Handbook of the History of Logic: - Fordham University Faculty

PETER ABELARD
AND HIS CONTEMPORARIES
Ian Wilks
Peter Abelard’s life extended from 1079 to 1142, with his productive involvement
in the philosophical debates of the time beginning in very early adulthood around
the turn of the century. 1 He received training in logic and philosophy from figures
as eminent as Roscelin and William of Champeaux. His early career as a teacher
reached its apogee around 1115, when he became master of the cathedral school of
Notre Dame. Previous to this he had held similar positions in lesser centers (Melun,
Corbeil, Mont Ste. Geneviève). In 1117 his life was in crisis following his romance
with Heloise and castration at the instigation of her uncle. He subsequently lived in
monastic circumstances for about 15 years in a variety of locations. This change
of milieu consolidated a shift in interests toward work in biblical exegesis and
theology, and after returning to Paris around 1132 his teaching curriculum had
expanded accordingly. When this second Parisian teaching phase ended is not
clear, but it may have been as early as 1136 or as late as 1141. It was certainly
over by the latter date since this is when an assortment of views ascribed to
him was publicly condemned at the Council of Sens, leading to a sentence of
excommunication. He spent the final months of his life near the monastery of
Cluny, receiving there the consolation of having that sentence reversed.
The great recovery of ancient texts which would so shape thirteenth century
thought was only beginning to occur toward the end of Abelard’s life, so his philosophical
horizon was comparatively limited. Of absolutely central importance for
his work in logic were Aristotle’s Categories and De interpretatione, Porphyry’s
Isagoge, and a series of works by Boethius: De topicis differentiis (which concerns
topical theory), De divisione (which concerns definition), De syllogismis categoricis
and De syllogismis hypotheticis (treatises on categorical and hypothetical syllogisms
respectively) and various commentaries, particularly on the above works
of Aristotle and Porphyry [Marenbon, 1997a, p. 37]. Of special importance too
was Priscian’s grammatical treatise Institutiones grammaticae.
Abelard wrote at a time when the commentary was still very much a preferred
authorial format, and most of his work in logic is styled accordingly. Two works
are especially important, both dating around the period from 1115–1120. First,
there is the so-called Logica ingredientibus, a set of four commentaries on Isagoge,
Categories, De interpretatione and De topicis differentiis. Whether Abelard intended
these to be taken in sequence as parts of a single work remains an open
1The following biographical synopsis is based on [Mews, 1995] and [Marenbon, 1997a, pp.
7–35].
Handbook of the History of Logic. Volume 2: Mediaeval and Renaissance Logic
Dov M. Gabbay and John Woods (Editors)
c○ 2007 Elsevier BV. All rights reserved.