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Thomas Bradwardine

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Encyclopedia of Medieval Philosophy

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Abstract

Thomas Bradwardine (c. 1300–1349), Merton theologian and Archbishop of Canterbury, famous both for his innovative treatises on physics and mathematics and for his vigorous attack on what he perceived as a revival of Pelagianism in Ockham’s thought regarding divine foreknowledge and future contingents. Bradwardine was one of the “Calculators” of Merton College, philosophers who emphasized the need to incorporate mathematically precise reasoning into problems associated with Aristotelian physics. His treatment of the relation of variation in the velocities of moving objects to variation in the force and resistance affecting velocity led him to postulate the need for geometric, rather than arithmetic, ratios in understanding kinematics, which would eventually develop into logarithmic mathematics. Bradwardine became interested in formal theology when investigating Ockham’s account of how God knows created actions as contingencies. His De causa Dei is a compendious refutation of every imaginable species of reasoning that denies God certain, necessary knowledge of all created action, representing the high watermark of Augustinian determinism in pre-Reformation Western theology. Unless further manuscript discoveries are made, particularly of his commentary on the Sentences, it is unlikely that Bradwardine’s theological position can be connected to his earlier mathematically oriented thinking. Bradwardine was a member of the influential circle of thinkers associated with the Bishop Richard de Bury of Durham and was closely associated with Edward III; Black Death limited the duration of his occupation of the see of Canterbury to little more than a month.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Classics and Religious Studies, University of Nebraska, Lincoln, NE, USA

    Stephen E. Lahey

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  1. Stephen E. Lahey
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Correspondence to Stephen E. Lahey .

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  1. London, Ontario, Canada

    Henrik Lagerlund

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Lahey, S.E. (2018). Thomas Bradwardine. In: Lagerlund, H. (eds) Encyclopedia of Medieval Philosophy. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-024-1151-5_492-2

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-024-1151-5_492-2

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  • Print ISBN: 978-94-024-1151-5

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