Boethius. On Topical Differences
A commentary edited by Fiorella Magnano
Edited by Fiorella Magnano
This volume contains the first modern commentary to Boethius’ last logical monograph entitled ‘De topicis differentiis’, his most original work written around 522 AD, just before the incarceration and death of the Roman philosopher. His textbook aims at providing a method for the discovery of arguments, that is an art that teaches ho
This volume contains the first modern commentary to Boethius’s last logical monograph entitled ‘De topicis differentiis’, his most original work written around 522 A.D., just before the incarceration and death of the Roman philosopher. His textbook aims at providing a method for the discovery of arguments, that is an art that teaches how to solve any kind of question through the use of the topics, litteraly ‘places’ of our mind able to produce arguments subsequently developed into argumentations. Boethius inherited this teaching from two different traditions, the Greek and Latin. In light of the differences found in them, the Roman scholar undertook the writing of the ‘De topicis differentiis’ precisely in order to show the possible way of reconciling these two philosophical traditions. In this way Boethius was able to disseminate a unified vision of this matter to the Latin world, restoring the centrality that the Topics had in the Aristotelian Logic and restoring their noblest function, that of being instruments at the service of the search for Truth. Finally, he also provided the list of the rhetorical topics by showing the differences with dialectical topics. This study provides a full reconstruction of the structure of the Boethian work, retraces and evaluates the sources, investigates the implications, and explains why the ‘De topicis differentiis’ remains a foundational work for anyone who wants to understand the development of European Logic through the Middle Ages and the Renaissance.
- Edited by Fiorella Magnano
Other Titles in this Series
Form and content of instruction in Anglo-Saxon England in the light of contemporary manuscript evidence
Papers presented at the International Conference, Udine, 6-8 April 2006
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Reading Sacred Scripture with Thomas Aquinas
Hermeneutical Tools, Theological Questions and New Perspectives
Volume 80
Les Auctoritates Aristotelis, leur utilisation et leur influence chez les auteurs medievaux
Etat de la question 40 ans apres la publication
Volume 83
Scholastica colonialis – Reception and Development of Baroque Scholasticism in Latin America, 16th-18th Centuries
Volume 72
Metaphysics in the Twelfth Century
On the Relationship among Philosophy, Science and Theology
Volume 19
Rethinking and Recontextualizing Glosses
New Perspectives in the Study of Late Anglo-Saxon Glossography
Volume 54
Individui universali. Il realismo di Gualtiero di Mortagne nel XII secolo
IV Premio Internacional de Tesis Doctorales, Fundacion Ana Maria Aldama Roy de Estudios Latinos
Volume 85
Los oficios de los diplomas latinos de la Cataluna altomedieval
Estudio de las innovaciones lexicas: XI Premio Internacional de Tesis Doctorales Fundacion Ana Maria Aldama Roy de Estudios Latinos
Volume 106
Dictionarium Latinum Andrologiae, Gynecologiae et Embryologiae u Diccionario Latino de Andrologia, Ginecologia y Embriologia
Ab Antiquitate usque ad XVI saeculum u Desde la Antiguedad hasta el siglo XVI
Volume 74
Anselm of Canterbury (1033-1109). Philosophical Theology and Ethics
Proceedings of the Third International Conference of Medieval Philosophy, held at the Pontifical Catholic University of Rio Grande do Sul (PUCRS), Porto Alegre / Brazil (02-04 September 2009)
Volume 60
Secrets and Discovery in the Middle Ages
Proceedings of the 5th European Congress of the Federation Internationale des Instituts d'Etudes Medievales (Porto, 24 to 29 June 2013)
Volume 90
L’humain, le réel et le divin
Implications philosophiques et théologiques de l’eucharistie, 11e18e siècle
Volume 108
Il Calamo dell’esistenza
La corrispondenza epistolare tra Sadr al-din al-Qunawi e Nasir al-Din al-Tusi
Volume 92
Classica et Beneventana
Essays Presented to Virginia Brown on the Occasion of her 65th Birthday
Volume 36
La letteratura di istruzione nel Medioevo germanico
Studi in onore di Fabrizio D. Raschella
Volume 87
Prosper d’Aquitaine contre Jean Cassien
Le Contra collatorem, l'appel a Rome du parti augustinien dans la querelle postpelagienne
Volume 91
New Essays on Metaphysics as Scientia Transcendens
Proceedings of the Second International Conference of Medieval Philosophy, held at the Pontifical Catholic University of Rio Grande do Sul (PUCRS), Porto Alegre/Brazil, 15-18 August 2006
Volume 43
Continuities and Disruptions between the Middle Ages and the Renaissance
Proceedings of the colloquium held at the Warburg Institute, 15-16 June 2007, jointly organised by the Warburg Institute and the Gabinete de Filosofia Medieval
Volume 48
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