Peter Abelard

How happy is the blameless vestal's lot! The world forgetting, by the world forgot. Eternal sunshine of the spotless mind! Each pray'r accepted, and each wish resign'd. Alexander Pope, Eloise to Abelard Voy a empezar esta exposición haciéndoles una pregunta y quiero que se digan para sí con total sinceridad lo primero que se les venga a la mente: ¿quién fue Eloísa? No me extrañaría si la respuesta fuera "la de Abelardo", porque es precisamente así como la mayoría de refiere a ella. 1 De hecho, cuando comencé a preparar este trabajo se me presentó este mismo inconveniente: ¿cómo nombrar a Eloísa? Es decir, ¿alcanzaba solo con su nombre, "Eloísa", para que se supiera a quién me refería? Porque mientras que a los hombres medievales se los nombra junto a su ciudad de nacimiento, como Anselmo d'Aosta, o el lugar en donde ejercieron su cargo más alto, como Hugo de San Víctor, o incluso con el apellido, como Gilberto Crispino, a ella la conoce o bien como Eloísa, así, a secas; o bien como "la pupila", "la amante" o "la esposa de" Abelardo, o a lo sumo, "la sobrina de" Fulberto. Más allá de que la costumbre de nombrar a las mujeres como pertenencia de un varón sea tan antigua como nefasta, lo cierto es que Eloísa pasó a las páginas de la Historia de la Filosofía por su relación con Abelardo. Pero, ¿y si les dijera que es Abelardo el que está en deuda ella? Comencemos por el principio. Aunque no creo que su biografía les sea desconocida, conviene repasarla brevemente. Joven parisina proveniente de una familia noble, pasó su infancia en la abadía de Argenteuil adonde la envió su tío Fulberto para que fuera educada. Alrededor de sus dieciséis años, Eloísa conocía en profundidad los clásicos latinos y, como ninguna otra mujer en su tiempo, era capaz de leer griego y hebreo. 2 Y a sus dieciséis años 1 Desde luego, hay excepciones.

ABSTRACT:
The purpose of this study is to examine whether Robin Collins’ atonement theory successfully overcomes the problematic elements found in Peter Abelard’s moral exemplary model(or Moral Exemplary/Influence Theory). The problematic elements of Abelard’s view have been pointed out as having two components: a ‘too subjective tendency’ and ‘Pelagianism.’

Collins’ chief aim is to overcome these possible problematic elements of Abelard’s view by proposing his own theory, namely, the Incarnational theory. This theory consists of two main notions: ‘subjectivity’ and the ‘Holy Spirit.’ In order to make up for the lack of objective atonement in Abelard’s view, Collins proposes the notion of ‘subjectivity.’ Also, for eliminating a possible critique with regard to Pelagianism in Abelard’s view, Collins emphasizes the role of the ‘Holy Spirit.’ Thus, Collins’ study will be explored by examining whether his two concepts—i.e., subjectivity and the Holy Spirit—successfully overcome Abelard’s problematic elements. This will be accomplished through a comparative exploration of these scholars’ thoughts; however, Collins’ attempt at overcoming Abelard’s problematic elements achieves half success; for, even though Collins’ emphasis on the role of the Holy Spirit contributes toward erasing the element of Pelagianism in Abelard’s view to a certain degree, Collins’ subjectivity and its theological implication fail to overcome Abelard’s ‘too subjective tendency’—that is, lack of objective atonement.

For this study, therefore, after situating their theories within the current scholarship pertaining to the relationship between objective and subjective atonement (Section I), this paper will scrutinize Collins’ proposed solutions for overcoming the problematic elements found in Abelard’s view (Section II), evaluate Collins’ proposed solutions (Section III), and then make theological contributions and critiques based on this examination (Section IV).

한글 초록:
본고의 목적은 과연 로빈 콜린스의 속죄 이론이 피터 아벨라르드의 도덕 모범설(혹은 도덕 감화설)의 문제 요소들을 성공적으로 극복할 수 있는 속죄 이론인지 규명하는데 있다. 아벨라르드 속죄 이론의 문제 요소들은 크게 두 가지인데 ‘지나친 주관적 경향성’과 ‘펠라기우스주의적 성향’이다.

