NOCTUA

La tradizione filosofica dall’antico al moderno

History of Philosophy from the Ancient to the Modern Age

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Autore / Author: Mario Loconsole

Affiliazione / Author affiliation: Universität zu Köln – Università degli Studi di Udine

Titolo / Title: Può un uomo generarsi nell’utero di una capra o di una cagna? Una quaestio di Urbano da Bologna nel commento alla Physica di Averroè

Abstract: In Latin Europe, the controversy over spontaneous generation of perfect animals – namely those whose breeding occurs through sexual reproduction – is received in different ways, varying from positions very close to Avicenna’s, as in the case of Pietro Pomponazzi, to interpretations that rather refer to Averroes’ perspective. To this ‘Averroist front’ undoubtedly belongs the figure of Urbano da Bologna, author of the Expositio commenti Averrois in VIII libros Physicorum – a work that can be defined a supercommentary to Averroes’ Physica – composed in Bologna around 1334. The present study aims to provide the complete transcription of a quaestio that is present in the work – but which was disputed according to its author also in public – as an example of the elaboration of the theme of spontaneous generation in the early 14^th century. The text deals with many aspects of the problem, especially elaborating on the correspondence between each specific form and its appropriate matter, in the light of the lively debates of the time, and reveals a mature understanding of Aristotle’s natural philosophy and its Averroist interpretation.

Keywords: Urbano da Bologna; Averroes; Avicenna; spontaneous generation.

English title: Can a Man Be Generated in the Uterus of a Goat or a Dog? A Quaestio by Urbano da Bologna in the Commentary on Averroes’ Physica

DOI: 10.14640/NoctuaX2

Anno / Volume: X

Fascicolo / Issue: 1

Pagine / Pages: 46-105

Pubblicazione / Publication date: 15/01/2023

Permalink: https://dx.doi.org/10.14640/NoctuaX2

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ISSN 2284-1180