The Aristotelian Tradition and Renaissance Universities (review)

408 JOURNAL OF THE HISTORY OF PHILOSOPHY 24:3 JULY 1986 Though Lokert taught both philosophy and theology, which was the normal pattern in Northern universities of the time, his publications were mostly in the field of logic of the most technical sort, which was characteristic of the Paris he left in 153o to return to Scodand. For some reason not yet satisfactorily explained, Paris during the half century around 15oo produced a remarkable number of logical treatises in the terminist tradition of the later Middle Ages. Those years, in fact, marked the end of the tradition, which was largely forgotten very quickly, and only in the last two generations has it been revived from oblivion by modern scholars, who have delineated the intrinsic intellectual importance of the logic it produced. Dr. Broadie focusses primarily upon two aspects, of Lokert, his logic and his Scottishness . Consequently, the significance of the scholastic enterprise as an international phenomenon is lost sight of and its links with other times and places are left unconnected . He has the advantage of the previous relevant historical work of Renaudet, Durkan, and Farge (though he takes no account of Villoslada), so he is able to locate Lokert in his place and time. Most of the book, however, is devoted to a detailed analysis of Lokert's logic with central chapters on terms, exponibilia, consequences, and opposed propositions. His analyses of these subjects are documented by the appropriate texts from Lokert's works, which are printed together in an appendix (19~233 ). The discussions are useful to have available, since all of Lokert's works are quite rare and of limited availability. Unfortunately, Broadie does not provide the reader with much historical context, nor does he relate Lokert's logical positions very effectively to that of his predecessors and contemporaries. A few references to Maier~'s Terminologia logica (x97~) would have helped here. His bibliography on the modern secondary literature is very limited, and he does not give the reader much help on what were the sources of the Scottish logician's own logical ideas. In short, much of this is penetrable only to those well-versed in the intricacies of late medieval logic. One would like to know, for example, to what degree Lokert was dependent upon sources such as Paul of Venice, who is never mentioned in the volume. It is indeed welcome to have another monograph on a philosopher of this period, but the style of presentation and the limited background information provided is bound to restrict its readership. The work is well-printed, and I was able to detect very few specific mistakes or typographical errors. What is included is valuable, hut there is too much relevant material excluded to suit this reviewer. CHARLES B. SCHMITT The Warburg Institute Charles B. Schmitt. The Aristotelian Tradition and Renaissance Universities. Variorum Collected Studies Series. London: Variorum Reprints, 1984. Pp x + 336. s Charles Schmitt's extensive researches into the Aristotelian tradition in Western Europe during the fifteenth, sixteenth, and seventeenth centuries have much enlarged our knowledge of this aspect of Renaissance philosophy. The history of Renaissance Aristotelianism is of course intimately connected with the intellectual history of Re- BOOK REVIEWS 409 naissance universities, since these institutions continued to be of primary importance both in fostering the continued study of the Philosopher and developing new approaches to his work. In the present collection of fifteen of Schmitt's articles, originally published between 1965 and 1985, which supplements the earlier collection of papers by the same author published by Variorum Reprints in 1981, the two themes, "the Aristotelian tradition" and "Renaissance universities" are brought together. Indeed , although the articles are separated into two groups under these headings, the division is not a sharp one, since articles in both groups illuminate both themes. The articles fall into two categories, namely specialized studies of particular episodes , works, or individuals, and broader interpretative essays. A number of the studies in the former category contain much to interest cultural historians as well as specialists in the history of philosophy and science. For example, several essays reveal how much can be learned of cultural history by attentive study of the successive printings of...