콜린스는 자신이 주창한 속죄 이론인 ‘성육신적 이론’을 통해 아벨라르드의 속죄 이론에 내포된 문제 요소들을 극복하려고 한다. 콜린스의 성육신적 이론은 크게 두 가지 개념으로 구성되는데 ‘주관성’과 ‘성령 하나님’이 바로 그것들이다. 콜린스는 아벨라르드 속죄 이론 속에 결여된 객관적 속죄 영역을 보충하기 위해 ‘주관성’ 개념을 도입한다. 게다가 아벨라르드의 펠라기우스주의적 성격을 제거하기 위해 ‘성령 하나님’을 강조한다.

하지만 아벨라르드의 속죄 이론을 극복하려는 콜린스의 노력은 ‘반쪽’ 성공이라고 평가할 수 있다. 그 이유는 속죄 속에서 성령 하나님의 역할을 강조함을 통해 아벨라르드의 펠라기우스주의적 성격을 다소 극복하긴 했지만 여전히 콜린스의 주관성 개념과 그 개념에 내포된 신학적 함의는 여전히 속죄의 객관적 성격을 뚜렷하게 보여주지 못하고 있기 때문이다.

본고는 크게 네 부분으로 구성되는데 먼저 객관적 속죄와 주관적 속죄와 관련된 현대적 논의 방향성을 살펴본 후(1장), 아벨라르드 속죄 이론을 극복하기 위해 고안된 콜린스의 성육신적 이론을 면밀하게 분석하도록 하겠다(2장). 그 후 콜린스의 이론의 신학적 기여와 문제점을 고찰한 후(3장) 전반적으로 글을 정리하며 마무리 짓도록 하겠다(4장).

This paper examines Abelard's engagement with disputation (disputatio) from the vantage point of twelfth-century scholasticism. Eschewing the well-worn details of Abelard's personal life and philosophical positions, analysis is instead focused on two parallel dimensions of his career: the manner in which he attempted to face-off with his adversaries through public debate and his underlying theory of disputation. It is argued that Abelard's theory is to be found not in his theological or logical works, but in his polemical letters and his ethical dialogue, the Collationes, which together offer a coherent hermeneutical strategy for discerning truth. Abelard's contribution to the art of disputation needs to be assessed in light of his broader involvement in the scholastic method and contemporary Jewish-Christian relations.

La lettre de Pierre Abélard appelée "Histoire de mes malheurs" par la tradition critique s'ouvre comme une lettre de consolation à un ami. Destinée à une lecture publique, elle retrace l'itinéraire mouvementée du philosophe et théologien, entre revers de fortune et itinéraire d'un orgueilleux cherchant la voie du salut.
Etant donné l'importante de l'oeuvre d'Augustin chez Abélard et ses contemporains, et le propos développé dans les Confessions, cet ouvrage a-t-il été une source d'inspiration pour Pierre Abélard ?

Resumen. Se presenta aquí la traducción bilingüe del pasaje 13:8-10 del libro IV de los Commentaria in epistolam Pauli ad romanos de Pedro Abelardo, en el cual el autor comenta la sentencia paulina del amor como plenitud de la ley. El mismo
resulta central para comprender no sólo el eje de la totalidad de la obra, sino también la misma teoría ética del Palatino,  dado que complementa conceptualmente los postulados del Scito te ipsum y del Dialogus. La traducción se encuentra precedida de una breve introducción.
Palabras clave: Pedro Abelardo - Comentario a la Epístola de Pablo a los romanos - Ética - Caridad - Ley.

In recent times, scholars have turned their attention to distilling whatever morsels of intellectual thought they could gleam from Heloise’s letters to Abelard, in search for signs of independence of thought in her, and to determine whether she had any influence on Abelard’s philosophy, in particular his ethical writings. I begin with a summary of my understanding of Abelard’s ethics, based on his Scito te ipsum and aided by the many secondary literature on the subject, followed by a discussion about Heloise’s writing style and concerns by looking at the letters she composed and the questions she asked in the Problemata, so that we can isolate her conception of ethics and compare with that of Abelard’s.

