Henry of Ghent c. 1217 – 1293
Henry of Ghent was a Flemish secular master of theology at Paris in the late thirteenth century and one of the most influential scholastics of the generation between Aquinas and Scotus. His Quodlibetal Questions and Summa of Ordinary Questions developed a distinctive metaphysics of essence and existence and defended the primacy of the will over the intellect. He participated in the commission that prepared the Condemnations of 1277 at Paris, restricting the teaching of certain Aristotelian doctrines, and was given the honorific Doctor Solemnis.
Key facts
- Nationality
- Flemish
- Era
- Medieval
- Movements
- Scholasticism, Medieval, Christian
Selected quotes
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Attributed to Henry of Ghent:
“The will is nobler than the intellect.”
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Attributed to Henry of Ghent:
“We know God by analogy, never directly.”
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Attributed to Henry of Ghent:
“Truth is the conformity of thought with reality.”
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Attributed to Henry of Ghent:
“Essence is prior to existence in the order of intelligibility.”
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Attributed to Henry of Ghent:
“Without illumination, the human intellect cannot reach the truth of being.”