Bero Magni de Ludosia on Parts of Sensation

Abstract

Andrews’ chapter deals with the further details of the Buridanian account of sensation, on the basis of a “super-commentary” on Buridan’s Questions. Bero, a Swede at the University of Vienna, wrote a Disputata super libros De anima around 1433, a set of exercises held in order to elaborate upon previously-held lectures on John Buridan’s De anima. To show how Buridan’s psychology was used by Bero, Andrews looks at a question arising from Book II, q. 9 of Buridan’s commentary, where Buridan finds it puzzling (mirabile) how divisible and extended sensations inhere in an indivisible and non-extended human soul. Bero steps into this discussion with a very specific question: how are the parts of sensation experienced by the soul? Bero outlines five different opinions: (1) Any part of the sensation represents the whole; (2) Each part of the sensation represents a part of the whole; (3) The whole sensation represents the whole sensible (“the most common opinion today”); (4) The whole sensation represents any part of the whole; (5) Some parts of the sensation represent a part of the sensible, and others not. Andrews points out that Bero conducts his discussion on a scientific basis, using diagrams and propositions from the Perspectivists.