Articolo contenuto in
Vol. 101 Anno 2024 --> Fasc. 1 - 2
GRAZIADIO D’ASCOLI E LA NATURA DELLA RELAZIONE CATEGORIALE
Pubblicazione
Primavera 2024
Scritto da
Università di Parma
The figure of Gratiadeus of Ascoli OP (14th century) is still little studied. The present paper aims to make a contribution to the reconstruction of Gratiadeus's philosophy by discussing his interpretation of Aristotle's category of relation. Gratiadeus's position is moderately realist and reductionist, in line with that of Thomas Aquinas. He believes that the relation receives some degree of reality, as to its being, only from the non-relational property on which it is founded, nevertheless it is not reduced to this property because it expresses, as to its essence, some distinct reality.
Our mind plays a role in bringing out the essence of the relation, although such an essence does not coincide with the concept we have of the relation. In short, relation is not something that is added to that on which it is founded but neither is it a pure concept of our mind.