Introduction to the Problem of Individuation in the Early Middle Ages (review)

BOOK REVIEWS ~93 dangerous opinions in the condemnations of a277, and in this and other ways Bianchi 's book provides a reminder that the history of philosophy needs to concern itself with the schemings (well-intentioned or otherwise) of individuals as well as with the disembodied conflicts of "isms." A. GEORGE MOLLAND University of Aberdeen Jorge J. E. Gracia. Introduction to the Problem of Individuation in the Early Middle Ages. Analytica: Investigations in Logic, Ontology and the Philosophy of Language. Munich: Philosophia Verlag, 1984. Washington, D.C.: Catholic University of America Press, 1984. Pp. 3oa. $54.95. Those who have been following Professor Gracia's work on individuation over recent years, particularly his contributions to the meetings of the American Philosophical Association and to such various medieval conferences as that held annually at Western Michigan University, will be delighted to have in this handsome volume the accumulated fruit of that research. This may well be among the one or two most significant studies in medieval philosophy to appear in the last decade. The book brackets three more or less exegetical historical studies with two of more ranging philosophical nature. In the opening chapter, Gracia provides the reader with a crisp treatise on the problem of individuation, It is a model of philosophical prose. A preliminary note on nomenclature and then into the problem. Gracia discusses the intension of individuality, the extension of individuality, the ontological status of individuality, the principle of individuation, the discernibility of individuals and the function of proper names and indexicals. The merit of this opening discussion is that it enables Gracia to lodge the medieval contribution in a wider philosophical context, thus making a major point almost by indirection: The history of philosophy is a way of doing philosophy. Those who had misgivings about the CambridgeHistory of Medieval Philosophywill be happy with Gracia's balanced treatment. Historically, Gracia's second chapter on Boethius provides the specific medieval frame for the discussion of individuation. The main distinction drawn here is that between Boethius's logical writings and the theological tractate De trinitate. Gracia applies to his treatment of each of the relevant logical writings--the commentaries on Porphyry, on the Categoriesand on the De interpretatione--and to his treatment of the De trinitate the menu of topics developed in his opening chapter. The post-Boethian discussion of individuation is distinguished into a tradition stemming from the logical writings and a tradition stemming from the De trinitate. In the former we find John Eriugena, Odo of Tours, Thierry of Chartres and Gilbert of Poitiers. In the latter are found Peter Abelard and John Salisbury. In his fifth and final chapter, Gracia returns to the topics of his opening chapter and provides a magnificent summary of the results of his research. Gracia has written a book that puts a large body of early medieval thought at the 294 JOURNAL OF THE HISTORY OF PHILOSOPHY 25:2 APRIL 198 7 service of contemporary philosophers in a way which holds to a high standard of historical fidelity while relating the discussions to ongoing philosophical concerns. We have seen a good deal of impressionistic use of medieval texts by contemporary philosophers --a paragraph or two in translation providing a springboard for speculation of dubious historical value, whatever its philosophical merit. And there are many studies of medieval philosophy which make it a self-contained universe of discourse of little interest or apparent moment to our philosophizing. Gracia has attempted to bridge that gap and he has succeeded in a way that has put us all in his debt. One can only hope that his research has carried him into later medieval thought and that we can look forward to a sequel to this truly welcome book. RALPH MCINERNY University of Notre Dame Andr~ Goddu. The Physics of William of Ockham. Studien und Texte zur Geistesgeschichte des Mittelalters, Bd. 16. Leiden: E. J. Brill, 1984. Pp. ~43. Paper, guilders 84 . In a tried and traditional way of doing history of science, the historian appoints him/herself as a Nobel Prize Committee of one to judge if the ultimate accolade, whether the person in question made significant contributions to the progress of science, should...