Albertus Magnus

Saint. original name Albert, Count von Böllstadt. ?1193-- 1280, German scholastic philosopher; teacher of Thomas Aquinas and commentator on Aristotle. Feast day: Nov. 15

Collins Discovery Encyclopedia, 1st edition © HarperCollins Publishers 2005

The following article is from The Great Soviet Encyclopedia (1979). It might be outdated or ideologically biased.

Albertus Magnus

(also Albert of Bollstádt). Born circa 1193; died Nov. 15, 1280. German philosopher and theologian; representative of orthodox scholasticism; Dominican monk (from 1223).

Albertus Magnus studied in Padua and taught in Paris and in Cologne and other German cities. Through his commentaries on the works of Aristotle, he initiated a reorientation and encyclopedic systematization of Catholic theology on the basis of Aristotelianism, which was completed by his disciple Thomas Aquinas. Albertus, together with Thomas Aquinas, led the struggle against oppositional tendencies in scholasticism—against heresies and Averroism. His interpretation of universals was influenced by Ibn Sina (Avi-cenna). He was noted among the scholars of the 13th century for the exceptional versatility of his knowledge in the most diverse fields, in particular in the field of natural science. He wrote treatises on minerals, plants, animals, and so on.

WORKS

Opera omnia, vols. 1–38. Paris, 1890–99.
In Russian translation:
“O rasteniiakh.” In Agrikul’tura ν pamiatnikakh Zap. srednevekov’ia. [Collection of articles.] Moscow-Leningrad, 1936.

REFERENCES

Trakhtenberg, O. V. Ocherki po istorii zap.-evrop. sr.-vek. filosofii. Moscow, 1957. Pages 101–103.
Pelster, F. Kritische Studien zum Leben und zu den Schriften Alberts des Grossen. Freiburg, 1920.
Balss, H. Albertus Magnus als Biologe. Stuttgart, 1947.
Liertz, R. Albert der Grosse. Münster, 1948.
Michaud-Quantin, P. La psychologie de l’active chez Albert le Grand. Paris, 1966.

V. P. ZUBOV