Aleksander Birkenmajer’s Research on the Philosophy of Witelon as an Inspiration to Change the Assessment of the Middle Ages in Education Programs

Both Birkenmajer’s method of work and his achievements, can serve as an example of a appropriate scientific approach to the Middle Ages. The picture of the period he presented radically differs from the stereotypes still prevailing in school educational programmes. Aleksander Birkenmajer (1890–1967) was an prominent Polish medievalist. Owing to his comprehensive education he gained rare competence to work on medieval manuscripts. In his texts, he repeatedly highlights the close relatedness between the history of philosophy and the history of mathematics and natural sciences. The close relation between philosophy and the then science, albeit its scope was much narrower than the purview of today’s natural sciences, became the methodological directive for him. In his research on the philosophy of Witelon, Birkenmajer emphasized the point that he was a philosopher – naturalist, using light in solving metaphysical problems, like many others did in his times, e.g. Richard Bacon or Robert Grosseteste. Witelo’s Perspective is virtually a mathematical-physical treatise with a metaphysical introduction. Birkenmajer managed, among others, to determine that Witelon was the author of the treatise De natura daemonum, the acquaintance of which can have a significant impact on the understanding of his philosophical views as a whole. The Polish medievalist also discerned in the treaty some symptoms of the so-called ‘theory of double truth’, whose influence the Silesian scholar might not be quite aware. Birkenmajer brought out and convincingly described certain aspects of Witelon’s philosophy, which significantly delimit the possibility to construe his ideas in the neo-Platonic paradigm.

Both Birkenmajer’s method of work and his achievements, can serve as an example of a appropriate scientific approach to the Middle Ages. The picture of the period he presented radically differs from the stereotypes still prevailing in school educational programmes. Aleksander Birkenmajer (1890–1967) was an prominent Polish medievalist. Owing to his comprehensive education he gained rare competence to work on medieval manuscripts. In his texts, he repeatedly highlights the close relatedness between the history of philosophy and the history of mathematics and natural sciences. The close relation between philosophy and the then science, albeit its scope was much narrower than the purview of today’s natural sciences, became the methodological directive for him. In his research on the philosophy of Witelon, Birkenmajer emphasized the point that he was a philosopher – naturalist, using light in solving metaphysical problems, like many others did in his times, e.g. Richard Bacon or Robert Grosseteste. Witelo’s Perspective is virtually a mathematical-physical treatise with a metaphysical introduction. Birkenmajer managed, among others, to determine that Witelon was the author of the treatise De natura daemonum, the acquaintance of which can have a significant impact on the understanding of his philosophical views as a whole. The Polish medievalist also discerned in the treaty some symptoms of the so-called ‘theory of double truth’, whose influence the Silesian scholar might not be quite aware. Birkenmajer brought out and convincingly described certain aspects of Witelon’s philosophy, which significantly delimit the possibility to construe his ideas in the neo-Platonic paradigm.