Abstract
Dominicus Gundissalinus (or Gundisalvi), Spanish Domingo Gundisalvo, c. 1110–1190, Archdeacon of Cuéllar (in the Diocese of Segovia), is the most prominent representative of the so-called Toledo School of Translators. Not only did he translate over 20 philosophical tracts from Arabic into Latin, including works of al-Kindī, al-Fārābī, Avicenna, Ibn Gabirol, and al-Ġazālī, he also authored five philosophical works: Tractatus de anima, De immortalitate animae, De unitate et uno, De processione mundi, and De divisione philosophiae. Relying on Arabic as well as Latin sources, these works represent original, and often pioneering, contributions to the history of psychology (as the first instance of a Latin reception of Avicennian psychology), ontology, and metaphysics (with the introduction of the term “metaphysica” to the Latin West), as well as epistemology (giving up the traditional ordo scientiarum, i.e., the scheme of the liberal arts, in favor of an Aristotelian division of the sciences). In particular, his theory of knowledge and science, which is built around important elements from Aristotelian epistemology, was very influential in the Paris Arts faculty during the thirteenth century and was taken up by, among others, Arnulfus Provincialis, Robert Kilwardby, and Remigio dei Girolami. Some of Gundissalinus’ works were translated into Hebrew.
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References
Primary Sources
Works
Dominicus, G. (1897). De immortalitate animae. In G. Bülow (Ed.), BGPhMA II, 3. Münster: Aschendorff. (English trans: William of Auvergne (1991) The immortality of the soul, trans. Teske R. R. Milwaukee: Marquette University Press).
Dominicus, G. (1940). De anima, ed. Muckle J. Th. Medieval Studies, 2, 23–103. (Ed. of the medieval Hebrew trans. by Schwartz Y. in A. Fidora, et al. (Eds.), Latin-into-Hebrew: Texts and studies. Volume two: Texts in context (pp. 225–297). Leiden: Brill).
Dominicus, G. (1999). De processione mundi (ed. and Spanish trans.: Soto Bruna, M. J., & Alonso del Real, C.). Pamplona: EUNSA (English trans: Dominicus Gundissalinus (2002) The procession of the world, trans. Laumakis, J. A. Milwaukee: Marquette University Press).
Dominicus, G. (2006). De scientiis (ed. and German trans.: Schneider, J. H. J.). Freiburg i. Br.: Herder.
Dominicus, G. (2007). De divisione philosophiae (ed. and German trans.: Fidora., A., & Werner, D.). Freiburg i. Br.: Herder (partial English trans: Grant, E. (Ed.) (1974) A source book in medieval science. Cambridge: Harvard University Press, pp. 59–76).
Dominicus, G. (2015). De unitate et uno (ed. and Spanish trans.: Soto Bruna, M. J., & Alonso del Real, C.). Pamplona: EUNSA. (Ed. of the medieval Hebrew trans. by Schwartz Y. in A. Fidora, et al. (Eds.), Latin-into-Hebrew: Texts and studies. Volume two: Texts in context (pp. 281–287). Leiden: Brill).
Translations by Gundissalinus
Alexander of Aphrodisias. (1926). De intellectu et intellecto. In G. Théry (Ed.), Autour du décret de 1210: II. Alexandre d’Aphrodise (pp. 68–83). Kain: Le Saulchoir.
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al-Fārābī. (1937–1938). Fontes quaestionum (ed.: Bignami-Odier, J.). Arch Hist Doct Litt M-Âge 12–13:154–155.
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Translations with Gundissalinus’ Participation
al-Ġazālī. (1933). In J. T. Muckle (Ed.), Algazel’s metaphysics. A medieval translation. Toronto: St. Michael’s College.
al-Ġazālī. (1965). Logica (ed.: Lohr, Ch.). Traditio 21:223–290.
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Avicenna. (1968–1972). De viribus cordis. In S. van Riet (Ed.), Avicenna, Liber de anima seu sextus de naturalibus, vol II (pp. 187–210). Louvain/Leiden: Peeters/Brill.
Avicenna. (1992). In S. van Riet (Ed.), Liber primus naturalium. Tractatus primus de causis et principiis naturalium. Louvain: Peeters/Brill.
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Fidora, A. (2020). Dominicus Gundissalinus. In: Lagerlund, H. (eds) Encyclopedia of Medieval Philosophy. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-024-1665-7_147
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