Nicholas of Autrecourt ( French: ''Nicholas d'Autrécourt'';

Latin Latin ( or ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic languages, Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally spoken by the Latins (Italic tribe), Latins in Latium (now known as Lazio), the lower Tiber area aroun ...

: ''Nicolaus de Autricuria'' or ''Nicolaus de Ultricuria''; c. 1299, Autrecourt – 16 or 17 July 1369,

Metz Metz ( , , , then ) is a city in northeast France located at the confluence of the Moselle (river), Moselle and the Seille (Moselle), Seille rivers. Metz is the Prefectures in France, prefecture of the Moselle (department), Moselle Departments ...

) was a French medieval philosopher and Scholastic

theologian Theology is the study of religious belief from a religious perspective, with a focus on the nature of divinity. It is taught as an academic discipline, typically in universities and seminaries. It occupies itself with the unique content of ...

Life and thought

Born in Autrecourt, near

Verdun Verdun ( , ; ; ; official name before 1970: Verdun-sur-Meuse) is a city in the Meuse (department), Meuse departments of France, department in Grand Est, northeastern France. It is an arrondissement of the department. In 843, the Treaty of V ...

, he was educated at Paris and earned bachelor's degrees in theology and law and a master's degree in arts. Nicholas is known principally for developing

skepticism Skepticism ( US) or scepticism ( UK) is a questioning attitude or doubt toward knowledge claims that are seen as mere belief or dogma. For example, if a person is skeptical about claims made by their government about an ongoing war then the p ...

to extreme

logic Logic is the study of correct reasoning. It includes both formal and informal logic. Formal logic is the study of deductively valid inferences or logical truths. It examines how conclusions follow from premises based on the structure o ...

al conclusions. He is sometimes considered the sole genuinely skeptic philosopher of medieval times. Nicholas founded his skeptical position on arguments that knowledge claims were not "reducible to the first principle," that is, that it was not contradictory to deny them. His views have been compared to those of

David Hume David Hume (; born David Home; – 25 August 1776) was a Scottish philosopher, historian, economist, and essayist who was best known for his highly influential system of empiricism, philosophical scepticism and metaphysical naturalism. Beg ...

, but it has been suggested that the similarities are superficial, and there is no evidence Nicholas influenced Hume, or other modern philosophers such as

René Descartes René Descartes ( , ; ; 31 March 1596 – 11 February 1650) was a French philosopher, scientist, and mathematician, widely considered a seminal figure in the emergence of modern philosophy and Modern science, science. Mathematics was paramou ...

. Whether Nicholas was committed to skepticism is unclear, but on 19 May 1346 his views were condemned by

Pope Clement VI Pope Clement VI (; 1291 – 6 December 1352), born Pierre Roger, was head of the Catholic Church from 7 May 1342 to his death, in December 1352. He was the fourth Avignon pope. Clement reigned during the first visitation of the Black Death (1 ...

as heretical. Nicholas was sentenced to burn his books publicly and recant, which he did in Paris in 1347. In the 14th century, Nicholas of Autrecourt considered that matter, space, and time were all made up of indivisible atoms, points, and instants and that all generation and corruption took place by the rearrangement of material atoms. The similarities of his ideas with those of

al-Ghazali Al-Ghazali ( – 19 December 1111), archaically Latinized as Algazelus, was a Shafi'i Sunni Muslim scholar and polymath. He is known as one of the most prominent and influential jurisconsults, legal theoreticians, muftis, philosophers, the ...

suggest that Nicholas was familiar with the work of al-Ghazali, who was known as "Algazel" in Europe, either directly or indirectly through

Averroes Ibn Rushd (14 April 112611 December 1198), archaically Latinization of names, Latinized as Averroes, was an Arab Muslim polymath and Faqīh, jurist from Al-Andalus who wrote about many subjects, including philosophy, theology, medicine, astron ...

. Much of the extant knowledge of Nicholas of Autrecourt's epistemology derives from one letter written by magister Egidius (master Giles) to Nicholas and an excerpt from his letter in reply to Egidius and from nine letters written by Nicholas to the Franciscan theologian Bernardus Aretinus (Bernard of

Arezzo Arezzo ( , ; ) is a city and ''comune'' in Italy and the capital of the Province of Arezzo, province of the same name located in Tuscany. Arezzo is about southeast of Florence at an elevation of Above mean sea level, above sea level. As of 2 ...

); however, only two of the nine letters survive. Some fragments of the lost letters are quoted in the records of the condemnatory proceedings against Nicholas. Almost nothing is known about these two correspondents.

References

* Stefano Caroti, Christophe Grellard (eds.), ''Nicolas d'Autrécourt et la faculté des arts de Paris (1317-1340)'', Cesena, Stilgraf Editrice, 2006. * Dutton, B.D., “Nicholas of Autrecourt and William of Ockham on Atomism, Nominalism, and the Ontology of Motion,” Medieval Philosophy and Theology 5 (1996), 63-85. * Christophe Greillard, ''Croire et savoir: les principes de la connaissance selon Nicolas d'Autrécourt'', Parigi, Vrin, 2005. * Christophe Greillard, ''Nicholas of Autrecourt'', in Henrtik Lagerlund (ed.), ''Encyclopedia of Medieval Philosophy'', Dordrecht: Springer, 2011, pp. 876–878. * Zénon Kaluza, ''Nicolas d‘Autrecourt. Ami de la vérité'', in: Histoire littéraire de la France, vol. 42, fasc. 1. Paris, 1995, pp. 1–233. *

Hastings Rashdall Hastings Rashdall (24 June 1858 – 9 February 1924) was an English philosopher, Theology, theologian, historian, and Anglican priest. He expounded a theory known as Utilitarianism#Ideal utilitarianism, ideal utilitarianism, and he was a maj ...

,
Nicholas de Ultracuria: a medieval Hume
', Proceedings of the Aristotelian Society N.S. 7 (1906-7), 1-27. * T. K. Scott, ''Nicholas of Autrecourt, Buridan, and Ockhamism'', Journal of the History of Philosophy 9 (1971), 15-41. * J.M.M.H. Thijssen, ''The ‘Semantic Articles’ of Autrecourt's Condemnation'', Archives d‘histoire doctrinale et littéraire du moyen âge, 65 (1990), 155-175.

External links

*
Nicholas of Autrecourt
at

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{{DEFAULTSORT:Autrecourt, Nicholas of 1299 births 1369 deaths Year of birth uncertain People from Meuse (department) 14th-century French philosophers Scholastic philosophers Nominalists 14th-century writers in Latin Skeptic philosophers French male writers French sceptics

Life and thought

See also

References

Further reading

English translations

Studies

External links