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Walter Burley (or Burleigh; 1275 – 1344/45) was an English
scholastic philosopher
Scholasticism was a medieval school of philosophy that employed a critical organic method of philosophical analysis predicated upon the Aristotelian 10 Categories. Christian scholasticism emerged within the monastic schools that translat ...
and
logician
Logic is the study of correct reasoning. It includes both formal and informal logic. Formal logic is the science of deductively valid inferences or of logical truths. It is a formal science investigating how conclusions follow from premises ...
with at least 50 works attributed to him. He studied under
Thomas Wilton
Thomas Wilton (active from 1288 to 1322) was an English theologian and scholastic philosopher, a pupil of Duns Scotus,Harjeet Singh Gill, ''Signification in language and culture'', Indian Institute of Advanced Study, 2002, p. 109. a teacher at the ...
[Harjeet Singh Gill, ''Signification in language and culture'', Indian Institute of Advanced Study, 2002, p. 109.] and received his
Master of Arts
A Master of Arts ( la, Magister Artium or ''Artium Magister''; abbreviated MA, M.A., AM, or A.M.) is the holder of a master's degree awarded by universities in many countries. The degree is usually contrasted with that of Master of Science. Tho ...
degree in 1301, and was a
fellow
A fellow is a concept whose exact meaning depends on context.
In learned or professional societies, it refers to a privileged member who is specially elected in recognition of their work and achievements.
Within the context of higher education ...
of
Merton College
Merton College (in full: The House or College of Scholars of Merton in the University of Oxford) is one of the constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in England. Its foundation can be traced back to the 1260s when Walter de Merton, ch ...
, Oxford until about 1310. He then spent sixteen years in Paris, becoming a fellow of the
Sorbonne
Sorbonne may refer to:
* Sorbonne (building), historic building in Paris, which housed the University of Paris and is now shared among multiple universities.
*the University of Paris (c. 1150 – 1970)
*one of its components or linked institution, ...
by 1324, before spending 17 years as a clerical courtier in England and
Avignon
Avignon (, ; ; oc, Avinhon, label=Provençal dialect, Provençal or , ; la, Avenio) is the Prefectures in France, prefecture of the Vaucluse Departments of France, department in the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur Regions of France, region of So ...
. Burley disagreed with
William of Ockham
William of Ockham, OFM (; also Occam, from la, Gulielmus Occamus; 1287 – 10 April 1347) was an English Franciscan friar, scholastic philosopher, apologist, and Catholic theologian, who is believed to have been born in Ockham, a small vill ...
on a number of points concerning logic and
natural philosophy
Natural philosophy or philosophy of nature (from Latin ''philosophia naturalis'') is the philosophical study of physics
Physics is the natural science that studies matter, its fundamental constituents, its motion and behavior throu ...
. He was known as the ''Doctor Planus and Perspicuus''.
Early life
Burley was born in 1274 or 1275, possibly in
Burley-in-Wharfedale
Burley in Wharfedale is a village and (as just Burley) a civil parish in the City of Bradford in West Yorkshire, England. It is situated in the Wharfedale valley.
The village is situated on the A65 road, approximately north-west from Leed ...
,
Yorkshire
Yorkshire ( ; abbreviated Yorks), formally known as the County of York, is a Historic counties of England, historic county in northern England and by far the largest in the United Kingdom. Because of its large area in comparison with other Eng ...
, or in
Burley near
Leeds
Leeds () is a city and the administrative centre of the City of Leeds district in West Yorkshire, England. It is built around the River Aire and is in the eastern foothills of the Pennines. It is also the third-largest settlement (by populati ...
. Little is known of his early life. He was made rector of
Welbury in Yorkshire in 1309, probably through the influence of Sir John de Lisle, a friend of
William Greenfield
William Greenfield (died 6 December 1315) served as both the Lord Chancellor of England and the Archbishop of York. He was also known as William of Greenfield.
Early life
Greenfield was born in the eponymous Lincolnshire hamlet of Greenfield. ...
. As throughout his career, he did not act as rector, employing a substitute and using the income from the living to finance his study in Paris, where he completed his 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'' ...
