Intellect, Natural Philosophy, Finality: Albertus Magnus’ Attempt at a Universal System of Sciences

Albert the Great aimed to construct a universal system of sciences based on the Aristotelian works. In his undertaking, Albert had to face a double challenge. On the one hand, he faced the issue of the natural philosophy (physica) as a science of universally valid principles, as the science of changeable bodies. On the other hand, Albert had to argue for the inclusion of the study of the intellect, which does not have any corporeal instrument, within natural philosophy. In this paper, I shall argue that Albert solved these two problems by applying the principle of finality. The medieval author justified the status of the natural philosophy as a universal science as well as the possibility to study the intellect within the natural philosophy from the perspective of their causa finalis.

Full Text