Thomas of Erfurt
Thomas of Erfurt (fl. c. 1300) was a German philosopher, the most important of the so-called Modistae. He was probably a native of Erfurt. He had some connection to the University of Paris as a teacher or student. He later taught at St Severus' Church and the Schottenkirche in Erfurt.[1]
Thomas wrote at least six works.[1] His major work, Tractatus de modis significandi seu Grammatica speculativa, was often misattributed to John Duns Scotus until 1922.[2] All the early manuscript evidence supports its attribution to Thomas. It was written before 1310. Attributed to Scotus, it was one of the subjects of Martin Heidegger's 1916 doctoral thesis.[1] Charles Sanders Peirce borrowed the name of the first branch of his system of logic, "speculative grammar", from Thomas.[3] The Grammatica speculativa has been published with English translation and commentary by Godfrey Bursill-Hall (Longman, 1972).
Thomas' other works include commentaries on Porphyry's Isagoge, Aristotle's Categories and On Interpretation, and the anonymous Liber sex principiorum. He also wrote a pedagogical poem on grammar, Commentarius in carmen ‘Fundamentum puerorum’.[1]
Notes[edit]
- ^ a b c d Zupko 2019.
- ^ Beuchot 2002.
- ^ Bellucci 2018, p. 6.
Bibliography[edit]
- Bellucci, Francesco (2018). Peirce's Speculative Grammar: Logic as Semiotics. Routledge.
- Beuchot, Mauricio [in Spanish] (2002). "Thomas of Erfurt". In J. J. E. Gracia; T. N. Noone (eds.). Companion to Philosophy in the Middle Ages. Blackwell Publishing. pp. 662–663.
- Zupko, Jack (2019). "Thomas of Erfurt". In E. N. Zalta (ed.). Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy.
External links[edit]
- Prague, National Library of the Czech Republic, X.F.19 – digitized manuscript of De modis significandi