'', and probably encountered the work of his contemporary
William of Ockham
William of Ockham, OFM (; also Occam, from la, Gulielmus Occamus; 1287 – 10 April 1347) was an English Franciscan friar, scholastic philosopher, apologist, and Catholic theologian, who is believed to have been born in Ockham, a small vill ...
. Burley's commentary on the ''Sentences'' has not survived.
Political career
Burley became a courtier during the political events that followed the deposition of
Edward II
Edward II (25 April 1284 – 21 September 1327), also called Edward of Caernarfon, was King of England and Lord of Ireland from 1307 until he was deposed in January 1327. The fourth son of Edward I, Edward became the heir apparent to t ...
of England in 1327. His first assignment was to try and obtain the
canonisation
Canonization is the declaration of a deceased person as an officially recognized saint, specifically, the official act of a Christian communion declaring a person worthy of public veneration and entering their name in the canon catalogue of s ...
of
Thomas, 2nd Earl of Lancaster
Thomas of Lancaster, 2nd Earl of Lancaster, 2nd Earl of Leicester, 2nd Earl of Derby, ''jure uxoris'' 4th Earl of Lincoln and ''jure uxoris'' 5th Earl of Salisbury (c. 1278 – 22 March 1322) was an English nobleman. A member of the House of Pl ...
, who had been one of the leaders of the baronial opposition to Edward II; Thomas had become venerated as a
martyr
A martyr (, ''mártys'', "witness", or , ''marturia'', stem , ''martyr-'') is someone who suffers persecution and death for advocating, renouncing, or refusing to renounce or advocate, a religious belief or other cause as demanded by an externa ...
within a few months of his death. Burley was sent to the
papal court at Avignon to appeal directly to
Pope John XXII. By coincidence, William of Ockham was also staying at Avignon, having been summoned there in 1324 to answer charges of possibly heretical statements (by 1326 there was a list of 51 charges against him).
Burley's associates were all closely involved in these attempts at canonisation (none of which was successful). One was
Richard de Bury
Richard de Bury (24 January 1287 – 14 April 1345), also known as Richard Aungerville or Aungervyle, was an English priest, teacher, bishop, writer, and bibliophile. He was a patron of learning and one of the first English collectors of books. ...
, a bibliophile and patron of the arts and sciences, who became Burley's patron and at whose request Bury translated some works of
Aristotle
Aristotle (; grc-gre, Ἀριστοτέλης ''Aristotélēs'', ; 384–322 BC) was a Greek philosopher and polymath during the Classical period in Ancient Greece. Taught by Plato, he was the founder of the Peripatetic school of phil ...
into English.
Ecclesiastical career
Burley had become a master of theology by 1324. In May 1327 he became canon of Chichester by the provision of the pope, but exchanged the position in 1332 to become canon at
Wells
Wells most commonly refers to:
* Wells, Somerset, a cathedral city in Somerset, England
* Well, an excavation or structure created in the ground
* Wells (name)
Wells may also refer to:
Places Canada
*Wells, British Columbia
England
* Wells ...
, where de Bury was
dean
Dean may refer to:
People
* Dean (given name)
* Dean (surname), a surname of Anglo-Saxon English origin
* Dean (South Korean singer), a stage name for singer Kwon Hyuk
* Dean Delannoit, a Belgian singer most known by the mononym Dean
Titles
* ...
. Bury had been involved in the ''
coup d'état
A coup d'état (; French for 'stroke of state'), also known as a coup or overthrow, is a seizure and removal of a government and its powers. Typically, it is an illegal seizure of power by a political faction, politician, cult, rebel group, m ...
'' of 1330 that resulted in the execution of Mortimer, and the de facto accession of
Edward III
Edward III (13 November 1312 – 21 June 1377), also known as Edward of Windsor before his accession, was King of England and Lord of Ireland from January 1327 until his death in 1377. He is noted for his military success and for restoring r ...
to the throne. In 1333 de Bury was consecrated
Bishop of Durham
The Bishop of Durham is the Anglican bishop responsible for the Diocese of Durham in the Province of York. The diocese is one of the oldest in England and its bishop is a member of the House of Lords. Paul Butler has been the Bishop of Durham ...
by the king, over-ruling the choice of the monks, who had elected and actually installed their sub-prior,
Robert de Graynes.
