Roscelin , born in 1050 with Compiegne (current Department of Oise), died with Besancon in 1120, is a Philosophe Scolastique French, considered as the founder of the Nominalisme.

Biography

Roscelin was born in the middle of the 11th century with Compiegne. He studies with Soissons and Rheims then sign in his birthplace, with Tours, Loches (where he will be the professor of Abélard) and in end with Besancon where he dies towards 1120.

Doctrines

The thought of Roscelin marks a material change in the medieval Philosophie; he is indeed the first nominalist of which we knew a little the Doctrine. But we are especially well informed on his thought by its adversaries. The first documents on him come us from the school of the Nozzle between 1089 and 1099: a monk sends a letter on Roscelin to Anselme (what was a practice of rather current denouncement).

Roscelin supported the sententia vocum , i.e the doctrines of the words: the Kind S and the Espèce S are, as Anselme represents it, in its work De Incarnatione Verbi , of the flatus vocis (of the emissions of voice), and not of the Chose S, because the things are real individuals. Thus, a particular individual Réel is , and the Mot which one employs to indicate it indicates something of reality. On the other hand, the species man does not exist.

But the consequences of this nominalism will prove to be dangerous. Indeed, applied to the Théologie, these doctrines result in supporting that the People (the Father, the Spirit, the Son) are three things different but identical by the capacity and the will, and incarnated in the Son and not a gasoline, which amounts destroying the Trinité. However, for Anselme, that amounts not understanding that the three People are God and only one, just as several men are only one in species. The nominalists cannot thus include/understand the Trinity. It should be noticed that Anselme does not say that Roscelin applies the Nominalisme to the Théologie. That Roscelin actually did that is a point which remains rather doubtful.

But at all events, this theological thesis, allotted to Roscelin, was initially suspectée (wrongly or rightly, it is difficult to establish it) by Anselme, because denying the existence of the universal substances, it would amount admitting the existence of several individual Substance S, therefore of three Gods; what is reproached Roscelin, it is its alleged tritheism (charge taken again by Abélard, its former student):

“the Roscelin clerk affirms that as a God, the three people separately exist from/to each other, like three angels, in way however that its will and its power are ones, - or that the Father and the Holy Spirit are incarnated; that one could really say that there are three gods, if the use allowed it. ”

Later, Abélard, by showing its former Master of Heresy, will be much harder than Anselme, when he writes that he is:

“the enemy antique of the faith catholic, the largest adversary of God, carried, arrogant and always proud, whose hateful heresy, established with the council of Soissons, was punished of exile, because he recognized and preached three gods. ”

A council (as Abélard indicates it) will be indeed joined together by the archbishop of Rheims. For Anselme, whoever supports the blasphemy of Roscelin must be anathema:

“not to listen to it, to ask for any reason of its error to him, to return any the truth of it to him, the anathématiser if he does not repudiate the error whose he is recognized the author. Because our faith must be defended by the reason against the irreligious people, not against those which are recognized Christian. ”

Roscelin was thus shown without being able to defend oneself for doctrines which would not be in fact not him. Roscelin abjured this “error” of fear of being lapidated by the people. But Roscelin continues to teach its thought; a letter that Yves of Chartres is addressed to him known as indeed:

“I know that after the council of Soissons, you defended with much heat your old opinion, in clandestine discussions, and in front of people whom we know well one and the other, whom you wanted to make them accept the doctrines that you abjured and others not foolish. ”

See too

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• medieval Philosophy
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