Philosophy’s Resurrection: Richard Fishacre on Theology, Light, and the Stars

Crozier, William

Abstract

This article explores Richard Fishacre’s (1200–1248) thinking on the relationship between theology and philosophy. It shows how, despite constructing what, on the surface at least, appears to be a traditional understanding of theology’s relationship to philosophy, Fishacre in practice offers a very creative interpretation of how the two sciences interact. For Fishacre, theology does not simply illumine philosophy by guiding it away from error. Instead, it steps into the fray of ordinary philosophical dispute so as to uncover novel ways of reading natural phenomena, ones which philosophy, by itself at least, is blind to. To demonstrate how this is so, the article explores how Fishacre appeals to Christ’s resurrected body to justify some of his most controversial arguments in the field of natural philosophy. Two specific areas are considered: Fishacre’s claim that light in medio is a body and his assertion that the stars and planets are made from the terrestrial elements as opposed to the celestial quintessence, as Aristotle claims. Each of these aspects of Fishacre’s physics show how, for the Dominican, theology can, when appropriate, step onto the philosophical plane and help the natural philosopher to discover truths that go against the philosophical consensus.

Citation

Crozier, W. (2024). Philosophy’s Resurrection: Richard Fishacre on Theology, Light, and the Stars. New Blackfriars, 105(4), 384-400. https://doi.org/10.1017/nbf.2024.7

• Journal Article Type: Article
• Acceptance Date: Dec 18, 2023
• Online Publication Date: Feb 19, 2024
• Publication Date: 2024-07
• Deposit Date: Mar 14, 2024
• Publicly Available Date: Mar 15, 2024
• Journal: New Blackfriars
• Print ISSN: 0028-4289
• Electronic ISSN: 1741-2005
• Publisher: Wiley
• Peer Reviewed: Peer Reviewed
• Volume: 105
• Issue: 4
• Pages: 384-400
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/nbf.2024.7
• Public URL: https://durham-repository.worktribe.com/output/2329034