Questa raccolta di studi si propone di fornire un nuovo contributo alla storia della scuola dalla Roma di età imperiale fino alla Bisanzio di inizio XIV secolo, passando per alcune significative figure di maestri d’epoca medievale. In maniera agile e informata, il volume volge la propria attenzione ad un periodo che, pur caratterizzato da un indubitabile sforzo educativo, nella manualistica appare ancora generalmente trascurato ed il cui studio può invece offrire interessanti spunti di riflessione anche per la nostra contemporaneità.

"The romantic tale of Peter Abelard and Heloise has been widely known for centuries. The legend relates in part to the letters exchanged between the two, years after Abelard had been castrated at the behest of Heloise's vindictive uncle, Fulbert.

These "personal" letters form the basis for bestselling compilations of works by Abelard and Heloise in translation, such as the recently revised Penguin The Letters of Abelard and Heloise or the new Hackett Abelard and Heloise, The Letters and Other Writings. They hold fascination for the light they shed on the relationship between the man and woman, as teacher and student, lovers, husband and wife, monk and nun, abbot and mother superior, and much more.

The popularity of the "personal" letters has generated considerable fanfare for the publication of another set of correspondence printed under the title The Lost Love Letters of Heloise and Abelard. The authorship of all these letters has been contested repeatedly, with the last-mentioned collection being the center of a present firestorm.

Generally ignored have been nearly a dozen other letters or letter-like texts, unassailably the work of Peter Abelard. Jan M. Ziolkowski's comprehensive and learned translation of these texts affords insight into Abelard's thinking over a much longer sweep of time and offers snapshots of the great twelfth-century philosopher and theologian in a variety of contexts. One group shows him engaging with Heloise and nuns of the Paraclete, another with Bernard of Clairvaux, and a third with four entirely different addressees on four entirely different topics. Broadening our panorama of the twelfth-century Renaissance, the picture presented by these texts complements, complicates, and enriches Abelard's autobiographical letter of consolation and his personal letters to Heloise."

Our investigation has two main points: a contextualization of Abelard’s account of universals and a detailed analysis of his theory as it is formulated in the Logica “ingredientibus.” The interest of the first point is to show that Abelard is just one author among the many who tried to
offer a solution to the debate. In order to do so, we follow and comment upon John of Salisbury’s presentation of contemporary theories on the subject. The interest of the second point, however, is to show how Abelard’s answer is subtle and important in itself. His theory is especially innovative due to the fact that it changes the framework of the debate: it no longer belongs to the domain of metaphysics, but to that of meaning.

Keywords
universal, Abelard, nominalism, realism, John of Salisbury, status theory

The scandal surrounding Peter Abelard and Heloise’s love story has eclipsed the depth of their individual intellects resulting in many scholars devoting their writings to the couple’s overly eroticized narrative. After the condemnation of Peter Abelard and after Heloise commissioned herself into a convent, the relationship between tutor and tutee remained alive through written correspondence. Through an examination of their
personal writings, this is paper will suggest that though their story has been adopted under the genre of a romance, this categorization falls short in conveying the highbrow substance of Abelard and Heloise, whose promiscuous beginnings have distracted historians from the intellectual wealth that was the foundation of their longstanding relationship.

In 1887, Paul Tannery suggested that some ancient Pythagoreans defended a form of atomism against which Eleatic philosophers such as Zeno of Elea reacted. Later, Democritus and Leucippus on one hand, Plato on the other, developed atomistic intuitions in reaction to this old debate. No one would accept nowadays Tannery’s historical claim, but the philosophical content of his interpretation is still relevant for the history of atomism, especially for the Middle Ages. Indeed, according to Tannery the Pythagoreans defined atoms as points, i.e. the equivalent of units for numbers but with a position in space. This conception of a point was well known in the Middle Ages thanks to Boethius’ adaptation of Nicomachus of Gerasa’s Institutio arithmetica and other indirect sources (Macrobius, Martianus Capella, for instance) and was accepted by several philosophers and theologians. In this paper we try to follow the reception of this
concept from the 12th to the 14th century.

