Natural philosophy and medicine in John Buridan. With an edition of Buridan's Quaestiones de secretis mulierum

Abstract

This work examines the relationship between natural philosophy and medicine in the works of John Buridan († ca. 1361), especially in his commentaries on De anima, De generatione et corruptione, the Parva naturalia (in particular De longitudine et brevitate vitae and De morte et vita), and De secretis mulierum. In addition, this study provides the first critical edition of Buridan’s questions commentary on pseudo-Albertus Magnus’ De secretis mulierum (On Women’s Secrets). I trace the main features of Buridan’s description of the human body related to sensation, nutrition, generation, health and disease, ageing, and coming-to-death. Ultimately, I show that Buridan’s description of living organisms relies to a large extent on medical ideas. It invites us to consider in what ways Buridan walks on and off the Aristotelian path when the description of biological phenomena is concerned.