![]() ![]() Bonaventure would later follow Grosseteste not only in his argument against the eternity of the world, 8 but also in using affectus to explain how Aristotle went wrong. 7 Aristotle's affectus was directed towards earthly, temporal things and therefore his intellectual vision, or aspectus, could not ascend to the heights of God and comprehend timeless eternity. In at least three works, Grosseteste explains that their problem lay in the affectus, or desire, of their minds. Several extremely important passages concern Grosseteste's explanation of why Aristotle and other philosophers not only did not, but actually could not understand that the world has a beginning and has not existed eternally. I will give an example of how this would work. ![]() By tracing the lines of influence in this way, it may soon be possible to identify more precisely how Grosseteste's teaching was disseminated among the Franciscans. Now that many texts are electronically searchable, it is possible to find relevant passages very quickly and then compare them. 6 Although each case must be considered individually, it is likely that Franciscans using the aspectus/affectus distinction in the thirteenth century owe this component of their psychology directly or indirectly to Robert Grosseteste. 5 After Grosseteste began to do this, others did as well, including notable Franciscans such as Richard Rufus of Cornwall, Bonaventure, Roger Bacon, and Thomas of York. While Robert was not the first to write of the mind's aspectus and affectus, 4 I am aware of no author before Grosseteste who used this pair of terms in a technical way to divide all of the cognitive and perceptive capacities of the soul from its affective and volitional capacities. Grosseteste used the aspectus/affectus wordplay to designate the cognitive and appetitive powers of the rational soul or mind. ![]() While it is often difficult to discern the exact influence of one author on another, Grosseteste's aspectus/affectus distinction provides an excellent way to trace his influence on the Franciscan tradition. Through his Franciscan pupil Richard Rufus of Cornwall, who is believed to have taught both at Oxford and at Paris, 3 Grosseteste played a role in shaping theological formation in both cities where Franciscans consistently pursued theological learning during the first half of the thirteenth century. 2 In addition to the direct influence of his teaching and works, Grosseteste's tenure at Oxford resulted in much indirect influence of Franciscan thinkers. 1 It is possible that Bonaventure in Paris had some contact with Grosseteste's works as well. Upon his death, he left his collected works to the Greyfriars at Oxford, where John Duns Scotus appears to have consulted them. 1229-1235), and as bishop of Lincoln (1235-1253), he maintained a positive relationship with the Franciscans. Although not a Franciscan himself, he was the first lector hired to teach the Franciscans theology in their studium at Oxford (c. In modern word-formation sometimes ad- and ab- are regarded as opposites, but this was not in classical Latin.Robert Grosseteste (c.1168-1253) was a foundational figure for the Franciscan tradition. The process went further in England than in France (where the vernacular sometimes resisted the pedantic), resulting in English adjourn, advance, address, advertisement (Modern French ajourner, avancer, adresser, avertissement). Over-correction at the end of the Middle Ages in French and then English "restored" the -d- or a doubled consonant to some words that never had it ( accursed, afford). ![]() In many cases pronunciation followed the shift. in words it had picked up from Old French. In Old French, reduced to a- in all cases (an evolution already underway in Merovingian Latin), but French refashioned its written forms on the Latin model in 14c., and English did likewise 15c. Simplified to a- before sc-, sp- and st- modified to ac- before many consonants and then re-spelled af-, ag-, al-, etc., in conformity with the following consonant (as in affection, aggression). Word-forming element expressing direction toward or in addition to, from Latin ad "to, toward" in space or time "with regard to, in relation to," as a prefix, sometimes merely emphatic, from PIE root *ad- "to, near, at." ![]()
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |