John Philoponus provided an original and innovative account of prime matter, identifying its essence with sheer three-dimensionality. So, in the first part of this paper, we will highlight the main features of such an account; in the second part, we will deal with the consideration reserved to Philoponus' notion of prime matter in the physical debate of the second half of the sixteenth century. Indeed, we will take into account the thought of Italian professors, teaching in Padua: Francesco Piccolomini (1523-1607), and Giacomo Zabarella (1533-1589). Such an analysis will suggest that Sixteenth-century Scholastics recognized the relevance of Philoponus' account of prime matter. Concerning the specific case of Piccolomini and Zabarella, they attributed to him clear merit in conceiving matter no longer as a simple and pure potentiality to generation and corruption, but as a substratum, which operates concretely as a physical principle in virtue of three-dimensionality. According to this account, dimensions are not to be considered only as accidents belonging to the category of quantity: a certain level of three-dimensionality is an intrinsic property of prime matter itself.
Petagine, A. (2024). Francesco Piccolomini (1523-1607) and Giacomo Zabarella (1533-1589) on Philoponus's definition of Prime Matter. In Vimercati Emanuele (a cura di), The Reception of John Philoponus’ Natural Philosophy. Aristotelian Science From Late Antiquity to the Renaissance (pp. 185-199). New York : Bloomsbury.
Francesco Piccolomini (1523-1607) and Giacomo Zabarella (1533-1589) on Philoponus's definition of Prime Matter
Antonio Petagine
2024-01-01
Abstract
John Philoponus provided an original and innovative account of prime matter, identifying its essence with sheer three-dimensionality. So, in the first part of this paper, we will highlight the main features of such an account; in the second part, we will deal with the consideration reserved to Philoponus' notion of prime matter in the physical debate of the second half of the sixteenth century. Indeed, we will take into account the thought of Italian professors, teaching in Padua: Francesco Piccolomini (1523-1607), and Giacomo Zabarella (1533-1589). Such an analysis will suggest that Sixteenth-century Scholastics recognized the relevance of Philoponus' account of prime matter. Concerning the specific case of Piccolomini and Zabarella, they attributed to him clear merit in conceiving matter no longer as a simple and pure potentiality to generation and corruption, but as a substratum, which operates concretely as a physical principle in virtue of three-dimensionality. According to this account, dimensions are not to be considered only as accidents belonging to the category of quantity: a certain level of three-dimensionality is an intrinsic property of prime matter itself.I documenti in IRIS sono protetti da copyright e tutti i diritti sono riservati, salvo diversa indicazione.