Resumo: Essa dissertação discute de maneira sistemática as acusações e condenações por heresia de Pedro Abelardo (1079 – 1142), notável monge e filósofo bretão. Embora Abelardo seja um popular objeto de análise – e paixão – entre os estudiosos, suas condenações por heresia, na maior parte das vezes, foram escanteadas em suas análises. Acreditamos que isso tenha se dado por conta dos historiadores preferirem centrar suas atenções nos grandes grupos heréticos ou nas chamadas “heresias populares”. Partimos do suposto que para o estudo das heresias medievais é preciso centrar as atenções nos perseguidores destas, mas sempre tendo em mente que os textos anti-heréticos eram mais uma construção discursiva eclesiástica, que respondia a anseios políticos muito particulares, do que reflexo dos posicionamentos dos acusados. Nesse sentido, é fundamental restabelecer as relações sociais tanto de Pedro Abelardo quanto dos seus acusadores. Foi possível identificar na argumentação dos textos que criticaram e condenaram Abelardo três grandes eixos. O primeiro é a grande capacidade de circulação das ideias de Abelardo. O segundo seria o fato de Abelardo propor interpretações errôneas das Sagradas Escrituras, defender posições abomináveis e perverter os principais preceitos cristãos. Por fim e intrinsecamente associada a esses dois eixos, Abelardo era visto por seus perseguidores como um crítico da autoridade eclesiástica e pontifícia, um potencial cismático que colocava em risco a unidade da Igreja. Esses eixos nortearam a estruturação de nosso texto. Acreditamos, por fim, que o estudo da heresia de Abelardo, além de nos revelar aspectos sobre a própria heresia, pode informar sobre dimensões sociais fundamentais do período.

Abstract: This dissertation systematically discusses the accusations and convictions for heresy of Peter Abelard (1079 - 1142), remarkable Breton monk and philosopher. Although Abelard is a popular object of analysis - and passion - between scholars, his convictions for heresy, in most cases, were marginalized in their analysis. We believe that this occurred due to the historians¿ preference to focus their attention on the large heretical groups or the so-called "popular heresies". We suppose that, for the study of medieval heresy, is necessary to focus attention on its persecutors, but always keeping in mind that the anti-heretical texts were more an ecclesiastical discursive construction, which responded to very particular political aspirations, than a reflection of the positions of the accused. Therefore, it is essential to establish the social relations of Peter Abelard and his accusers. It was possible to identify three major axes in the argumentation in the texts that criticized and condemned Abelard. The first is the high capacity of circulation of Abelard's ideas. The second would be the fact Abelard propose misinterpretations of the Holy Scriptures, defend abominable positions and pervert the main principles of Christianity. Finally, intrinsically linked to these two axes, Abelard was seen by his pursuers as a critic of ecclesiastical and papal authority, a potential schismatic which put Christianity at risk. These axes guided the structure of our text. We believe, finally, that the study of heresy of Abelard, besides revealing aspects of the heresy itself, can inform on key social dimensions of the period.

