The Mechanization of Nature: Matter, Body, and Motion in Blasius of Parma's Physics - (Studien Und Texte Zur Geistesgeschichte Des Mittelalters)

About the Book

The first book in English presenting the mechanical thinking of Blasius of Parma.

Book Synopsis

This book presents a groundbreaking study of the Italian philosopher and scientist, Blasius of Parma (1350-1416). For the first time in English, it presents key elements of his commentary on Aristotle's Physics both through interpretive analysis and edited texts.
The main interpretive claim is that Blasius is an early mechanical philosopher. It shows this by studying six carefully selected aspects of his physics. These six aspects are Blasius' (1) use of mechanics (science of weights), (2) analysis of causality, (3) account of motion, (4) analysis of rarefaction and condensation, (5) view of artifacts, and (6) the use of a new analytical language in physics.
Authors of the interpretive essays are Erik Åkerlund, Joël Biard, Henrik Lagerlund, and Sylvain Roudaut.

About the Author

Henrik Lagerlund, Ph.D. (1999), Uppsala University, is Professor of the History of Philosophy at Stockholm University. He has published several books and articles on Medieval and Renaissance philosophy, including Interpreting Buridan: Critical Essays (2024) and Skepticism in Philosophy: A Comprehensive, Historical Introduction (2020).
Sylvain Roudaut, Ph.D. (2017), University of Rennes, is Senior Researcher at the CNRS (SPHERE, Paris). His research focuses on the interaction between philosophy, science, and mathematics in the Latin and Arabic traditions in the Middle Ages. He published La mesure de l'être (2021) and Hylomorphism into Pieces: Elements, Atoms, and Corpuscles in Natural Philosophy and Medicine, 1400-1600 (2024).
Erik Åkerlund, Ph.D. (2011), Uppsala University, is Lecturer in Philosophy at The Newman Institute, Uppsala (Sweden). He has a research focus on 15th to 17th century philosophy, especially natural philosophy but also extending to political philosophy. His articles include "Chrysostom Javellus and Francis Silvestri on Final Causation" (2024) and "Models of Finality: Aristotle, Buridan, and Averroes" (2023).
Robert Andrews, Ph.D. (1988), Cornell University, was Associate Professor at The Franciscan Institute of St. Bonaventure University and is now associate of the Centre for Medieval Studies, Stockholm University. Published volumes include Robert Greystones on Certainty and Skepticism with Mark Henninger and Jennifer Ottman (2020) and several co-edited volumes of B. Ioannis Duns Scoti Opera philosophica (1997-2004).