Eddie Yeghiayan
"Aristotle and the Franciscans: Gerald Odonis' Commentary on
The Nichomachean Ethics." Ph.D. Dissertation,
Columbia
University, 1984.
Abstract in Dissertation
Abstracts International (April 1985), 45(10A):3150-A.
Abstract: "The purpose of this
study is to place
Gerald Odonis' commentary on the
Nicomachean Ethics in its proper historical
context.
Odonis was master of
theology who served as Minister General of the
Franciscans from 1329 to 1342.
In the late Middle Ages, he was known as the Moral
Doctor. In modern times,
he is best known as an ally of Pope John XXII--the same
pope who canonized
the Dominican Thomas Aquinas and declared heretical the
doctrine of
evangelical poverty so dear to most Franciscans.
Odonis' views on poverty, his
connection with John, and his unpopularity as leader of
the order all raise doubts
about his fidelity to the Franciscan tradition. Odonis'
decision to comment on
the Ethics raises further doubts about his loyalties.
Historians usually see the
Dominicans as Aristotelians. The Franciscans, who are
deemed Augustinians,
are often portrayed as opponents of Aristotle. As
friend of Pope John and a
commentator on the Ethics, one might expect Odonis to
favor Thomas' opinions
over those of the great Franciscan masters. Does
Odonis' commentary prove
him an innovator, who, as one historian suggests,
avenged Aristotle for the
hostility of his confreres? This study reviews the
works of eight thirteenth- and
fourteenth-century Franciscans to determine what the
Franciscan tradition in
ethics actually was in Odonis' day. The review reveals that few
Franciscans ever
displayed the hostility to Aristotle that has sometimes
been attributed to them.
It also shows clear precedents for Odonis' views. On
free will, on incontinence,
on the location and the connection of the virtues,
Odonis' thinking consistently
reflects the influence of his predecessors. He does not
reject the teachings of
earlier Franciscans in deference to the Philosopher.
Instead, he seeks
Aristotle's support for his own positions, and he uses
Aristotle to argue against
the teachings of Thomas Aquinas. If Odonis' readings of
Aristotle are not always
convincing, they are at least sufficiently plausible to
cast doubt on the notion
that Franciscan philosophy is irreconcilable with
Aristotle's philosophy."
"The Good Will According to Gerald Odonis, Duns Scotus, and William of Ockham." Franciscan Studies (1986), 46(24):119-139.
Review of Tamar Rudavsky, ed., Divine Omniscience and Omnipotence in Medieval Philosophy: Islamic, Jewish and Christian Perspectives. Review of Metaphysics (June 1986), 39(4):783-784.
Review of Alan B. Wolter, trans. Duns Scotus on the Will and Morality. Journal of the History of Philosophy (April 1989), 27(2):303-305.
Review of John Duns Scotus' A Treatise on God as First Principle. Translated, edited and with commentary by Allan B. Wolter, O. F. M. International Philosophical Quarterly (September 1986), 26(3):298- 300.
"Transitory Vice: Thomas Aquinas on Incontinence." Journal of the History of Philosophy (April 1989), 27(2):199-223.
"Protecting Children, Born and Unborn." Report from the Institute for Philosophy & Public Policy (1991), 11:13-15.
"Moral Provincialism." Religious Studies (September 1994),
30(3):269-285.
On the Thomism of Alasdair
MacIntyre.
"Does Virtue Make it Easy to be Good? The Probematic Case of St. Paul." In B. Carlos Bazán, Eduardo Andújar and Léonard G. Strocchi, eds., Les philosophies morales et politiques au Moyen Age/Moral and Political Philosophies in the Middle Ages. Actès du IXe congrès international de philosophie médiévale, Ottawa, du 17 au 22 août 1992/Proceedings of the 9th International Congress of Medieval Philosophy, Ottawa, 17-22 August 1992. Soc. intern. pour l'étude de la philos. médiévale. (S.I.E.P.M.) Publications du Laboratoire de la pensée ancienne et médiévale de l'Université d'Ottawa, I, 2. New York & Ottawa: Legas, 1995.
Virtues of the Will: The Transformation of Ethics in the Late Thirteenth Century. Washington, DC: Catholic University of America Press, 1995.
Review of John Horton and Susan Mendus, eds., After MacIntyre: Critical Perspectives on the Work of Alasdair MacIntyre. Philosophical Quarterly (October 1996), 46(185):524-526.
Review of Marcia L. Colish, ed., Peter Lombard, 2 Vols. Journal of the History of Philosophy (January 1996), 34(1):140-142.
"Bonaventure." In Routledge Encyclopedia of Philosophy, Volume 1, pp. 828-835. London & New York: Routledge, 1998.
"Gerard of Odo." In Routledge Encyclopedia of Philosophy, Volume 4, pp. 38-40. London & New York: Routledge, 1998.
"Moral Growth and the Unity of the Virtues." In David Carr and Jan Steutel, eds., Virtue Ethics and Moral Education, pp. 109-124. Routledge International Studies in the Philosophy of Education. London & New York: Routledge, 1999.
"Franciscan Thought." In Adrian Hastings, et al.,The Oxford Companion to Christian Thought, pp. 247-249. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2000.
Review of Cynthia A. Freeland, ed., Feminist Interpretations of Aristotle. Philosophical Quarterly (January 2000), 50(198):112-114.
"Augustine's Ethics." In Norman Kretzmann and Eleonore Stump, eds., Cambridge Companion to Augustine, pp. 205-233. Cambridge & New York: Cambridge University Press, 2001.
"Justice, Passion, and Another's Good: Aristotle Among the Theologians." In Jan A. Aertsen, Kent Emery, Jr., and Andreas Speer, eds., After the Condemnation of 1277: Philosophy and Theology at the University of Paris in the Last Quarter of the Thirteenth Century: Studies and Texts/Nach der Verurteilung von 1277: Philosophie und Theologie an der Universitat von Paris im letzten Viertel des 13. Jahrhunderts: Studien und Texte , pp. 704-718. Miscellanea Mediaevalia, 28. Berlin & New York: de Gruyter, 2001.
"Habits and Virtues." In Stephen J. Pope, ed., Essays on the Ethics of St. Thomas Aquinas. Washington, DC: Georgetown University Press.