The Mystic Ark is a forty-two page description of the most complex work of art from the entire Middle Ages: a painting also known as The Mystic Ark.  The purpose of the painting was to serve as the basis of a series of brilliant lectures undertaken by Hugh--who was considered to be the leading theologian of Europe during his life--from around 1125 to 1130 at Saint Victor, a Parisian abbey of Augustinian canons, whose school, along with those of Notre-Dame and Ste-Geneviève, acted as the predecessor of the University of Paris.  The purpose of the text (which I have translated from the Latin) was to enable others outside of Saint Victor--teachers, advanced students, scholars, monks, canons--to undertake similar discussions themselves by providing the information necessary to produce the image.  Containing all time, all space, all matter, all human history, and all spiritual striving, this highly political image dealt with a series of crucial cultural issues in the education of society's elite during one of the great periods of intellectual change in Western history.  Essentially a visualization of Hugh's summa-like systematic theology, De sacramentis, the multiplication and systematization of imagery in The Mystic Ark bridged the gap between literature's potential for complex expression and such expression in large-scale public art, an achievement that led to the creation of the Gothic portal: the major means of public communication apart from the spoken word, and the most significant, fully indigenous expression of Northern European, public figural art of the Middle Ages.
    Hugh of Saint Victor's Mystic Ark: Illustrations: http://mysticark.ucr.edu.  This site presents a collection of images of The Mystic Ark that repeat in greater visual detail the same illustrations published in my study The Mystic Ark: Hugh of Saint Victor, Art, and Thought in the Twelfth Century for those who would like to study the image of The Mystic Ark more closely than is possible with the printed illustrations.

"As a letter writer Peter Abelard is known best for the autobiographical Historia calamitatum, which presents itself ostensibly as a consolatoria [epistola] to an unnamed friend, and his correspondence with Heloise, which amounts to seven letters, often subsumed into the so-called Personal Letters (Letters 2–5) and the so-called Letters of Direction (Letters 6–8). These eight letters are now most often numbered continuously from one through eight, although confusingly they have been presented sometimes with the Historia calamitatum unnumbered and the letters from and to Heloise numbered one through seven, rather than two through eight. (This is to say nothing of the so-called Lost Love Letters, which have been argued recently and controversially to be excerpts from the billets doux exchanged by Heloise and Abelard during their love affair.) All of these texts have been made easily accessible in good editions and translations and are generally familiar to medievalists. Less studied have been at least a half dozen other letters, among which are Letters 9–14, which were edited definitively by the late Edmé Smits (1950–1992). These other writings have the disadvantages of not being as closely associated with the personal engagement of Peter Abelard and Heloise, of having separate addressees, and of being transmitted separately rather than in an organic collection. But several of them stand out for being as extraordinary in their own right as is the personal correspondence, and they hold the potential to repay the effort of close examination. In this case I would like to probe two of them to glean insights into Peter Abelard’s practice as a historian and as a textual critic. Letters 11 and 10 will be treated chronologically, not according to the traditional numbering."

The XXVIth annual SIEPM colloquium, A Research Workshop of the Israel Science Foundation, will take place on 4-6 April 2022 at Bar Ilan University in Ramat Gan, Israel. The subject of the colloquium is: Dialectic in the Middle Ages: Between Debate and the Foundation of Science. Dialectic played a central role in medieval Islamic, Jewish, and Christian intellectual cultures as both a tool for knowledge making and an object of study in its own right. Medieval intellectual cultures saw dialectic, often associated with Aristotle's Topica, as crucial for describing and defining philosophy and science, as well as characterizing and inculcating religious beliefs. Debates and discussions, which played a large role in medieval education systems in all three traditions, were also frequently associated with Aristotle's Topica. Indeed, Aristotle's chief text on dialectic was associated with teaching the masses religious ideas, constructing arguments for various forms of debate, imparting religious, scientific, and philosophical concepts to the intellectual elite, and discovering the grounds of scientific arguments and their basic premises. At the same time, the text enabled a study of the methods themselves, viz. a study of arguments based on opinions, generally accepted premises (as opposed to demonstrations), induction, and the groundwork of debate itself. The forms of disputations and debate that we encounter in medieval Islamic, Jewish, and Christian intellectual cultures varied among intellectual and religious climates and so did the historical understanding of dialectic.

