Medieval philosophy a new history of western philosophy volume 2 ( PDFDrive ) 229

METAPHYSICS After the heyday of scholasticism, Augustine’s inXuence revived in the later middle ages Here in a fresco in the upper church in Assisi he is shown dictating to a Dominican friar Xeeting accidents can be urged in this case too What makes the diVerence between the two cases, for Ockham, seems to be simply whether local motion can be called in to explain the change to be explained Ockham’s arguments on the topic of relations are more powerful than his arguments against real quantity If a relation were a real entity distinct from the terms of the relation, it would be capable of existing even if the terms were not Suppose Socrates is the father of Plato, and Plato is the son of Socrates Then there is a relation of paternity between Socrates and Plato It is absurd to say either that this relation could exist without Socrates ever having begotten Plato, or that, Socrates having begotten Plato, God could remove from Socrates the relation of paternity (OTh 368) 210