Citation

Boureau A. Revue des Sciences Philosophiques et Theologiques 2021; 104(3): 423-440.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2021)

DOI

10.3917/rspt.1043.0423

PMID

unavailable

Abstract

Examined here is theology's resolution in the central Middle Ages to remain a science that would not be the mere transcription of anxieties, at once universal and contextual, that pervaded Europe in the late Middle Ages. Towards the end of the 13th century demonology became an autonomous sector of theology, as is illustrated by three treatises on demons written between 1270 and 1300, constituted by an assemblage of questions disputed by Thomas Aquinas, Peter John Olivi and Richard of Middleton. Paradoxically, it was new anthropological considerations that blazed a trail for reflection on the demon (for example, suicidal temptation and forgetfullness). Finally, demonology formed a rational framework for thinking about causality (for example, the sacramental pact) and the antagonism of supernatural actions, all the while promoting a theology of risk. © 2021 Librairie Philosophique J. Vrin. All rights reserved.

Language: fr

Keywords

Risk; Suicide; Thomas Aquinas; Demons; Devil; Forgetfullness; Pact; Peter John Olivi; Richard of Middleton