kilwardby (d.1279) was an English scholar who lectured on logic and grammar at the University of Paris in the 1230s. His lectures earned him widespread fame in Europe. Throughout the thirteenth century and up to the sixteenth, Kilwardby's lectures on Aristotle's Prior Analytics were considered to contain the authoritative exposition of Aristotle's syllogistic logic. They were published at Venice in 1499.Written in the heady atmosphere of the early 1200s, when long-forgotten Aristotelian works were being rediscovered, Kilwardby's commentary is the work of a penetrating philosophical intellect intent not only on understanding Aristotle's logic but on pushing it to its limits. The present edition, in two volumes, contains the first critical edition of the lectures, together with an English translation. Part 1 contains an extensive introduction, placing Kilwardby's work within its historical context and demonstrating its importance both as an exposition of Aristotle's text and as an original contribution to philosophical logic. It also contains Lectures 1-38. Part 2 contains Lectures 39-77 and the comprehensive indexes.

The Abstractiones is a work in medieval logic from the second half of the 13th century. Clearly a product of the British university culture and much cited, quoted and imitated, it is attributed in two manuscripts to 'Master Richard the Sophist'. This Richard is referred to by other philosophers and logicians as 'The Master of Abstractions' - an honorific title which indicates that his work was a standard textbook. The Abstractiones is a collection of sophismata, or logical puzzles of increasing complexity and difficulty which have been gathered under logical operators like 'all'. Each sophisma is introduced by a proposition that appears to be both provably true and provably false, like 'God knows whatever he knew'. The Master determines the truth or falsity of the proposition and analyses the defects of the arguments that have been offered by detecting logical fallacies, equivocal expressions and the like. The work as we have it is clearly the result of a process of development, modification, and interpolation, probably extending over at least a generation. Although there came to be works that imitated the Abstractions and followed some of its plan and style, these are 'descendants,' rather than variations.The Abstractions gives us a better sense than does an independent and original work of medieval logic like William of Ockham's Summa Totius Logicae of how instruction in techniques of argumentation and reasoning, often of a fairly sophisticated sort, was carried on in British universities in the latter part of the 13th century and well into the 14th century.

Geoffrey of Aspall, who died in 1287 and was master of Arts by 1262, was active at Oxford in the years 1255 to1265. He wrote commentaries on several Aristotelian works, and was certainly a major protagonist of the introduction of Aristotelian learning to Oxford. In particular, he produced a very extensive question-style commentary on Aristotle's Physics, which contains important discussions of the fundamental topics of Aristotle's natural philosophy, like matter, form, natural agency, causes, change, the infinite and the continuum, time, the eternity of the world, self-movers. Aspall's Physics commentary shows the influence of Grosseteste's metaphysics of light and of Roger Bacon's view on the physical role of intentional species, as well as a strong inclination to ontological realism.Aspall's commentary on Aristotle's Physics is edited here in two volumes, which together form the first critical edition of this work. The Latin text is accompanied by a facing English translation, and the text is extensively cross-referenced and provided with scholarly apparatus. The detailed introduction guides the reader through the intricacies of the textual transmission of Aspall's commentary, and also presents the main topics discussed in this commentary. The appendix to the edition makes available alternative versions of some sections of Aspall's commentary.

Geoffrey of Aspall, who died in 1287 and was master of Arts by 1262, was active at Oxford in the years 1255 to1265. He wrote commentaries on several Aristotelian works, and was certainly a major protagonist of the introduction of Aristotelian learning to Oxford. In particular, he produced a very extensive question-style commentary on Aristotle's Physics, which contains important discussions of the fundamental topics of Aristotle's natural philosophy, like matter, form, natural agency, causes, change, the infinite and the continuum, time, the eternity of the world, self-movers. Aspall's Physics commentary shows the influence of Grosseteste's metaphysics of light and of Roger Bacon's view on the physical role of intentional species, as well as a strong inclination to ontological realism.Aspall's commentary on Aristotle's Physics is edited here in two volumes, which together form the first critical edition of this work. The Latin text is accompanied by a facing English translation, and the text is extensively cross-referenced and provided with scholarly apparatus. The detailed introduction guides the reader through the intricacies of the textual transmission of Aspall's commentary, and also presents the main topics discussed in this commentary. The appendix to the edition makes available alternative versions of some sections of Aspall's commentary.

