Dilingae disputationes. Der Lehrinhalt der gedruckten Disputationen an der Philosophischen Fakultät der Universität Dillingen, 1555–1648 (review)

It is difficult to survey adequately in a short review the well-organized, meticulously detailed, and very valuable content of this monograph by Ulrigh G. Leinsle, which examines 312 disputations held in the Philosophy Faculty at the University of Dillingen as published between 1555 and 1648. Leinsle divides the text of his monograph into an introduction, nine sections (each containing subsections), and a short conclusion. Section 1 (Disputatio philosophica) is devoted to general topics. These include discussion of the period (1551–63) prior to the transformation of the university into the first Jesuit university north of the Alps and the effects of the Jesuit plan of study (Ratio studiorum)—as it evolved through the year 1599—on the philosophical disputations at the university; also discussed are the diverse types of disputations held there, censorship issues, and the concept of philosophy (as it appears within published disputations at Dillingen). Leinsle briefly notes (p. 20) that although the presider (usually a University of Dillingen professor) of any given disputation is usually regarded—in library catalogs—as its author, in many individual cases the defendant (usually a student) also can be regarded as the coauthor.

Sections 2 through 8 discuss the individual philosophical subjects concerning which disputations were held. The subsections present an excellent overview and discussion of the individual topics concerning which disputations were held on the liberal arts and logic (section 2), physics (section 3), cosmology and meteorology (section 4), generation and corruption (section 5), the soul (section 6), ethics and politics (section 7), and metaphysics (section 8). Within each of these sections is a subsection devoted to summary and concluding comments.

On the basis of the organization and content of these sections, it is clear that some of these subjects were discussed substantially more than others within the disputations held in Dillingen. Leinsle uses two tables (p. 565) to categorize the 312 philosophical disputations discussed in this monograph according to decade of publication and subject. Disputations on physics (77), multiple philosophical subjects (60), logic (53), generation and corruption (44), and the soul (37) predominate in this second table.

Leinsle mentions (pp. 530–31) that metaphysics received relatively little emphasis in Dillingen during the late-sixteenth and early-seventeenth centuries. In its stead, ontological subjects were discussed within Dillingen disputations on logic and natural philosophy. In the final subsection of section 6 (pp. 345–463), Leinsle not only emphasizes the importance of Aristotle’s writings on De anima (the soul) within philosophical instruction at Dillingen but also mentions the metaphysical basis of discussions concerning the soul (and psychology) within disputations there.

Section 9 (Philosophia sacra) discusses theological subjects found within Dillingen philosophical disputations published during the second and third decades of the seventeenth century. Leinsle notes (in section 10, pp. 559–60) that although the terms Aristotelianism and Scholasticism can be used when describing philosophy instruction at Dillingen between 1555 and 1648, philosophical disputations there—which generally focused on distinguishing truth from falsity—reveal a wide range of viewpoints pertaining to many philosophical issues and points of doctrine.

To what extent do the contents of these published Dillingen philosophical disputations reflect the university’s philosophy curriculum as a whole? Although Leinsle does not directly answer this question, it can be said that published Dillingen philosophical disputations provide far more information concerning this curriculum than any other extant sources. With the exception of an influential collection of axioms published by Georg Reeb (discussed in section 1.4.3), no other Dillingen professor authored a monographic philosophical text used at Dillingen through 1648. The extant collection of University of Dillingen lecture catalogs (Lektionskataloge) from 1564 through 1614—as cited on page 569—might have been utilized more extensively; a brief content analysis of those lecture catalogs would have provided further evidence in support of...