[Fryde ''Handbook of British Chronology'' p. 242] In February 1334 de Bury was made Lord Treasurer, an appointment he exchanged later in the year for that of Lord Chancellor. He gathered together a group of intellectuals including
Thomas Fitzralph,
Richard de Kilvington
Richard is a male given name. It originates, via Old French, from Old Frankish and is a compound of the words descending from Proto-Germanic ''*rīk-'' 'ruler, leader, king' and ''*hardu-'' 'strong, brave, hardy', and it therefore means 'stron ...
,
Robert Holcot Robert Holcot, OP (c. 1290 – 1349) was an English Dominican scholastic philosopher, theologian and influential Biblical scholar.
Biography
He was born in Holcot, Northamptonshire. A follower of William of Ockham, he was nicknamed the ''Doctor ...
t,
Thomas Bradwardine and Burley himself.
Walter may have been a relative of his younger contemporary
Adam Burley
Adam Burley (died 1327/8) was a philosopher educated at University College, Oxford.
Adam is responsible for two questions commentaries, preserved uniquely in Cambridge, Gonville and Caius College, MS 668*/645:
* ''Quaestiones I–II de Anima'', o ...
.
Philosophical work
Burley was one of the first medieval logicians to recognize the priority of the
propositional calculus
Propositional calculus is a branch of logic. It is also called propositional logic, statement logic, sentential calculus, sentential logic, or sometimes zeroth-order logic. It deals with propositions (which can be true or false) and relations b ...
over the
term logic
In philosophy, term logic, also known as traditional logic, syllogistic logic or Aristotelian logic, is a loose name for an approach to formal logic that began with Aristotle and was developed further in ancient history mostly by his followers, th ...
, despite the fact that the latter had been the main focus of logicians until then. Burley also seems to have been the only 14th-century logician to have taken the position that, in line with modern views on the
material conditional
The material conditional (also known as material implication) is an operation commonly used in logic. When the conditional symbol \rightarrow is interpreted as material implication, a formula P \rightarrow Q is true unless P is true and Q is ...
, the principle that "from the impossible anything follows" ("''ex impossibili sequitur quodlibet''") is both a
necessary and sufficient condition
In logic and mathematics, necessity and sufficiency are terms used to describe a conditional or implicational relationship between two statements. For example, in the conditional statement: "If then ", is necessary for , because the truth of ...
for explaining the logical relationship between
antecedent and
consequent
A consequent is the second half of a hypothetical proposition. In the standard form of such a proposition, it is the part that follows "then". In an implication, if ''P'' implies ''Q'', then ''P'' is called the antecedent and ''Q'' is called ...
.
He was also known for his commentaries on Aristotle's
''Physics'', which include the quodlibet ''De Primo et ultimo instanti'' (around 1320) and the longer work ''Expositio in libros octo de physico auditu''.
Burley wrote 39 Commentaries on Aristotle and 32 Treatises and Questions (many unedited).
[Marta Vittorini, ''Appendix: A Complete List of Burley's Works'', in A. D. Conti (ed.), ''A Companion to Walter Burley'', Leiden: Brill, 2013, pp.46-47.]
* ''De Puritate Artis Logicae'', in two versions:
** ''Tractatus brevior'' (before 1324)
** ''Tractatus longior'' (1325–28)
This is Burley's main work, in which he covers such topics as the truth conditions for complex sentences, both
truth-functional
In logic, a truth function is a function that accepts truth values as input and produces a unique truth value as output. In other words: The input and output of a truth function are all truth values; a truth function will always output exactly one ...
and
modal, as well as providing rules of inferences for different types of inferences. This book is known to have been written after Ockham's ''
Summa Logicae
The ''Summa Logicae'' ("Sum of Logic") is a textbook on logic by William of Ockham. It was written around 1323.
Systematically, it resembles other works of medieval logic, organised under the basic headings of the Aristotelian Predicables, Cat ...
'' (c. 1323), possibly partly in response to it.
