James Metz was a fourteenth century philosopher and Dominican theologian. Very little is known about his life. It is a not known when he was born and when he died, but what is known is that he was philosophically active in the first decade of the fourteenth century. Of his works that survive, much remains unedited, and only a dozen manuscript copies still exist. James was known as a Dominican theologian, which meant following the teachings of Saint

Thomas Aquinas Thomas Aquinas, OP (; it, Tommaso d'Aquino, lit=Thomas of Aquino; 1225 – 7 March 1274) was an Italian Dominican friar and priest who was an influential philosopher, theologian and jurist in the tradition of scholasticism; he is known wi ...

. However, he earned the reputation for being a "critical-Thomist," as he openly disagreed some of Aquinas's positions. One account of James describes him as an “eclectic thinker,” and that his works were partially influenced by

Peter of Auvergne Peter of Auvergne (died 1304) was a French philosopher and theologian. Life He was a canon of Paris; some biographers have thought that he was Bishop of Clermont, because a Bull of Boniface VIII of the year 1296 names as canon of Paris a certain P ...

as well as

Henry of Ghent Henry of Ghent (c. 1217 – 29 June 1293) was a scholastic philosopher, known as '' Doctor Solemnis'' (the "Solemn Doctor"), and also as Henricus de Gandavo and Henricus Gandavensis. Life Henry was born in the district of Mude, near Ghent. He ...

. The only philosophical work of James’s that is known for certain is that he gave two lectures on Peter Lombard’s ''

Sentences ''The Four Books of Sentences'' (''Libri Quattuor Sententiarum'') is a book of theology written by Peter Lombard in the 12th century. It is a systematic compilation of theology, written around 1150; it derives its name from the ''sententiae'' o ...

''. Presumably, these lectures occurred at the University of Paris, roughly from 1300-1306. An instance in which James did not see eye-to-eye with Aquinas was in regard to the way Aquinas described individuation by matter. Aquinas held the view that that matter is the principle of individuation. James, on the other hand, believed that form is the principle of individuation. Another disagreement between James and Aquinas concerned the process of knowledge, primarily knowledge of immaterial substances and knowledge of God. James’s views differed from those of Aquinas in that James attempted to find compatibility between Augustinian and Aristotelian accounts of knowledge. These disagreements with Aquinas warranted criticism from the Master General of Dominican Order,

Hervaeus Natalis Hervaeus Natalis (c. 1260, Nédellec, diocese of Tréguier, Brittany-1323) was a Dominican theologian, the 14th Master of the Dominicans, and the author of a number of works on philosophy and theology. Among his many writings may be included the ...

, as he wrote a doctrine called "A Correction of Brother James Metz." Concerning the divine essence, James held the view that it functioned as an origin, and that it “performs solely in relation to being.”Mojsisch, Burkhard. Meister Eckart: Analogy, Univocity, and Unity. Philadelphia: John Benjamins B.V., 2001. 113-16. Print. James advocated that there is a duality to the divine essence. In one instance it is a pure essence, the sole origin of our act and our being. In the second instance, James believed essence can also be seen as an attribute, and that it is the cause of specific actions.

References

{{authority control 14th-century philosophers Thomists