Original scientific paper
THE MEANING OF SOME PHILOSOPHICAL TERMS IN THE WORK DE ESSENTIIS OF HERMAN THE DALMATIAN
Abstract
The paper deals with some philosophical Latin terms of the 12th century, especially in the work De essentiis of Herman the Dalmatian. At that time authors used philosophical terms very differently which has had especially bad consequences in the translations of Arabic
texts into Latin. For that reason some Arabic philosophical terms have been translated differently into Latin. The paper deals especially with the philosophical Latin terms essentia and habitudo as used by Herman and authors of that time. Because Herman was under
great influence from Boetius, Herman's use of these terms is compared, in this paper, with their use in Boetius's works De institutione arithmetica and De institutione musica, as in the Pseudo-Boetius work Geometria. It is shown that the terms essentia and existentia are used synonymously by Pseudo-Bede in the work De aritmeticis propositionibus. These terms had the same meaning in the 12th century, too, which is very important for understanding
the term essentia as used in Herman's work and generally at that time. The paper shows how the terms essentia and habitudo must be treated in contemporary translation of Latin texts of the 12th century into modern languages. The paper also compares the English translation of Herman's work De essentiis by Charles Burnett with the English translation of Boetius's work De institutione arithmetica by Michael Masi with respect to the term habitudo. In fact, Burnett does not translate the term habitudo into English, considering its translation to be impossible, but Masi translates it as relation. It is also
emphasized that, in the Croatian translation of Herman's work De essentiis by Antun Slavko Kalenić, the terms essentia and habitudo translate in a manner very different from their meaning in the 12th century. The paper also emphasizes the true meanings of the terms
essentia and habitudo in the 12th century, and especially in Herman's work De essentiis. It is also emphasized that not all philosophical terms used in the 12th century have the same meaning as the same terms in the philosophy of Thomas Aquinas in the 13th century.
Keywords
Herman the Dalmatian; Boetius; Pseudo-Bede; essentia; exsistentia; habitudo
Hrčak ID:
176232
URI
Publication date:
22.12.2016.
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