Concepts: The Treatises of Thomas of Cleves and Paul of Gelria: An Edition of the Texts with a Systematic Introduction

by Egbert P. Bos, Dwight D Read

Bos and Read present here two medieval treatises on concepts. These treatises were first unearthed by one of the editors in the course of a different project, namely the search for the origins of the notion of 'suppositio collectiva'. They appear to have attracted no attention since the middle of the fifteenth century. These are two of only three medieval treatises known to the editors explicitly devoted to discussion of concepts. That is not to deny that other works treat extensively of concepts among other matters. In the late fourteenth and fifteenth centuries it became increasingly common to devote single treatises to single matters-supposition, consequences, exponibles, obligations and so on. A more famous treatise on concepts is Peter of Ailly's Concepts, given a modern translation by Paul Spade. Peter's treatise was written in Paris in the early 1370s, and printed there and in Lyon several times in the 1490s. Thomas of Cleves' treatise was also written in Paris in the early 1370's, and that of Paul of Gelria some ten years later, if not in Paris then in Prague. Neither has been printed before. To preface the edition of the two texts, the editors provide an introduction discussing the origin of medieval conceptions of concepts and commenting in detail on the content of the two treatises. They also provide some biographical information on the authors and attempt to date and place their texts.

144 pages, Paperback

First published June 1, 2001

About the author

Prof.dr. E.P. Bos, Emeritus Professor, University of Leiden, Netherlands.

My research is primarily directed to the filosofical logic and semantics in the middle ages. I consider the relation between semantical and metaphysical views to be especially important. I concentrate on the logic of the fourteenth century (Ockham, Buridan and their followers), though presently I am preparing an edition with introduction of an important late 12th century tract, the Introductiones Montanae Maiores, and I also study the semantics underlying medieval Bible-exegesis. In the past I have published a number of editions of logical and semantical tracts. This kind of editorial work is much needed by historians of medieval philosophy, and I consider it to be my primary field of research. My research is done in close contact with colleagues not only from the Netherlands, but also from abroad. These colleagues meet during the European Symposia on medieval logic and semantics, of which now sixteen have been held in various places in Europe. My research is to a large degree a continuation of the work done by Prof. dr. em. L.M. de Rijk.