Martin Pickavé

This contribution examines, through a discussion of Thomas Aquinas’s teaching, what philosophers in the later Middle Ages thought about the nature of pleasure. Generally speaking, Aquinas and his contemporaries consider pleasures as passions of the soul. After exploring what this means for their understanding of pleasure, it is explained how this approach to pleasure is compatible with two aspects we often associate with pleasure: perfection and feeling. The essay then turns to the distinction between different kinds of pleasures, especially between sensory and intellectual pleasures. This leads to the question of where pleasures are located in the soul and to the idea, defended by some authors, that truly human pleasures belong to the will. Finally, by way of concluding, some brief indications are given as to how other later medieval philosophers further develop or react to the views on pleasure that we can find in Aquinas’s works.

The idea that emotions are cognitive mental states is at the heart of many modern accounts of the emotions. This paper examines how medieval philosophers of the late thirteenth and early fourteenth centuries thought of the relationship between emotions, usually referred to as passions of the soul, and cognitions. Although medieval authors see a close relationship between emotions and those cognitions triggering them, they usually deny that emotions are simply kinds of cognition; strictly speaking, emotions are thought to be movements of the human appetites. However, one philosopher from the first half of the fourteenth century, Adam Wodeham, explicitly defends the view that emotions are cognitions. After examining Wodeham's arguments and the philosophical motivation behind his view, the paper turns to critical reactions to Wodeham's unique account.

In the Middle Ages more than in other periods, eschatology informed the way people understood humankind and the world. The papers in the present volume are devoted to the complexity and interconnectivty of the eschatological orientation of the Middle Ages. Central topics are questions of the influence and formation of eschatological themes in philosophy and the significance of ideas of the final end in medieval political thought. In addition, there is a consideration of further themes from history, theology, art and literature. The 29th volume of the Miscellanea Mediaevalia contains the papers delivered to the 32nd Cologne Medieval Studies Conference plus additional contributions. The volume includes five papers on the 50-year history of the Thomas Institute, which has been organising the Cologne Medieval Studies Conference for the last half century.

Oxford Studies in Medieval Philosophy showcases the best scholarly research in this flourishing field. The series covers all aspects of medieval philosophy, including the Latin, Arabic, and Hebrew traditions, and runs from the end of antiquity into the Renaissance. It publishes new work by leading scholars in the field, and combines historical scholarship with philosophical acuteness. The papers will address a wide range of topics, from political philosophy to ethics, and logic to metaphysics. OSMP is an essential resource for anyone working in the area.