James of Douai (, ; ) was a French philosopher who taught at the

University of Paris The University of Paris (), known Metonymy, metonymically as the Sorbonne (), was the leading university in Paris, France, from 1150 to 1970, except for 1793–1806 during the French Revolution. Emerging around 1150 as a corporation associated wit ...

. James was a

Master of Arts A Master of Arts ( or ''Artium Magister''; abbreviated MA or AM) 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. Those admitted to the degree have ...

who wrote

commentaries on Aristotle A great mass of literature has been produced to explain and clarify the works of Aristotle, especially during the ancient and medieval eras. The pupils of Aristotle (384322 BC) were the first to comment on his writings, a tradition which was ...

. He defended the freedom of philosophers to engage in speculation.Marco Toste, "James of Douai", in Robert E. Bjork (ed.), ''The Oxford Dictionary of the Middle Ages'' (Oxford University Press, 2010). In 1275, the

papal legate 300px, A woodcut showing Henry II of England greeting the Pope's legate. A papal legate or apostolic legate (from the ancient Roman title '' legatus'') is a personal representative of the Pope to foreign nations, to some other part of the Catho ...

Simon of Brion appointed him proctor of the

Picard Picard may refer to: Places * Picard, Quebec, Canada * Picard, California, United States * Picard (crater), a lunar impact crater in Mare Crisium People and fictional characters * Picard (name), a list of people and fictional characters with th ...

nation at the university.Luca Bianchi, "Peter of Auvergne and the Condemnation of 1277", in Christoph Flüeler, Lidia Lanza and Marco Toste (eds.), ''Peter of Auvergne: University Master of the 13th Century'' (De Gruyter, 2015), pp. 29–50. C. H. Lohr, "Medieval Latin Aristotle Commentaries Authors: Jacobus – Johannes Juff", ''Traditio'' 26(1970):135–216, at 139–141. He was probably one of the targets of the Condemnation of 1277. It is possible that the philosopher is the same person as the James of Douai who was a monk at the

Abbey of Saint Bertin The Abbey of Saint Bertin was a Benedictine monastic abbey in Saint-Omer, France. The buildings are now in ruins, which are open to the public. It was initially dedicated to but was rededicated to its second abbot, . The abbey is known for its ...

from 1287 to 1311.Thomas Sullivan, ''Benedictine Monks at the University of Paris, A.D. 1229–1500: A Biographical Register'' (E. J. Brill, 1995), p. 131. Two commentaries on Aristotle's ''

Meteorology Meteorology is the scientific study of the Earth's atmosphere and short-term atmospheric phenomena (i.e. weather), with a focus on weather forecasting. It has applications in the military, aviation, energy production, transport, agricultur ...

'' and ''

Nicomachean Ethics The ''Nicomachean Ethics'' (; , ) is Aristotle's best-known work on ethics: the science of the good for human life, that which is the goal or end at which all our actions aim. () It consists of ten sections, referred to as books, and is closely ...

'' were once attributed to James, but his authorship now doubted. The commentary on ''Meteorology'' does contain ideas similar to those in James's known commentary on ''

On the Soul ''On the Soul'' ( Greek: , ''Peri Psychēs''; Latin: ) is a major treatise written by Aristotle . His discussion centres on the kinds of souls possessed by different kinds of living things, distinguished by their different operations. Thus pla ...

''. He adhered to the Averroist doctrine that knowledge was the ultimate perfecter of humans. James wrote commentaries of the ''

summa Summa and its diminutive summula (plural ''summae'' and ''summulae'', respectively) was a medieval didactics literary genre written in Latin, born during the 12th century, and popularized in 13th century Europe. In its simplest sense, they might ...

'' and ''quaestiones'' form on Aristotle's '' On Length and Shortness of Life'', '' On Memory'', ''

On Sleep ''On Sleep'' (or ''On Sleep and Sleeplessness''; Greek Περὶ ὕπνου καὶ ἐγρηγόρσεως; Latin: ''De somno et vigilia'') is a text by Aristotle Aristotle (; 384–322 BC) was an Ancient Greek philosophy, Ancient ...

'', '' Sense and Sensibilia'', ''

Physics Physics is the scientific study of matter, its Elementary particle, fundamental constituents, its motion and behavior through space and time, and the related entities of energy and force. "Physical science is that department of knowledge whi ...

'', '' Prior Analytics'' and ''

Posterior Analytics The ''Posterior Analytics'' (; ) is a text from Aristotle's '' Organon'' that deals with demonstration, definition, and scientific knowledge. The demonstration is distinguished as ''a syllogism productive of scientific knowledge'', while the de ...

''.Norman Kretzmann, Anthony Kenny, Jan Pinborg and Eleonore Stump (eds.), ''The Cambridge History of Later Medieval Philosophy: From the Rediscovery of Aristotle to the Disintegration of Scholasticism, 1100–1600'' (Cambridge University Press, 1988), p. 864.

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