Siger of Brabant
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Siger of Brabant (Sigerus, Sighier, Sigieri or Sygerius de Brabantia; c. 1240 – before 10 November 1284) was a 13th-century
Life
Early life
Little is known about many of the details of his life. In 1266, he was attached to the Faculty of Arts in the University of Paris at the time when a riot erupted between the French and Picard "nations" of students—a series of loosely organized fraternities. The papal legate threatened Siger with execution as the ringleader of the Picard attack on the French, but no further action was taken.
Works
In the ten years following the riot, he wrote the six works which are ascribed to him and were published under his name by Pierre Mandonnet in 1899. The titles of these treatises are:
- De anima intellectiva (1270)
- Quaestiones logicales
- Quaestiones naturales
- De aeternitate mundi
- Quaestio utrum haec sit vera: Homo est animal nullo homine existente
- Impossibilia
Rectorship
In 1271, he was once more involved in a party struggle. The minority among the "nations" chose him as rector in opposition to the elected candidate, Aubri de Rheims. For three years the strife continued, and was probably based on the opposition between the
Time in Liège
Siger was accused of teaching "double truth"—that is, saying one thing could be true through reason, and that the opposite could be true through faith. Because Siger was a scholastic, he probably did not teach double truths but tried to find reconciliations between faith and reason.
In 1277, a general condemnation of Aristotelianism included a special clause directed against Boetius of Dacia and Siger of Brabant. Again Siger and Bernier de Nivelles were summoned to appear on a charge of heresy, especially in connection with the Impossibilia, where the existence of God is discussed. It appears, however, that Siger and Boetius fled to Italy and, according to John Peckham, archbishop of Canterbury, then perished miserably.
Death
The manner of Siger's death, which occurred at
In politics he held that good laws were better than good rulers, and criticised papal infallibility in temporal affairs. The importance of Siger in philosophy lies in his acceptance of Averroism in its entirety, which drew upon him the opposition of Albertus Magnus and Aquinas.
In December 1270, Averroism was condemned by ecclesiastical authority, and during his whole life Siger was exposed to persecution both from the Church and from purely philosophic opponents.
Cultural references
In
See also
- Averroes
- University of Paris (Condemnations)
References
Sources
- On the Eternity of the World, trans. Lottie H.Kendzierski (Marquette UP, 1964) [mainly translations from Thomas Aquinas, but the book includes selections from Siger of Brabant]
- Hissette, R. (1977) Enquête sur les 219 articles condamnés à Paris le 7 mars, 1277, Louvain: Publications Universitaires, Paris: Vander-Oyez.
- Mandonnet, P. (1908–11) Siger de Brabant et l’averroïsme latin au XIIIe siècle, Les Philosophes Belges VI–VII, Louvain: Institut supérieur de philosophie, 2 vols.
- Rubenstein, Richard E. Aristotle's Children: How Christians, Muslims, and Jews Rediscovered Ancient Wisdom and Illuminated the Middle Ages. New York: Harcourt, 2003.
- Van Steenberghen, F. (1977) Maître Siger de Brabant, Louvain: Publications universitaires, Paris: Vander-Oyez.
- Tony Dodd: The life and thought of Siger of Brabant, thirteenth-century Parisian philosopher: an examination of his views on the relationship of philosophy and theology. E. Mellen Press, Lewiston 1998, ISBN 0-7734-8477-9
- A. W. DeAnnuntis, Master Siger's Dream, What Books Press, Los Angeles 2010, ISBN 978-0-9823542-7-8
- public domain: Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). "Siger de Brabant". Encyclopædia Britannica. Vol. 25 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. This article incorporates text from a publication now in the
External links
- De aeternitate mundi, translated into English by Peter King, Professor of Philosophy and of Mediaeval Studies, University of Toronto.