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Document Details : Title: Between Peckham and Buridan Subtitle: Visual Representation in 15th-Century Vienna Disputations Author(s): LIČKA, Lukáš Journal: Recherches de Théologie et Philosophie Médiévales Volume: 92 Issue: 1 Date: 2025 Pages: 191-221 DOI: 10.2143/RTPM.92.1.3294379 Abstract : This article analyses theories of visual representation extracted from various, mostly unpublished, texts from the 15th-century University of Vienna: disputation materials, commentaries on Aristotle’s De anima and John Peckham’s Perspectiva communis, and compendia of natural philosophy. It examines two idiosyncratic claims developed and defended by Vienna masters: the first claim proposes that visual representations are extended and, in some way, ‘shaped’ according to the objects seen, with parts distinctly representing the respective parts of the latter. The second claim is that acts of the external senses are concepts of a sort, signifying the substance of the object seen and connoting its colour, shape, place, and other accidents. Thus, the Vienna masters advocated and expanded the Buridanian idea of the rich content of visual representation: we see not only colours, but objects as modified by diverse visible properties. The article investigates whether any Vienna scholar endorsed both claims, and whether they are compatible in principle. |
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