Thomas Bradwardine

This volume evaluates Thomas Bradwardine's view of time as a mathematical, philosophical and theological concept within the context of ancient and medieval discussions concerning the problem of time and eternity. The book begins with an assessment of his career as a natural philosopher and theologian in order to establish the factors which influenced his treatment of time. Two succeeding chapters examine the sources of his temporal theory in classical, early medieval and thirteenth-century texts. Next, a series of chapters surveys his view of time as it related to proportionality, continuity, contingency and predestination. The final chapter establishes his place among fourteenth-century natural philosophers and theologians. Because this study traces the issue of time through several major works, it demonstrates how the mathematical, philosophical and theological ideas of one prominent scholar converged within a setting of lively academic discourse. Thus it illuminates a fascinating dimension of one of the most important debates in late medieval thought.