Colloquium: Daniel Novotný on Francisco Suárez’s "Disputationes metaphysicae" – system, sources, influence

On 5 May from 16.15–17.45 in room Jakobi 2–336, Daniel Novotný from the University of South Bohemia will deliver a colloquium exploring Francisco Suárez’s influential work „Disputationes metaphysicae“ (1597).

Abstract:

„Francisco Suárez’s Disputationes metaphysicae (1597): System, Sources, Influence“

The „Disputationes metaphysicae“ was doubtlessly an epoch-making book. Over the centuries, it has been read and praised not only by scholastic authors but also by nonscholastic thinkers such as Schopenhauer and Heidegger. In this presentation, I shall:

1. describe the systematic framework of the work and examine its character;
2. briefly indicate some of the many sources on which Suárez draws; and
3. discuss its influence, particularly with respect to the rich post-Suárezian scholastic textbook culture initiated by Pedro Hurtado de Mendoza (1578–1641).

From a systematic point of view, I shall argue that Suárez not only attempts to construct a rigorous Aristotelian–Avicennian science of being, but also imparts to the work a certain dialectical character, which may be seen as an attempt to capture the “contrary aspects of reality.” This peculiarity may at least in part explain why its impact is far more difficult to assess than is usually assumed.

Image