Résumé : Dans cet article, on présente une modalité spécifique de transmission textuelle, celle de la reportatio, concernant deux pratiques didactiques du XIIe siècle, à savoir la lectio et la disputatio. L’objectif est de donner une description systématique des caractéristiques littéraires qui peuvent nous amener à reconnaître si un texte a été transmis par le moyen de la reportatio. Comme exemples issus de la pratique de la lectio, on analyse les Sententiae de divinitate de Hugues de Saint-Victor et les Sententiae Magistri Petri Abaelardi. Comme exemples issus de la pratique de la disputatio, on analyse trois documents : le recueil de questions théologiques attribuées à Odon de Soissons par son éditeur (J.-B. Pitra), un recueil inédit de questions théologiques discutées dans l’école cathédrale de Paris (ms. Troyes, Médiathèque du Grand Troyes - olim Bibl. Mun. -, 964, fol. 89r-159v), et les Disputationes de Simon de Tournai (éditées par J. Warichez).

Diante das perspectivas correntes no século XII, ou seja, o realismo e o nominalismo, Pedro Abelardo, mestre clérigo da Escola Catedral de Paris, propõe, fundamentalmente na Logica Ingredientibus, uma terceira via: o conceitualismo. Tal teoria trabalha com uma desrealização do real lógico. Ela se desenvolve a partir da questão do nome e da nominação do geral, mas ela não reduz os universais a nomes.

Tous droits réservés pour tous pays. Aux termes du Code de la Propriété Intellectuelle, toute reproduction ou représentation, intégrale ou partielle, faite par quelque procédé que ce soit (photocopie, photographie, microfilm, bande magnétique, disque optique ou autre) sans le consentement de l'auteur ou de ses ayants droit ou ayants cause est illicite et constitue une contrefaçon sanctionnée par les articles L 335-2 à L 335-10 du Code de la Propriété Intellectuelle.

As a person trained primarily in philosophy, Peter Abelard employed an intense questioning mentality in fleshing out his theological ideas.  His extreme debating style of totally deconstructing theological positions and then afterward including some of those same aspects into his own views made it easy for his religio-political enemies to take apparently heterodox statements and declare these as representative of Abelard’s entire atonement theology.  However, many of his theological beliefs are supported in the New Testament and were already held by the church fathers.  He frequently affirmed Christ’s substitutionary sacrifice as the ransom to redeem man.  He rejected various contemporary views in support of a partial human free will, divine predestination preceded by divine foreknowledge, the idea of sin as an internal attitude rather than merely an act, and the view of God as the ultimate Good.  Yet, for reconciliation between God and man to be accomplished entirely and completely the Holy Spirit has to perform a change within the individual believer.  Therefore Abelard emphasized that Christ’s passion and death was a manifestation of divine love that touches the believer and awakens in him love towards God; yet it is an act of divine grace and not a human merit.  Thus Abelard’s view of atonement was actually more comprehensive and orthodox than the views of his contemporaries.

Brève liaison amoureuse que celle de Héloïse et Abélard. Un conte cruel dont bien des péripéties sont obscures. Chanoine Fulbert abuse de sa « nièce » Héloïse, enceinte à son insu. Elle s’éprend de son beau prof Abélard qui la cherche. L’anxiété devant la perspective d’une grossesse venue d’ailleurs, conduit les deux innocents amants à la séparation. La chose bientôt évidente, Héloïse saute en l’air. « Il n’y a plus de doute, » écrit-elle à son ami dans une lettre expresse, « je suis enceinte ! Que faire ? » Savoir et ne pas dire : Qui a fait le coup ? C’est toute la question suivante.
  Pour couvrir leur honte, Abélard la force au mariage. En se dénonçant, lui, comme (faux) père criminel, il lui rend son innocence. Fulbert coupe vite court aux bruits qui courent qu’il serait le (vrai) père. Dans un sauve-qui-peut tragique, il castre Abélard. Brandissant l’appareil génital d’Abélard, il désigne le coupable ! « On lui a coupé tout ce dont il s’est servi en l’espèce ! » Ainsi s’étouffe le scandale d’un viol incestueux !
Pour garantir l’intégrité d’Héloïse devant ses contemporains et devant l’histoire, Abélard écrit l’Histoire de mes calamités, une autobiographie où il masque le viol. Il impose sa version officielle. « C’est comme ça que dorénavant on racontera l’histoire ! » C’est comme ça qu’on l’a racontée jusqu’ici. Il signale qu’elle fut mère. Mais il ne dit pas qui fut le père. On voit bien que ce n’est pas Abélard et qu’elle est vierge. La seule et véritable Héloïse est celle d’Abélard. Découvrez-la.
Nous avons cru jusqu’ici à la fable d’une écolière fécondée par son précepteur. C’est faux. Cette affaire ne s’est pas passée comme on a admis depuis toujours. Avec cette nouvelle version des faits, l’auteur d’Abélard, mon frère paru chez le même éditeur (2001),embarrasse l’opinion régnante. Vous non plus, ne croirez plus dorénavant que c’est si simple.

