Stefano (or Stephen) Pace (1695–1735) was a minor Maltese mediaeval philosopher who specialised mainly in

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 ...

.Mark Montebello, ''Il-Ktieb tal-Filosofija f’Malta'' (''A Source Book of Philosophy in Malta''), PIN Publications, Malta, 2001, Vol. II, p. 74.

Life

Unfortunately, very little is known about the private life of Pace. It seems that, in his youth, he might have been a student at the ''

Studium Generale is the old customary name for a medieval university in medieval Europe. Overview There is no official definition for the term . The term ' first appeared at the beginning of the 13th century out of customary usage, and meant a place where stud ...

'' of the

Dominicans Dominicans () also known as Quisqueyans () are an ethnic group, ethno-nationality, national people, a people of shared ancestry and culture, who have ancestral roots in the Dominican Republic. The Dominican ethnic group was born out of a fusio ...

Valletta Valletta ( ; , ) is the capital city of Malta and one of its 68 Local councils of Malta, council areas. Located between the Grand Harbour to the east and Marsamxett Harbour to the west, its population as of 2021 was 5,157. As Malta’s capital ...

Malta Malta, officially the Republic of Malta, is an island country in Southern Europe located in the Mediterranean Sea, between Sicily and North Africa. It consists of an archipelago south of Italy, east of Tunisia, and north of Libya. The two ...

. It seems he was a diocesan priest. Whatever the case, it is certain that he was a member of the clerical branch of the

Franciscan Order The Franciscans are a group of related organizations in the Catholic Church, founded or inspired by the Italian saint Francis of Assisi. They include three independent Religious institute, religious orders for men (the Order of Friars Minor bei ...

. No portrait of Pace has been discovered so far.

Extant work

Composition

Only one work of Stephen Pace is known. It is a work in three volumes, of which only one – the third – is still extant. This third volume is titled ''La Fisica'' (Physics). However, its complete title is ''La Fisica De’ Peripatetici, Cartesiani, ed Atomisti al paragone della vera fisica d’Aristotele'' (The Physics of the

Peripatetics The Peripatetic school ( ) was a philosophical school founded in 335 BC by Aristotle in the Lyceum in ancient Athens. It was an informal institution whose members conducted philosophical and scientific inquiries. The school fell into decline after ...

Cartesians Cartesianism is the philosophical and scientific system of René Descartes and its subsequent development by other seventeenth century thinkers, most notably François Poullain de la Barre, Nicolas Malebranche and Baruch Spinoza. Descartes is of ...

, and

Atomists Atomism () is a natural philosophy proposing that the physical universe is composed of fundamental indivisible components known as atoms. References to the concept of atomism and its atoms appeared in both ancient Greek and ancient Indian philo ...

, as compared to the True Physics of

Aristotle Aristotle (; 384–322 BC) was an Ancient Greek philosophy, Ancient Greek philosopher and polymath. His writings cover a broad range of subjects spanning the natural sciences, philosophy, linguistics, economics, politics, psychology, a ...

). It might be guessed that the former two volumes would have dealt with

metaphysics Metaphysics is the branch of philosophy that examines the basic structure of reality. It is traditionally seen as the study of mind-independent features of the world, but some theorists view it as an inquiry into the conceptual framework of ...

and perhaps

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 ...

. But this, of course, cannot be ascertained. In any case, it is interesting that this book (and presumably the other volumes as well) was published in Venice, at the publishing house of Lorenzo Basegio. This alone might attest to Pace’s foreign experience as well as his standing amongst foreigners. The extant volume on physics is in Italian and was published in 1729. The other volumes of the set must have been similar, and published around that year too. ''La Fisica'' contains 522 pages.

Content

The volume is divided into seven Treatises, and each one is sub-divided into Chapters. The title of the book might give the impression that Pace deals with physics in the sense commonly understood, as general or particular physics. However, in fact the work is specifically about the physical qualities and characteristics of animals, specifically from the point of view of

. Pace takes pains to refuse the interpretations given by various other Aristotelian commentators or by philosophers in general. As promised, he includes in his refutation some

, and also other Physicalists. His detailed analysis in the treatises, all dealing with animals, focuses on the vegetative soul, the sensitive soul; movement, reproduction and nutrition, and the nature and faculties of the sensitive soul and the rational souls. At the end of his work, Pace includes an illustration on the physical structure of the eye, and the brain.

Appreciation

It can only be imagined what the two former volumes of Pace’s trilogy dealt with. However, if the third extant volume is anything to go by with, they must have been enormously interesting from a philosophical point of view. Not only as regards content but surely also as regards intensity, extensiveness and depth. Especially if they dealt with metaphysics and logic. Having said this, it is certain that much research is needed in order that the full value of Pace is recognised. It is a pity, for instance, that the first two volumes of his trilogy have not yet been located. These would surely contribute to a fuller understanding of his philosophy and his worth. Furthermore, the dearth of information concerning Pace’s personal life is truly unfortunate. He was not part of the great monastic movements, and yet he seems to have been a considerable success, both locally and abroad. This alone must be a sign of his esteem and value. The discoveries to be made might well justify the effort.

References

Sources

* Mark Montebello, ''Il-Ktieb tal-Filosofija f’Malta'' (''A Source Book of Philosophy in Malta''), PIN Publications, Malta, 2001.