The Coimbra Jesuit Aristotelian Course

Abstract

Between 1592 and 1606 four Portuguese Jesuit professors of the Coimbra College published an academic Course on the Aristotelian philosophy, known by the title Commentarii Collegii Conimbricensis Societatis Jesu. Given its intrinsic value, it came to know a global influence: from the Atlantic to the Urals, to the Far East and to Latin America. Some eminent philosophers (eg Descartes or Peirce) were readers of the Coimbra Course but, due to its numerous editions abroad, its overwhelming presence in European university libraries determined the study of philosophy of thousands of students. Written in an accessible language, this monograph aims to give an up - to - date, systematic and rigorous perspective of the main themes covered by the Coimbra course - logic, physics, psychology, ethics and metaphysics – now presented, for the first time, as «an explanation of the philosophical science in the form of disputes as well as in a systematic and deductive form».