Francisco Suárez, S.J. (1548-1617):
Last Medieval or First Early Modern?

 



Forthcoming from Oxford University Press:

The Philosophy of Francisco Suárez

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Book Content: 11 Chapters

 

Abstract: Chapter 4 [pdf download]
Author: Jorge Secada (University of Virginia)

Suarez on Continuous Quantity

The paper expounds Suarezīs Aristotelian account of quantity, showing how he straddles between a pre-modern (ie pre-Cartesian) conception of quantity as a form of material substances, and as intrinsically involving qualitative elements, and a modern mathematical conception of body. The paper focuses on his treatment of continuity to bring into clear focus Suarezīs connections to both Descartes and his followers, and to the prior Aristotelian tradition. One theme runing through the paper is the relation between conceptual continuity and discontinuity in intellectual history, and in particular in the history of philosophy.