Mark Thakkar | University of St Andrews (original) (raw)
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Papers by Mark Thakkar
Early Science and Medicine, 2022
Rudolf Schuessler has claimed that 16th-century thinkers developed a concept of equal probability... more Rudolf Schuessler has claimed that 16th-century thinkers developed a concept of equal probability that was virtually absent before 1500 and that may have facilitated the birth of mathematical probability shortly after 1650. I show that this concept was in fact generally available to medieval thinkers. My note should be read in conjunction with Schuessler's generous response in the same issue.
Quantifying Aristotle
I offer a fresh characterization of the Oxford Calculators (§1) and argue that Wyclif should be c... more I offer a fresh characterization of the Oxford Calculators (§1) and argue that Wyclif should be counted among them (§2) even though his atomism makes him a conspicuous anomaly (§3).
Vivarium, 2020
Two recent books have greatly increased the amount of Wyclif available in translation, but the tr... more Two recent books have greatly increased the amount of Wyclif available in translation, but the translations are incompetent. Their publication and warm reception is a sign of a gathering crisis in medieval studies.
Before and After Wyclif: Sources and Textual Influences, 2020
John Wyclif’s logical works have lain under a kind of fog since they were first published in the ... more John Wyclif’s logical works have lain under a kind of fog since they were first published in the 1890s under the collective title Tractatus de logica. My first aim in this paper is to clear up some longstanding confusions by dispelling this fog once and for all. Once the air is clear, a partial identification of Wyclif’s source material will allow me to make a more dramatic claim about persistent misunderstandings of what is generally taken to be his earliest work.
The Oxford Handbook of the History of Mathematics, 2009
Vivarium, 2006
Francis of Marchia (c. 1290-†1344) is said to have challenged Aristotelian orthodoxy by uniting t... more Francis of Marchia (c. 1290-†1344) is said to have challenged Aristotelian orthodoxy by uniting the celestial and terrestrial realms in a way that has important implications for the practice of natural philosophy. But this overlooks Marchia’s vital distinction between bare potentiality, which is actualizable only by God, and natural potency, which is the concern of the natural philosopher. If due attention is paid to this distinction and to its implications, Marchia’s position no longer seems to be revolutionary.
Mediaeval Studies, 2016
The mid-14th-century logician identified by Paul Spade in 1976 as “Robert Fland” was in fact Robe... more The mid-14th-century logician identified by Paul Spade in 1976 as “Robert Fland” was in fact Robert Eland.
Book Reviews by Mark Thakkar
Vivarium, 2019
This light revision of Bornholdt's doctoral thesis (Würzburg, 2015) is effectively a medievally-o... more This light revision of Bornholdt's doctoral thesis (Würzburg, 2015) is effectively a medievally-oriented follow-up to Richard Gaskin’s 'The Sea Battle and the Master Argument' (1995). The book is stimulating from a philosophical point of view, but the exegesis is disappointingly unreliable.
Journal of the History of Philosophy, 2017
This ambitious book argues that medieval philosophers developed “a system of logic that is simila... more This ambitious book argues that medieval philosophers developed “a system of logic that is similar to the predicate calculus in richness and power”. From now on, all histories of logic will need to cite it.
Early Science and Medicine, 2022
Rudolf Schuessler has claimed that 16th-century thinkers developed a concept of equal probability... more Rudolf Schuessler has claimed that 16th-century thinkers developed a concept of equal probability that was virtually absent before 1500 and that may have facilitated the birth of mathematical probability shortly after 1650. I show that this concept was in fact generally available to medieval thinkers. My note should be read in conjunction with Schuessler's generous response in the same issue.
Quantifying Aristotle
I offer a fresh characterization of the Oxford Calculators (§1) and argue that Wyclif should be c... more I offer a fresh characterization of the Oxford Calculators (§1) and argue that Wyclif should be counted among them (§2) even though his atomism makes him a conspicuous anomaly (§3).
Vivarium, 2020
Two recent books have greatly increased the amount of Wyclif available in translation, but the tr... more Two recent books have greatly increased the amount of Wyclif available in translation, but the translations are incompetent. Their publication and warm reception is a sign of a gathering crisis in medieval studies.
Before and After Wyclif: Sources and Textual Influences, 2020
John Wyclif’s logical works have lain under a kind of fog since they were first published in the ... more John Wyclif’s logical works have lain under a kind of fog since they were first published in the 1890s under the collective title Tractatus de logica. My first aim in this paper is to clear up some longstanding confusions by dispelling this fog once and for all. Once the air is clear, a partial identification of Wyclif’s source material will allow me to make a more dramatic claim about persistent misunderstandings of what is generally taken to be his earliest work.
The Oxford Handbook of the History of Mathematics, 2009
Vivarium, 2006
Francis of Marchia (c. 1290-†1344) is said to have challenged Aristotelian orthodoxy by uniting t... more Francis of Marchia (c. 1290-†1344) is said to have challenged Aristotelian orthodoxy by uniting the celestial and terrestrial realms in a way that has important implications for the practice of natural philosophy. But this overlooks Marchia’s vital distinction between bare potentiality, which is actualizable only by God, and natural potency, which is the concern of the natural philosopher. If due attention is paid to this distinction and to its implications, Marchia’s position no longer seems to be revolutionary.
Mediaeval Studies, 2016
The mid-14th-century logician identified by Paul Spade in 1976 as “Robert Fland” was in fact Robe... more The mid-14th-century logician identified by Paul Spade in 1976 as “Robert Fland” was in fact Robert Eland.
Vivarium, 2019
This light revision of Bornholdt's doctoral thesis (Würzburg, 2015) is effectively a medievally-o... more This light revision of Bornholdt's doctoral thesis (Würzburg, 2015) is effectively a medievally-oriented follow-up to Richard Gaskin’s 'The Sea Battle and the Master Argument' (1995). The book is stimulating from a philosophical point of view, but the exegesis is disappointingly unreliable.
Journal of the History of Philosophy, 2017
This ambitious book argues that medieval philosophers developed “a system of logic that is simila... more This ambitious book argues that medieval philosophers developed “a system of logic that is similar to the predicate calculus in richness and power”. From now on, all histories of logic will need to cite it.