The Ontology, Psychology and Axiology of Habits (Habitus) in Medieval Philosophy

This book features 20 essays that explore how Latin medieval philosophers and theologians from Anselm to Buridan conceived of habitus, as well as detailed studies of the use of the concept by Augustine and of the reception of the medieval doctrines of habitus in Suàrez and Descartes. Habitus are defined as stable dispositions to act or think in a certain way. This definition was passed down to the medieval thinkers from Aristotle and, to a lesser extent, Augustine, and played a key role in many of the philosophical and theological developments of the time.

Written by leading experts in medieval and modern philosophy, the book offers a historical overview that examines the topic in light of recent advances in medieval cognitive psychology and medieval moral theory. Coverage includes such topics as the metaphysics of the soul, the definition of virtue and vice, and the epistemology of self-knowledge. The book also contains an introduction that is the first attempt at a comprehensive survey of the nature and function of habitus in medieval thought.

The material will appeal to a wide audience of historians of philosophy and contemporary philosophers. It is relevant as much to the historian of ancient philosophy who wants to track the historical reception of Aristotelian ideas as it is to historians of modern philosophy who would like to study the progressive disappearance of the term “habitus” in the early modern period and the concepts that were substituted for it. In addition, the volume will also be of interest to contemporary philosophers open to historical perspectives in order to renew current trends in cognitive psychology, virtue epistemology, and virtue ethics.

Introduction (Nicolas Faucher).- 1. Laboratoire d’Etudes sur les Monothéismes: “Habitus selon Augustin: tradition philosophique et exégèse biblique” (Isabelle Bochet).- 2. University of California Irvine: “Speaking Theologically: The Concept of Habitus in Peter Lombard and his Followers” (Bonnie Kent).- 3. Université Clermont-Ferrand II Blaise Pascal: “La volonté et son orientation. Augustin, Anselme et Duns Scot sur l’habitus” (Kristell Trego,).- 4.Université de Genève-Université de Lausanne: “Intellection in Aquinas: From Habit to Operation” (Hamid Taieb).- 5. Universität Salzburg: “As one is disposed, so the goal appears to him: On the Function of Moral Habits according to Thomas Aquinas” (Rolf Darge).- 6. Laboratoire d’Etudes sur les Monothéismes-Ecole Pratique des Hautes Etudes-Università degli Studi di Bari: “What does a habitus of the soul do? The case of the habitus of faith in Bonaventure, Peter John Olivi and John Duns Scotus” (Nicolas Faucher).- 7. Jyväskylän Yliopisto-Suomen Akatemia: “Habitual Perception in Peter Olivi: An Abstract” (Juhana Toivanen).- 8. University of Toronto: “Duns Scotus on Whether Moral Virtues Cause Moral Goodness” (Ian Drummond).- 9. Loyola University Chicago: “Habit and Act in Durandus of Saint-Pourçain” (Peter Hartman).- 10. University of Toronto: “Peter Auriol on habits and virtues” (Martin Pickavé).- 11. Centre d’Etudes Supérieures sur la Renaissance-Freie Universität Berlin: “Habitus and Act According to William of Ockham” (Magali Roques).- 12. Katholieke Universiteit Leuven: “Ockham on Knowledge and the Cultivation of a Disposition towards Anti-Heretical Action” (Jenny Pelletier).- 13. Fordham University: “The Metaphysics of Habits in Buridan” (Gyula Klima).- 14. University of Alberta: “Acts and Dispositions in Buridan's Faculty Psychology” (16. Uniwersytet Medyczny w Lodzi: “Quantification of Virtues and Vices: Richard Kilvington’s New Methods and Ideas in Ethics and Theology” (Monika Michalowska).- 17. Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin: “Suárez on the Metaphysics of Habits (Dominik Perler).- 18. Rijksuniversiteit Groningen: TBA (Han Thomas Adriaenssen).- 19. Laboratoire d’Etudes sur les Monothéismes: TBA (Pascale Bermon).- 20. Laboratoire d’Etudes sur les Monothéismes-Boston College : TBA (Jean-Luc Solère).