Critical Edition of the Doctrine of Virtues of Robert Cowton

Project aims The objective of the project is to elaborate a critical edition of the Distinctiones 23-40 (virtue ethics), of the Sentences commentary, book III, by Robert Cowton OFM (ca. 1275 - ca. 1340). Unprinted manuscripts have been the only available sources until now. The edition will be accompanied by a detailed introduction, including, among others, a characterisation and stemmatological recension of the manuscripts, the account and rationale of the text- critical methods applied, a structural text analysis and the results of the study of sources. International co-operation The project shall be realized in co-operation with the Committee for the Publication of Unprinted Texts from the Intellectual World of the Middle Ages at the Bavarian Academy of Sciences and Humanities in Munich, which will also bear the costs of publication. The present proposal targets the critical edition of Cowton`s moral theory in book III of his commentary, which shall be published as a separate volume in the series of the Committee. Meanwhile, the two collaborators of the Committee are working on the editions of books I and II of Cowton`s commentary, which will also be released as volumes of the same series. Motivation and benefits of the project Cowton`s Sentences commentary were fundamental to the emergence of Scotism in England. It thus comes as little surprise that, already back in 1954, O. Lottin insistently advocated for them to be edited. In fact, Cowton`s commentary, written in Oxford and dating from the early 14th century, always has been pertinent to that field of research. The study of the relevant editions of Duns Scotus, William Ockham or Adam Wodeham reveals that Cowton not only explicitly discusses Duns Scotus`s positions in his works, but has also been established to have been a reference for Ockham and Wodeham. Indeed, he was prominent enough to become the addressee of an entire polemic by Thomas Sutton, the eminent Oxford Thomist, and an Abbreviatio of Cowton`s commentaries actually became a standard text book in England. Innovative potential of the project Cowton is known to have been held in high esteem by his contemporaries, which makes him a worthy candidate for editing, even if he is not among the most important medieval authors. For several decades already, historians have been unanimous about the need to throw more light on the relations between the most outstanding authors and their contemporaries, predecessors, disciples, and critics. Cowton`s critical edition will not only allow researchers to duly appreciate his genuine conceptual contributions for the first time, but also to assess his positioning and impact within the intellectual history of medieval philosophy. Project co-ordination and management The project director will be Prof. DDr. Gerhard Leibold in conjunction with Dr. habil. Hans Kraml. The project will be carried out by the project manager, Mag. Sylvia Eibl, who is highly qualified and well prepared for this task. A detailed implementation timeline is given in the full description of the pro-posal.

The objective of the project was to establish a critical edition of the Distinctiones 23-40 (virtue ethics), of the Sentences commentary, book III, by Robert Cowton OFM (ca. 1275 ca. 1340). Unprinted manuscripts had been the only available sources until now. The edition is accompanied by a detailed introduction, including a characterisation and stemmatological analysis of the manuscripts, an explanation of the applied text-critical methods, a structural text analysis and the results of the study of sources. The project has been realized in co-operation with the Committee for the Publication of Unprinted Texts from the Intellectual World of the Middle Ages? at the Bavarian Academy of Sciences and Humanities in Munich, which also bears the costs of publication. The critical edition is to be published as a separate volume in the series of the Committee. Cowton's Sentences commentary is the only extant work by this author. Its critical edition helps understand the intellectual currents in philosophy and theology in early 14 century England and continental Europe. It can also contribute to a better understanding of how this period influenced important developments in late medieval and early renaissance thought. One particular motivation for this project was to elucidate Cowton?s position in comparison with Duns Scotus and the emergence of Scotism. As a contemporary of Scotus, Cowton was involved in discussions initiated and inspired by Scotus. Rather than being a Scotist himself, he sought to reconcile Scotuss positions with those of Thomas Aquinas in his own way. Along with some studies on Thomas Sutton initiated by our partner institution, the Bavarian Academy of Sciences, this critical edition has also helped revisit some commonly held assumptions about the relation between Cowtons and Thomas Suttons works. For several decades, notable researchers had recommended making a critical edition of Robert Cowtons Sentences commentary available to the scientific community. This project has made available Cowtons contribution to virtue ethics for further research in various disciplines in the humanities, notably philosophy, theology and history.