Powers and Causes in Thirteenth- and Fourteenth-Century Thought: the Metaphysics of Causation from Thomas Aquinas to John Buridan. KU Leuven
Aristotle’s “powers” theory of causation is built up on the intuitive idea that when the cue ball knocks the eight ball into the pocket, the cue ball has a power to produce the sinking of the eight ball. On Aristotle’s theory, to cause means to exercise an active power. This project will investigate the thirteenth- and fourteenth-century scholastic tradition inspired by this Aristotelian account, aiming to provide a historical study of ...