L'azione della voluntas nei commenti parigini del XIII secolo all'Ethica Nicomachea

The essay presents a dossier on the interpretation that the masters of the Faculty of Arts of Paris provided for the concept of ἑκούσιον (voluntarium in the Latin translation), as explained by Aristotle in Nicomachean Ethics (NE) III 3, 1111a21-1111b3. To highlight the evolution that characterized the exegesis of this Aristotelian theory in the 13th century, the choice was made to examine one of the earliest commentaries on the NE, the anonymous Lectura in Ethicam novam et veterem (1235-40), and two commentaries from the second half of the 13th century: that of an anonymous Parisian master, whom we call "Anonymous P" (ca. 1280), previously identified with James of Douai, and the first draft of Radulphus Brito's commentary, resulting from his teaching as a master of the Arts (1289-1299). The analysis of the texts reveals that the initial reception of the NE was still tied to Augustinian psychology, sharing concepts and doctrines in use at the Faculty of Theology, while the commentators from the late 13th century fully engaged in the debate on psychological determinism, as representatives of the Aristotelian tradition and the primacy of the intellect over the will. Regarding the doctrine of the voluntariness of action, the difference between the two exegetical phases is marked by the different meaning of the term voluntas. For the author of the Lectura, voluntas is an act of the rational soul, while for Anonymous P and Radulphus it indicates a faculty distinct from reason. From this fundamental difference arise the specificities of each individual doctrine.