When Oresme arrived in Paris in the middle of 1330, the most renowned teacher at the arts faculty was John Buridan, who is often mentioned as Oresme’s teacher and mentor. This, however, is most unlikely. According to the university statutes, Oresme could not have officially studied under Buridan’s supervision, since students were allowed to enroll only with a master from their own nation. Buridan, who originated from Bethune, had to affiliate to Picardian nation whereas Oresme had to enroll with a master from Norman nation. Though Buridan could scarcely have been Oresme’s supervising master, it is possible that Oresme attended his lectures since students in the faculty of arts had the right to attend the lectures held by the masters of other nations. Oresme could have also consulted Buridan’s works in the libraries kept by the institutions affiliated to the university. Buridan offers us a small piece of evidence, which shows that the two scholars were in contact, even though it does not reveal the extent of their collaboration. In his treatise Quaestiones super meteorum, he noted that ‘‘The Reverend Master Nichole Oresme said to me himself to have seen two <parhelions>, one on either side of the sun.’’
In many respects these two scholars have a unique profile. Buridan remained at the faculty of arts all of his life never taking a theological degree whereas Oresme, after completing his studies in the arts, continued in the theological faculty and eventually pursued an ecclesiastical career. A major share of Buridan’s works is commentaries on Aristotle, whereas, apart from three commentaries, most of Oresme’s production consists of treatises on separate scientific topics. When Buridan focuses on logic and leaves mathematics aside, Oresme does the opposite. Although both scholars shared the conviction that ultimate truth is based on faith and that even the most certain human knowledge is merely contingent and probable, their mentality differ considerably from each other. Buridan was a natural philosopher who mostly considered Aristotelian natural philosophy to be a valid and sufficient foundation for scientific knowledge. Oresme, for his part, was ultimately a theologian who had severe doubts about results achieved through reason and experience. These were not capable of identifying the true explanation for physical problems from all the given tentative alternative explanations. Eventually, Oresme’s aim was to cast doubt on the theories and power of natural philosophy, to attain certain knowledge in order to protect the truths of faith. Human knowledge was always second to God’s, who alone could know the true causes of natural phenomena.
World History
