Abstract

Matthew of Aquasparta (c. 1237-1302) was a theologian who made a considerable career in the Franciscan order. In his theory of the human soul, he accepted the plurality of forms and opposed the conception of the unity to the soul and its powers. Among epistemological issues, he developed the elements of the theory of intuitive knowledge which became important in the thought of John Duns Scotus and William Ockham. Matthew pointed out that Augustine refuted the ancient skeptics by the soul’s certain knowledge of its own existence. He also defended the Augustinian theory of illumination in his epistemology and the freedom of the will over the intellect.

Matthew of Aquasparta was born of the noble Bentivenghi family and made a strong ecclesiastical career in the Franciscan order. He entered the order as a child in Umbria but moved to Paris for university studies at about 1268, becoming a student of Bonaventure and John Peckham. He taught at Bologna, Paris and the Papal Curia. In the year 1287, he became the minister general of the order.

Matthew’s university studies were no doubt influenced by the doctrinal quarrels between Thomas Aquinas and other Aristotelian thinkers on the one hand, and the Bonaventure and other Augustinians on the other. While Matthew of Aquasparta was not really a highly original mind, he was a clear and acute Franciscan thinker continuing on the lines set by Bonaventure. In his theory of the human soul, he accepted the plurality of forms and thereby opposed attributing strong unity to the soul and its powers. Among epistemological issues, Matthew defended the capability of human intellect to directly perceive individuals. He divided intellectual knowledge into three classes: acquaintance by sign (per ratiocinationem), by direct apprehension (per inspectivam contuitionem; per intuitionem), and by understanding the essence (per quidditatis speculationem), and thus developed the theory of intuitive knowledge that became very important in the accounts of intellectual knowledge of singulars by later Franciscans John Duns Scotus and William Ockham. Matthew also pointed out that

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Augustine refuted the ancient skeptics by the soul’s certain knowledge of its own existence. He defended the Augus-tinian theory of illumination in his epistemology, and defended the freedom of the will over the intellect.

See also: > Consciousness > Intuitive and Abstractive Cognition > John Duns Scotus > Will > William of Ockham