Godfrey of Fontaines

Godfrey of Fontaines, French Godefroid de Fontaines, latin Godefridus de Fontibus (* before 1250 in Fontaines- Hozémont (today in the municipality of Grace-Hollogne in the Walloon province of Liège in Belgium), Lower Lorraine; † after 1305 in Paris) was a philosopher and scholastic theologian and taught at the University of Paris. He was as Aristotelians and " secular " priest, also involved in the prevailing faith / reason controversy at his university, then the academic center of the West.

Life and work

Godfrey of Fontaines studied at the Faculty of Arts in Paris, together with the Augustinian and Neoplatonic set Henry of Ghent, with Siger of Brabant, Europe's leading Averroists, and Thomas Aquinas. In 1285 Gottfried put his Master of Divinity from henceforth and taught almost continuously until 1304. From 1291 he was a director, maybe Dean, his faculty. In 1300, they beat Godfrey of Fontaines also as Bishop of Tournai (now in Belgium), but he refused because of conservative opposition from.

His main body of work includes 15 Quodlibeta, written down structured discussions on various topics, and a collection of Scholia ( remarks ) for Summa Theologica of Thomas Aquinas. Even if it means quite eclectic uses of the various buildings thought to bring together the conflicting positions at the University of Paris, he proves yet epistemologically as a strict Aristotelian, by coupling the universals on the perception of substantive objects. Thus he expressly opposes the neo-Platonic conception of the Augustinian school, exist after the perceptually independent, internal, eternal ideas and only a supernatural light could show her true being.

Together with Henry of Ghent, he criticized the newly founded mendicant orders and tried to prevent these chairs were able to occupy the University of Paris. He had numerous disputes with both the Thomists, the followers of Thomas Aquinas, as well as with the Scotists, the followers of the Franciscan John Duns Scotus. Godfrey direct importance waned during the 14th century.