Pierre Ceffons on Divine Simplicity, Part II: Mathematic Theology, Infinity, and the Body-Soul Problem in His In primum Sententiarum, distinctio 8, quaestio 2

Abstract

This is part II of a two-part article presenting an edition of the two questions from the Cistercian Pierre Ceffons' lectures on distinction 8 of book I of the Sentences, delivered at Paris in the fall of 1348. The topic is divine simplicity, necessity, and immutability, but, as elsewhere, Ceffons shifts the focus to interesting tangential issues. In the case of question 2 on God's simplicity, treated here, Ceffons drifts to collateral topics: the infinite, covered briefly and linked to other pertinent discussions of the period, and the perfectio specierum, indirectly touching the main subject of the question. Finally, Ceffons deals in detail with the connection between soul and body, which can neither be demonstrated nor denied. © 2018 by Recherches de Théologie et Philosophie médiévales. All rights reserved.