This collection of essays represents  Professor Harjeet Singh Gill's  preoccupation with the semiotics of conceptual structures in language, literature, art and culture since 1964 when he
joined the Centre National de  Ia  Recherche Scientifique in  Paris. The theoretical reflections begin from the twelfth century philosopher, Pierre Abelard, through the Age of Enlightenment
of the seventeenth and the eighteenth centuries with Port Royal Logic, Condillac and Destutt de Tracy, to the modem French theoreticians of conceptual constructs. This eight hundred
years long  tradition has  been  reflected upon, interpreted and applied on  specific European and Indian, oral and written texts, by the author, and by his students in a number of doctoral
theses. There have been different perceptions but the reactions and responses of the students and colleagues, both Indian and French, have helped crystallise his theoretical position, without
necessarily altering the basic hypotheses. The search for this epistemological continuity was the main theme of the International  Seminar on Theories of Signification since the Middle Ages that Professor Gill organised in Paris in November 1993 on the invitation of the Maison des  Sciences  de  I 'Homme.  These  reflections  in  a  new  unified  conceptual  structure are presented for another look, regard, another critique.


Paris
January 13, 1995  Danielle Gill

La réflexion qui suit est un essai pour lire les pratiques intellectuelles de l'université médiévale à la lumière des outils heuristiques habermassiens, avec toutes les précautions que le comparatisme historique requiert : quelle pourrait être la fécondité du transfert -contrôlédes concepts habermassiens appliqués à la sphère médiévale ? La question est de savoir si la disputatio médiévale peut être appréhendée comme une forme de l' « usage public du raisonnement » dans l'acception habermassienne 1 , acception dans laquelle la raison ne relève pas d'une intériorité de la pensée subjective mais consiste bien en une activité sociale et matérielle inscrite dans un cadre collectif de discussion.

Note that this thesis chapter has not yet been published.

Stylometry, a method to segregate writing styles with computer algorithms and attribute works of disputed authorship, is used to shed new light on the famous case of the contested literary collaboration between the twelfth-century lovers Heloise and Abelard (the Letter Collection and the Epistolae duorum amantium). The Latin writings associated with the abbess of the Paraclete and the Parisian philosopher have for centuries been subjected to fierce discussions about authorship and authenticity. Due to a dire lack of historical information and material sources, the two letter exchanges currently ascribed to the twelfth-century lovers still raise numerous questions concerning their provenance, dating and intention. The chapter explores the literary and historical-material arguments that have caused scholarly debate on Heloise and Abelard to spread like wildfire. In addition, new findings on the much-debated works are presented, informed by computer-scientific arguments.

Jeroen De Gussem, "Love to the Letter: Heloise and Abelard," in: “Collaborative Authorship in Twelfth-Century Latin Literature. A Stylometric Approach to Gender, Synergy and Authority,” (PhD diss., Ghent University and University of Antwerp, 2019): 235–280.