If there is a heaven and you get there, could you still sin? If not, why not, if you're still free? If there is a hell and you end up there, why couldn't you choose to repent and get out? If not, why not, if you're still free? However esoteric these questions may seem, they forced thinkers in the fourteenth century to think hard about just what it is to be free. In what, exactly, does human freedom consist? By addressing a number of theological 'limit situations', such as those mentioned above, Robert Greystones, while at Oxford University in the 1320s, developed his own philosophical theory of human freedom, which is remarkably coherent and persuasive. This volume presents for the first time the Latin critical edition of his discussions, with a clear English translation on facing pages, along with an extensive introduction, describing his life and teaching on human freedom.This volume presents the Latin critical edition, with English translation on facing pages, of six questions from Robert Greystones's Sentences commentary. Greystones's discussions provide an excellent window onto debates concerning the will at Oxford in the early 1320s, since he works out his solutions in critical dialogue with contemporaries such as William of Ockham, William of Alnwick, Robert Cowton, Richard Conington, Henry of Harclay, and Peter Aureol. In order to show the cut and thrust of these debates, the editors include many ample quotations from these thinkers, including material found only in manuscript. A clear and extensive introduction describes Greystones's life and doctrine of the will. The editors also provide a complete list of Greystones's numerous questions in the four books of his commentary, found only in Westminster Abbey MS 13.

Robert Grosseteste (c. 1168-1253), Bishop of Lincoln from 1235 to 1253, was one of the most prominent and remarkable figures in thirteenth-century English intellectual life. He made a powerful impression on his contemporaries and subsequent thinkers at Oxford, and has been hailed as an inspiration to scientific developments in fourteenth-century Oxford. De libero arbitrio, his influential treatise on free will, was written between about 1225 and the early 1230s. This new edition contains Latin texts and en-face English translations of the two versions of the treatise. An extensive introduction provides a thorough account of Grosseteste's treatise, the sources of the text and also its uses in later writers such as Richard Rufus of Cornwall and Richard Fishacre.This book will be of interest not only to specialists in medieval philosophy and theology, but also to the general reader interested in free will.

De scientia Dei (On God's Knowledge) is one of the few major texts by John Wyclif that has not already been published. According to John A. Robson, the De scientia Dei is 'in some way, the most important of all the treatises' of Wyclif's so-called Summa de ente. It was probably written in 1372, when the editorial project of the Summa de ente was in its final stages, and when Wyclif was at the peak of his academic career. In it he deals with God's knowledge as a divine attribute, presents his peculiar view of God's knowledge as a relation of reason, distinguishes between God's knowledge of creatures in their intelligible being and in their actual existence, and argues in favour of a compatibilism between God's foreknowledge of future events and the liberty of human will. In this connection, a long section is also devoted to questions about the doctrine of salvation, and to the first elaborated exposition of Wyclif's doctrine of grace. The edition is preceded by a historical and doctrinal introduction, enabling the reader to situate the tract within the framework of Wyclif's own production and to appreciate the relevance of some of the topics faced in the text in the light of the development of Wyclif's theological and philosophical thought.

Shortly after composing his Opus maius, Opus minus, and Opus tertium (1267) Bacon felt the need once again to call attention to obstacles to the achievement of wisdom placed by the Church, academia, and civil society in the early 1270s. This he did in Part I of his Compendium of the Study of Philosophy. But his explorations in 1267 of the need for the study of languages needed, he thought, further attention. So Part II of this follow-up work renews that call with greater fervour and detail and yields a presentation of the rudiments of Greek and Hebrew, indicating how knowledge of these is needed to interpret the scriptures accurately and how many errors result from failure to recognise this.This new edition of Bacon's Compendium of the Study of Philosophy, with facing English translation, enables today's readers to engage with Bacon's philosophy. It provides a window on academic life in Oxford and Paris of the 1270s at an important time in the development of the universities of both cities.

This is the first great commentary in the Western European tradition of expounding Aristotle's On the Soul. Dated about 1235, this work by Richard Rufus of Cornwall is a major contribution to the history of Western philosophy and the study of Aristotle. Indeed, no future account of thirteenth century philosophical psychology will be able to ignore the contribution of Richard Rufus. Following Aristotle, Rufus addresses questions as diverse as 'how do we reproduce and grow', 'how do we see and hear', 'how do we understand ourselves', and 'how is our immortal soul united with our body?'Its exposition and its questions date from about 35 years before Thomas Aquinas wrote his commentary on On the Soul, so its publication will prompt a re-evaluation of Aquinas's theory of the soul. As the copious notes to this edition indicate, not only is this the earliest surviving commentary on Aristotle's On the Soul taught at a Western University, but it was read by most of Rufus's early successors. Part of this commentary was published in 1952 but this is the first complete edition of a work that disappeared from the historical record 700 years ago. In addition to the text itself, this edition features an extensive introduction which presents the reader with the subsequent tradition, both published and unpublished.

