Jussi Varkemaa on Summenhart

Jussi Varkemaa, a theologian from Helsinki, has finished his doctoral thesis on late fourteenth century theologian Conrad Summenhart. The topic is Summenhart’s theory of individual rights and its medieval background. Summenhart, who was one of first professors theology in the University of Tübingen. Summenhart has been considered as an important figure in the development of modern theories of rights. Until now Summenhart’s views have been studied only superficially, but Varkemaa discusses them thoroughly and situates them appropriately in the context of late medieval discourse. For more information, see the abstract of the dissertation here (scroll down for an English version).

Theories of Perception

A volume recently edited by Simo Knuuttila and myself needs to be mentioned here. It deals with philosophical theories of sense perception from medieval (and even ancient) theories until early modern authors such as Locke and Malebranche. More information on the volume is available here. Here is a quotation from the cover text:

“The aim of this collection is to shed light on the developments in the theories of sense-perception in medieval Arabic and Latin philosophy, their ancient background and traditional and new themes in early modern thought. Particular attention is paid to the philosophically significant parts of the theories. The articles concentrate on the so-called external senses and related themes. Many of the central ideas are discussed, although the collection is also meant to shed light on less studied subjects.”