Paul Bakker, born in The Hague, the Netherlands, in 1966. Ph.D. from Radboud University Nijmegen. Professor of Medieval and Renaissance Philosophy at Radboud University Nijmegen.
Fellow (1 September 2010 – 30 June 2011)
ARISTOTLE’S DE ANIMA IN THE LATIN MIDDLE AGES AND RENAISSANCE
During my stay at NIAS, I worked on a monograph on the tradition of (Latin) commentaries on Aristotle’s De anima from the period between 1250 and 1700. In my book, I focus on the relation between issues of methodology (as discussed in relation to book I of Aristotle’s De anima) and questions of psychological theory (as treated in books II and III). I also worked on the manuscript tradition of William of Moerbeke’s Latin translation of Aristotle’s De anima. Aristotle’s text in its Latin translation dominated all psychological discussions from the 1270s until well into the seventeenth century. It was one of the most widely read philosophical texts during the Middle Ages and the Renaissance. In addition, I completed articles on several medieval and Renaissance commentaries on De anima and on the Metaphysics.