Article ID: CBB750708755

Early Robert Grosseteste on Matter (2020)

unapi

This article investigates the origin of Robert Grosseteste's theory of matter. Covering Grosseste's early production, from his De artibus liberalibus to De luce and the Commentarius on Aristotle's Physics, his gradual developing of a philosophical theory of matter and prime matter is examined by means of his progressive study of the works of the Aristotelian tradition. Surprisingly, Grosseteste's first notion of matter is bound to alchemy and astrology. It is a physical notion of matter as subject to astral influence and human manipulation. Only with his study of Aristotle's Physics does Grosseteste elaborate a more Aristotelian theory of matter, directly engaging himself with the manifold problems of assimilating Aristotle's theories into a Christian-based speculation. As a consequence, a much-refined version of his theory of matter is presented in the commentary on the Physics and De luce, where prime matter is envisioned as an extensionless point containing in itself the possibility of the existence of the entire universe. Notwithstanding the gradually more philosophical attitude marking Grosseteste's reflection, some tension between the alchemical and metaphysical epistemes of matter he engaged with can be appreciated throughout much of his early production.

...More
Citation URI
https://data.isiscb.org/isis/citation/CBB750708755/

Similar Citations

Article Williams, Steven J.; (2006)
Esotericism, Marvels, and the Medieval Aristotle (/isis/citation/CBB001020678/)

Article Nicola Polloni; (2020)
A Matter of Philosophers and Spheres: Medieval Glosses on Artephius’s Key of Wisdom (/isis/citation/CBB068339054/)

Article Freudenthal, Gad; Fontaine, Resianne; (2012)
Gersonides on the Dis-/order of the Sublunar World and on Providence (/isis/citation/CBB001211059/)

Article Sannino, Antonella; (2013)
I ritratti leggendari di Ermete Trismegisto (/isis/citation/CBB001420831/)

Book Freudenthal, Gad; (2011)
Science in Medieval Jewish Cultures (/isis/citation/CBB001232565/)

Article Vesel, Matjaž; (2007)
Pariška obsodba leta 1277, potentia dei absoluta in rojstvo moderne znanosti (/isis/citation/CBB000831451/)

Chapter Bosemberg, Zoe; (2004)
Nicole Oresme et Robert Grosseteste. La conception dynamique de la matière (/isis/citation/CBB000640948/)

Book Pietro Daniel Omodeo; Volkhard Wels; (2019)
Natural Knowledge and Aristotelianism at Early Modern Protestant Universities (/isis/citation/CBB325233371/)

Book Jack P. Cunningham; Mark Hocknull; (2016)
Robert Grosseteste and the Pursuit of Religious and Scientific Learning in the Middle Ages (/isis/citation/CBB460508333/)

Chapter Giles E. M. Gasper; (2016)
The Fulfillment of Science: Nature, Creation and Man in the Hexaemeron of Robert Grosseteste (/isis/citation/CBB535807978/)

Chapter Christopher Bonfield; (2016)
Medicine for the Body and Soul: Healthy Living in the Age of Bishop Grosseteste c. 1100–1400 (/isis/citation/CBB648408421/)

Book Lee, Richard A., Jr.; (2002)
Science, the Singular, and the Question of Theology (/isis/citation/CBB000641011/)

Chapter Victor Salas; (2016)
A Theoretical Fulcrum: Robert Grosseteste on (Divine) Infinitude (/isis/citation/CBB252132595/)

Authors & Contributors
Freudenthal, Gad
Hocknull, Mark
Cunningham, Jack P.
Sean Murphy
Christopher Bonfield
Gasper, Giles E. M.
Concepts
Science and religion
Aristotelianism
Astrology
Alchemy
Philosophy
Matter theory
Time Periods
Medieval
13th century
14th century
Early modern
12th century
Places
England
Florence (Italy)
France
Great Britain
Comments

Be the first to comment!

{{ comment.created_by.username }} on {{ comment.created_on | date:'medium' }}

Log in or register to comment