Robert Greystones on Certainty and Skepticism: Selections from His Works is a continuation of the volume previously published by Auctores Britannici Medii Aevi, Robert Greystones on the Freedom of the Will: Selections from His Commentary on the Sentences (edited by Mark Henninger, with Robert Andrews and Jennifer Ottman, 2017). In the course of preparation of the first volume, startling information arose concerning the nature and extent of Greystones' skepticism. Following draft editions of a number of Greystones' Sentences commentary questions, the most relevant five questions were selected for editing and translation.Greystones is in the tradition of Nicholas of Autrecourt, William Crathorn, Monachus Niger (the Black Monk), Nicholas Aston, and John Went, but the earliest of these figures. Building upon the 69th proposition of the Condemnation of 1277, Greystones concludes that God's unlimited power must lead to a radical skepticism about human knowledge. We cannot be certain whether we are in this life or the afterlife, in a body or not. We cannot be certain about the existence of any external object. We have no certain knowledge of cause and effect, the existence of substances, or of any contingent event. Like Descartes, Greystones held that we can be certain about our own existence (ego sum). But preempting Descartes' appeal to a beneficent, non-deceptive God, Greystones says: God does not deceive. But you deceive yourself if you insist on believing that something exists when you know that it might not! You know that God can intervene at any instant, and thus that you can never completely trust your senses. Greystones' skepticism is strikingly significant in light of the later historical development of philosophy.Recent researchers on medieval skepticism such as Henrik Lagerlund, Dominik Perler, and Jos é Luis Bermúdez show no awareness of Greystones. Indeed, Bermúdez claims that "the resources were not available in the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries to entertain those ... skeptical worries that were identified as distinctive of Cartesian skepticism." This edition of Greystones should prompt not just a footnote to, but a re-writing of, the history of philosophy.

William of Ockham was a medieval English philosopher and theologian (he was born about 1285, perhaps as late as 1288, and died in 1347 or 1348). In 1328 Ockham turned away from 'pure' philosophy and theology to polemic. From that year until the end of his life he worked to overthrow what he saw as the tyranny of Pope John XXII (1316-1334) and of his successors Popes Benedict XII (1334-1342) and Clement VI (1342-1352). This campaign led him into questions of ecclesiology (the study of the nature and structure of the Christian Church, e.g. of the functions and powers of the pope) and political philosophy.The Dialogus purports to be a transcript made by a mature student of lengthy discussions between himself and a university master about the various opinions of the learned on the matters disputed between John XXII and the dissident Franciscans. The student is usually the initiator; he chooses the topics, asks most of the questions and decides when he has heard enough. The master is, so to speak, an expert witness whom the student examines.This volume provides the first critical edition of part 3.2 of the Dialogus and deals with the relation between the empire and the nation-states and engages in the theory of property rights, natural law, and political freedom.

This is the first great commentary in the Western European tradition of expounding Aristotle's Metaphysics. Dated about 1238, this work by Richard Rufus of Cornwall is a major contribution to the history of Western philosophy and the study of Aristotle. No future account of thirteenth-century metaphysics will be able to ignore its contribution.Rufus addresses questions as diverse as 'what is truth?', 'are there many eternal truths?', 'what is prime matter?', and 'how do corruptible and incorruptible substances differ?'. Rufus' views on the nature of truth were strongly influenced by Anselm, while his treatment of the problem of the eternal truths was influenced by his contemporary, Robert Grosseteste. But his views on prime matter owe more to his reading of Averroes and Averroes' understanding of the Aristotelian tradition, as well as to the influence of Augustine. Even so, while deeply indebted to the Aristotelian tradition, Rufus displays an independence and originality of thought throughout the Scriptum.The Scriptum's exposition of Aristotle and its exciting questions date from about 35 years before Thomas Aquinas wrote his commentary on the Metaphysics. Its publication will prompt a re-evaluation of the development of metaphysics in the Latin West. As the copious notes to this edition indicate, it was a very influential work that had a significant impact on the views of the two most popular early Aristotle commentators, Adam Buckfield and Albert the Great.

William of Ockham was a leading English philosopher and theologian in the fourteenth century who came into controversy with Pope John XXII. His Dialogus is a survey of a wide range of matters controversial in the Catholic Church in the early fourteenth century. Topics discussed include the concepts of orthodoxy and heresy and the procedures for deciding whether a person is a heretic, the power of the pope within the Church, the power of the Church in relation to secular government, the constitution of the Church, and the constitution of secular government. The Dialogus is an important source of ideas on ecclesiology and political philosophy in the late middle ages. The present volume is concerned with heresy and heretics.

