This monograph is the first comprehensive source-based description and investigation of the theoretical fundament of philosophical reflection on man during the thirteenth century.

This study deals with the philosophical approaches of thirteenth-century thinkers to concrete manifestations of 'quantum ad naturalia' in human lives and to the practical outlines and peculiarities of humanity in their commentaries on Aristotle’s works on natural philosophy.

The monograph offers an in-depth, source-oriented presentation and analysis of the complex discussions that took place between ca. 1230 and 1350 on the differentiation and expansion of the structural concept of scientific knowledge and certainty in lifeworld-contingent areas of investigation. It makes transparent a development in the course of which a graduated, multidimensional conception of knowledge and certainty emerges. In the process, the masters gain pioneering insights into the philosophy of science. Starting from the key data provided by Aristotle, the (...) scholastic scholars' productive, far-reaching further thinking leads to a deeper understanding of the nature and reliability of scientifically acquired knowledge. These intellectual endeavours were significantly challenged by the increasing knowledge of the spectrum of the transmitted Aristotelian and Arabic sciences. They also received significant impulses from epistemological reflection in theology. (shrink)