The compilations of Bartholomew the Englishman, Thomas of Cantimpré, and Vincent de Beauvais (Speculum naturale) manifest in some manner how perception was considered during the first half of the 13th century. To properly understand perception, though, one has to first deal with the different conceptions of the soul. Two different views of the soul have often been distinguished in these encyclopaedias: one « physiological-medical » and the other « functional-philosophical ». In this paper, I offer an alternative interpretation based on a systematic analysis of the powers of the soul and the various explanations of their faculties. This leads to the conclusion that there are at least four different, yet interconnected views of the soul in the encyclopaedias. In addition, cognition itself is considered a process that encompasses several faculties. These faculties account either for an ascending path towards God or for intellectual knowledge (by means of abstraction). - [Abstract]

Language: French

DOI: 10.4000/rursuspicae.1531