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Simon of Faversham was an English scholar affiliated with the University of Paris during the 1280s, where he most likely wrote his commentaries on Aristotle’s philosophical works. The Posterior Analytics, one of Aristotle’s most important treatises, addresses the nature of scientific demonstration. Faversham’s two extant commentaries on The Posterior Analytics are invaluable witnesses to key elements of late medieval accounts of scientific demonstration, including views on the extent and limits of demonstration, its metaphysical underpinnings, and its epistemic power.

 

The commentary edited here, together with the accompanying translation, offers new insight into Simon of Faversham’s philosophy—a fascinating chapter in the history of late medieval thought. It also deepens our understanding of the philosophical discussions on demonstration and related topics that took place during the early period of Europe’s university history, and of the ways in which these discussions drew on earlier philosophical developments in non-European traditions, notably the Islamic philosophical tradition.