Die ontwikkeling van ars in die teologies filosofiese werke van Ramon Llull (ca.1232–1316)

Abstract

The development of ars in the theological-philosophical works of Ramon Llull (ca.1232–1316). By synthesising the most recent specialist research, notably that of Anthony Bonner and Mark D. Johnston, this article provides an accessible overview of the development of the ‘great universal art’ or ars in Ramon Llull’s (ca.1232–1316) theological-philosophical output, as presented in his works Libere de contemplació en Déu, Ars compendiosa inveniendi veritatem, Ars inventiva veritatis, Tabula generalis, Ars demonstrativa and Ars generalis ultima. It is shown that Llull’s ars was an eccentric yet coherent attempt to provide an alternative to both the Aristotelian scholastic-conceptual framework and its radicalised versions in Averroism during the second half of the 13th century. By insisting on religious tolerance as its premise, Llull embedded this alternative squarely within the monotheistic missionary context of the same period. Without neglecting the discursive magnitude of his ars, this rather ‘nonmedieval’ tolerance stands as Llull’s greatest gift to the central Middle Ages and its subsequent idea-historical development in both theology and philosophy.

Intradisciplinary and/or interdisciplinary implications: As a millennium-long discourse, Medieval philosophy functions in a Venn diagrammatic relationship with Medieval history, church history, patristics, philosophy of religion, and in this case, missiology. Whenever mainstream or ‘canonised’ Medieval philosophy is being impacted by specialist research, it may well have noteworthy implications for these related disciplines. Such is the case in this critical reappraisal of theological-philosophical aspects in the central Medieval ars of Ramon Llull.