Abstract

CASTELLO, Sofía. Meister Eckhart. Divine Nature by the reductio ad absurdum argument. Scripta Mediaevalia [online]. 2023, vol.16, n.1, pp.139-170.  Epub Aug 22, 2023. ISSN 1851-8753.  http://dx.doi.org/10.48162/rev.35.027.

By a peculiar axiomatic method, Meister Eckhart presents in a selection of passages certain properties of the divine nature through the logical resource of the reductio ad absurdum. After stating that being, unity and infinity are characteristics of the divine essence, Eckhart proposes to develop arguments that have as premises precisely the negation of these. In doing so, all reasoning invariably falls into contradiction. Thus, this paper points out, firstly, methodological considerations that highlight the peculiarity of an axiomatic system in the framework of the Scholastic, on the one hand, and discuss the relationship between this positive predication about God and the via negativa, which would seem to deny the possibility of doing so, on the other. Secondly, it presents the selected arguments. These, in turn, allow us to observe the metaphysical system that operates as the foundation of Eckhartian thought.

Keywords : Axiomatic Method Scholastics Divine Nature Reductio ad absurdum Mediation.

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