Other works include:
* ''In Aristotelis Perihermenias'' (''Questions on Aristotle's Perihermenias'', 1301)
* ''De consequentiis'' (1302)
* ''De exclusivis'' (1302)
* ''De exceptivis'' (1302)
* ''De suppositions'' (1302)
* ''De obligationibus'' (1302)
* ''De ente'' (ca. 1310)
* ''De qualitatibus'' (ca. 1310)
* ''Expositio super libros De Anima'' (after 1310)
* ''Tractatus de formis'' (1324-1326)
* ''Tractatus de universalibus'' (after 1337)
Bibliography
*
* ''De Puritate Artis Logicae Tractatus Longior, with a revised edition of the Tractatus Brevior'', ed.
P. Boehner, New York: 1955.
* ''On the Purity of the Art of Logic. The Shorter and Longer Treatises'', trans. & ed. P.V. Spade, New Haven & London: Yale University Press, 2000.
* ''De Formis'', ed. Frederick J. Down Scott, Munich: Verlag der Bayerischen Akademie der Wissenschaften, 1970 .
* ''Quaestiones super librum Posteriorum'', ed. Mary Catherine Sommers, Toronto: Pontifical Institute of Mediaeval Studies, 2000.
* ''Questions on the De anima of Aristotle'', by Adam Burley and Walter Burley, ed. Edward A. Synan, Leiden & New York: Brill, 1997.
* ''In physicam Aristotelis expositio et quaestiones'', Hildesheim & New York:
Georg Olms
Georg may refer to:
* ''Georg'' (film), 1997
*Georg (musical), Estonian musical
* Georg (given name)
* Georg (surname)
* , a Kriegsmarine coastal tanker
See also
* George (disambiguation)
George may refer to:
People
* George (given name)
* ...
, 1972.
* ''Super artem veterem'',
orphiry and Aristotle Venice, 1497 (anastatic reprint): Frankfurt a/M.: Minerva, 1967.
*
Robert Grosseteste
Robert Grosseteste, ', ', or ') or the gallicised Robert Grosstête ( ; la, Robertus Grossetesta or '). Also known as Robert of Lincoln ( la, Robertus Lincolniensis, ', &c.) or Rupert of Lincoln ( la, Rubertus Lincolniensis, &c.). ( ; la, Rob ...
, ''In Aristotelis Posteriorum analyticorum libros'', Walter Burleigh, ''Super libros Posteriorum analyticorum Aristotelis'', Venice, 1514 (anastatic reprint): Frankfurt a/M.: Minerva, 1966.
* ''Commentarium in Aristotelis De Anima L.III'', Manuscripts facsimiles: ''MS. Vaticano lat. 2151, f.1-88'
''MS. Lambeth 143, f.76-138'
''MS. Lambeth 74, f.33-109'
''MS. Oxford Balliol College 92, f.9-200'
interactive paleography transcription by Mario Tonelotto, 2014.
References
Notes
Citations
Sources
*
*
Alexander Broadie, Broadie, Alexander. ''Introduction to Medieval Logic'' (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 2nd Edition 1993).
* Conti, Alessandro (ed.). ''A Companion to Walter Burley, Late Medieval Logician and Metaphysician'', Leiden: Brill 2013.
* Gracia, J. G. and Noone, T. B. ''A Companion to Philosophy in the Middle Ages'', London 2003.
*
*
Further reading
* Krieger, Gerhard, ''Studies on Walter Burley, 1989–1997'', Vivarium, 37, 1999, pp. 94–100.
* Wood, Rega, ''Studies on Walter Burley 1968-1988'', Bulletin de la Philosophie Médiévale, 30, 1989, pp. 233–250.
External links
*
Walter Burley, Commentarium in Aristotelis De Anima L.III''Critical Edition'' and
Palaeography
Palaeography (American and British English spelling differences#ae and oe, UK) or paleography (American and British English spelling differences#ae and oe, US; ultimately from grc-gre, , ''palaiós'', "old", and , ''gráphein'', "to write") ...
transcription by Mario Tonelotto
(SPC) MSS LT 055 De Vita et Moribus Philosophorum at OPenn
{{DEFAULTSORT:Burley, Walter
14th-century philosophers
14th-century Latin writers
University of Paris faculty
Scholastic philosophers
Latin commentators on Aristotle
Fellows of Merton College, Oxford
English philosophers
1275 births
1340s deaths
English logicians
Natural philosophers
14th-century English writers