Research Catalog

Title

Robert Greystones on certainty and skepticism : selections from his works / edited by Robert Andrews, Jennifer Ottman and Mark Henninger.

Publication

• Oxford : Published for the British Academy by Oxford University Press, 2020.
• ©2020

Items in the Library & Off-site

Details

Additional Authors

• Andrews, Robert R., 1955-
• Ottman, Jennifer
• Henninger, Mark G., 1948-
• Greystones, Robert, approximately 1289-1334.

Description

lvii, 528 pages; 24 cm.

Summary

Robert Greystones on Certainty and Skepticism: Selections from His Works is a continuation of the volume previously published by Auctores Britannici Medii Aevi, Robert Greystones on the Freedom of the Will: Selections from His Commentary on the Sentences (edited by Mark O Henninger, with Robert Andrews and Jennifer Ottman, 2017). In the course of preparation of the first volume, startling information arose concerning the nature and extent of Greystones' skepticism. Following draft editions of a number of Greystones' Sentences commentary questions, the most relevant five questions were selected for editing and translation. Greystones is in the tradition of Nicholas of Autrecourt, William Crathorn, Monachus Niger (the Black Monk), Nicholas Aston, and John Went, but the earliest of these figures. Building upon the 69th proposition of the Condemnation of 1277, Greystones concludes that God's unlimited power must lead to a radical skepticism about human knowledge. We cannot be certain whether we are in this life or the afterlife, in a body or not. We cannot be certain about the existence of any external object. We have no certain knowledge of cause and effect, the existence of substances, or of any contingent event. Like Descartes, Greystones held that we can be certain about our own existence (ego sum). But preempting Descartes' appeal to a beneficent, non-deceptive God, Greystones says: God does not deceive. But you deceive yourself if you insist on believing that something exists when you know that it might not! You know that God can intervene at any instant, and thus that you can never completely trust your senses. Greystones' skepticism is strikingly significant in light of the later historical development of philosophy.

Series Statement

Auctores Britannici medii aevi ; 34

Uniform Title

Auctores Britannici Medii Aevi ; 34.

Subject

• Greystones, Robert, approximately 1289-1334
• To 1500
• Skepticism > Early works to 1800
• Certainty > Early works to 1800
• Knowledge, Theory of > Early works to 1800
• Philosophy, Medieval
• Skepticism > History > To 1500
• Knowledge, Theory of
• Certainty
• Skepticism

Genre/Form

• Early works.
• History.

Bibliography (note)

• Includes bibliographical references and indexes.

Language (note)

• Selections in Latin, with facing English translation on facing pages; introduction in English.

Call Number

JFE 21-2988

ISBN

• 9780197266595
• 0197266592

OCLC

1137838994

Title

Robert Greystones on certainty and skepticism : selections from his works / edited by Robert Andrews, Jennifer Ottman and Mark Henninger.

Publisher

Oxford : Published for the British Academy by Oxford University Press, 2020.

Copyright Date

©2020

Edition

First edition.

Type of Content

text

Type of Medium

unmediated

Type of Carrier

volume

Series

Auctores Britannici medii aevi ; 34

Auctores Britannici Medii Aevi ; 34.

Bibliography

Includes bibliographical references and indexes.

Language

Selections in Latin, with facing English translation on facing pages; introduction in English.

Chronological Term

To 1500

Added Author

Andrews, Robert R., 1955- editor, translator.

Ottman, Jennifer, editor, translator.

Henninger, Mark G., 1948- editor, translator.

Greystones, Robert, approximately 1289-1334. Works. Selections. English (Andrews, Ottman and Henninger)

Greystones, Robert, approximately 1289-1334. Works. Selections. Latin (Andrews, Ottman and Henninger)

Research Call Number

JFE 21-2988