There is no doubting conscience is central to the human condition and our understanding of it. Still, questions arise. What is its origin and purpose? What does it disclose? And how? Although any historical schema will be imperfect to the extent that it must be incomplete, broadly speaking, the history of the concept of conscience can be usefully divided into four familiar periods: Ancient, Medieval, Modern, and Postmodern. Historically, it has been conceived in numerous ways, whether as an innate capacity responsible for the ability to discern right from wrong (the Hebrew Prophets), as a voice of divine guidance (Socrates), as an internal tribunal whereby we pass judgment on ourselves by way of reason (Kant and German Idealism), as the ontological hallmark of our capacity for authentic individuality (Heidegger), or as an internalization of society’s repressive norms and mores (Freud). This rich and variegated conceptual reception only serves to underscore the phenomenon’s remarkable pertinence to multiple dimensions of philosophical interest. It is, perhaps first above all, a matter of our individual responsibility and morality. What, for example, does the capacity to draw moral judgments on its basis reveal about what it is to be the selves each of us is? It also, second, is an item of social, communal, and political significance. What, for example, does it mean to have our actions laid bare before others for moral and rational appraisal as social and political beings? And, of course, it is a spiritual matter too, as it discloses us before God. How, then, does conscience lay us bare before ourselves, others, and God? From Plato to Kant and Fichte, from Rousseau and Mill to Nietzsche and Freud, from the Prophets and Apostles to Heidegger, this work traces the evolution of the concept of conscience’s formation, in turn highlighting how the capacity to hear, and so heed, its voice forms the heart of man.

La réflexion qui suit est un essai pour lire les pratiques intellectuelles de l'université médiévale à la lumière des outils heuristiques habermassiens, avec toutes les précautions que le comparatisme historique requiert : quelle pourrait être la fécondité du transfert -contrôlédes concepts habermassiens appliqués à la sphère médiévale ? La question est de savoir si la disputatio médiévale peut être appréhendée comme une forme de l' « usage public du raisonnement » dans l'acception habermassienne 1 , acception dans laquelle la raison ne relève pas d'une intériorité de la pensée subjective mais consiste bien en une activité sociale et matérielle inscrite dans un cadre collectif de discussion.

What is the meaning of theories of redemption, and what use do they have? This dissertation answers these questions from the vantage point of two ideas from Girardian Mimetic Theory: the hypothesis that human relationality is rooted in triangular structures of desire, and the hypothesis that the sacrificial death of Christ is what Girard calls a scapegoating event.

For Girard, ritual sacrifice is a repetition of an original scapegoating event on which social cohesion depends. With the death of Christ, scapegoating has been denuded and sacrifice rendered inoperable, bringing humanity into a novel historical situation. Using Girard’s early seminal texts alongside crucial developments in his later work, I develop the thesis that the redemptive work is structurally a sacrificial act, but aimed at the transcending of sacrifice and the transformation of the generative potential of scapegoating; correspondingly with this objective redemptive work, believers in Christ undergo a conversion that consists in their re-orientation as subjects within a structure of transcendence determined by this sacrificial generativity. This thesis represents a significantly more systematic appraisal of the positive theological utility of sacrifice than is found in Girard’s work.

To bolster my thesis, I reread key biblical and classical theological sources. The biblical foundation narratives and interplay of textual sources witness to a subtle subversion of scapegoating and sacrifice while still relying on sacrifice as an ordering principle. I then examine the paradigmatic theories of redemption of Peter Abelard, Anselm, and Gregory of Nyssa. Each of these theories exhibits the same sacrificial logic, despite the different ways they configure redemption.

I conclude that theories of redemption give us ways to map the reality brought about by the process of redemption. They facilitate the believer, whose triangular relationality has been re-oriented toward the transcendent God, in navigating the new situation in which sacrifice has been transformed.

Penser l'influence de l'hexis aristotélicien dans la vertu comme habitus chez Abélard nous permet d’analyser, c’est-à-dire de discerner et de définir ce qu’une vertu signifie pour le médiéval. Au même temps, en ce faisant, d’autres notions connexes telles que l’extériorité, intériorité, foi, corps, liberté et délibération se rendront présentes et seront déterminantes afin de replacer la question de l’habitus comme  hexis  dans un cadre théologique et « personnel » (c’est-à-dire, un cadre qui a comme centre la notion de personne/individu/sujet éthique). Nous nous demanderons aussi, et de manière subjacente, si le lien entre théologie et personne en est un d’ordre nécessaire pour une pensée telle que celle d’Abélard.