Stephen Langton († 1228), later Archbishop of Canterbury, was a prominent master of theology, belonging to the first generation of scholars working at the faculty of theology of the nascent University of Paris. The Quaestiones Theologiae constitute his chief speculative work. Book III, Volume 2, offers a critical edition of 26 disputed questions on virtues. Each question is accompanied by a critical apparatus and source notes. This edition is preceded by an extensive analysis of Langton's theories of love and fear. Most of the questions in this volume revolve around Langton's concept of charity or love (caritas), understood as a gratuitous virtue, which is the foundation of moral perfection, merit, and salvation.

Stephen Langton (c.1228), later Archbishop of Canterbury, was a prominent master of theology, belonging to the first generation of scholars working at the faculty of theology of the nascent University of Paris. The Quaestiones Theologiae constitute his chief speculative work. Book III, volume 1, offers a critical edition of 24 disputed questions on Christology and faith. Each question is accompanied by a critical apparatus and source notes. The edition is preceded by an extensive analysis of Langton's views. The volume also contains an important supplement to the study of the whole manuscript tradition of Langton's QQuaestiones Theologiae and offers the first general stemma codicum of the Quaestiones.

Stephen Langton, following in the footsteps of Peter Lombard, remade not only medieval theology but also the medieval schools by redoing Jerome's famous prologues to the Latin Bible. An Englishman who went as a lad from near Lincoln to Paris and then returned to England as Archbishop of Canterbury after nearly half a century of learning and teaching, Langton connected Paris, its schools and university, to English schools and universities in ways never before suspected by scholars. It turns out that Langton was not only a great Church leader and diplomat but was arguably the leading English intellectual of his generation, the man at the centre of the greatest developments of his age, from the securing the of Magna Carta to the founding of the University of Paris.

An edited text of the teaching of Adam of Bockenfield, a key figure in the history of the introduction of Aristotle's natural philosophy in England. It offers an edition of three early Latin commentaries on the tract On memory and recollection, all of them produced in the nascent Faculty of Arts at the University of Oxford.The book consists of three main sections. The introduction to the critical edition enlightens the complex history of the manuscripts and the scientific method followed by the editors. The historical and doctrinal introduction tries to illustrate the difficult reception of Aristotelian theories of memory in a context where other competing theories pre-existed and where natural philosophy as a university discipline was in the process of being built at Oxford. The last section consists of the critical edition of the Latin text of three commentaries on the De memoria et reminiscentia by Aristotle, two anonymous and one by Adam of Bockenfield, as well as in the English translation of the latter.

William Ockham intended the Dialogus to be a thorough examination (a "summa") of the doctrinal and political issues at stake during what in fact became the last major confrontation between Church and State in the waning period of the Western Middle Ages. Part I of the project, entitled “Concerning Heretics”, dealt with the problem of a Pope betraying the main values of his community, and the lengthy Book 6 described the consequent inquisition and punishment. The Dialogus is to Ockham what The Republic is to Plato or the Leviathan to Hobbes. It is one of the great treatises in the history of political thought. Cast in the form of a discussion between a master and a student, while primarily focusing on the concrete events of its time, it enunciates general principles which are easily adaptable to any socio-political situation involving human political interaction.

The Dialogus became an important reference text during the last two centuries of the Middle Ages, especially in the time of troubles associated with the Great Schism. It was printed twice in the later 15th century. One of its most elegant manuscripts was a text belonging to Pope Sixtus IV. Its ideal of an enlightened papacy ("monarchia de concilio peritorum") did not survive the Reformation, though many of its principles percolated into the writings of political philosophers, contributing along with other sources to the rise of constitutional liberalism and responsible government. This final book of Dialogus, Part I is not only a monument celebrating the possible emergence of cooperative political societies from the rubble of autocracies, but also an indication that Ockham's political orientation was essentially pragmatic.

Theologians and church lawyers in William Ockham's time generally agreed that a pope could become a heretic. According to Ockham, that had happened with Pope John XXII. The first part of Ockham's Dialogue is intended to show that John was a heretic, and to set out what should be done to remove him from the papacy. The relevant questions are discussed in a long conversation between Master and Student in which Ockham's own opinions are not directly stated. In Against John, Ockham makes his views very clear.According to Ockham, no individual or body within the Church is infallible, not even the pope or a general council. Religious error can spread almost throughout the Church. But there will always be a remnant who do not fall into the error. Thus, a dissident individual or minority may be in the right. Among Christians there should therefore be freedom of speech. Any Christian, man or woman, learned or illiterate, can put forward an opinion and argue for it 'a thousand times', in the face of contradiction by the pope himself, without being a heretic, even if the opinion is in truth a heresy. What makes a believer in a heresy a heretic is pertinacity, i.e. unwillingness to listen or unwillingness to change one's mind even if contrary evidence is clearly explained. A clear sign of pertinacity is an attempt to impose error coercively. According to Ockham, Pope John XXII was a heretic, and therefore no longer pope, because he tried to impose heresies coercively.