Steve Finley

Apples, Columbia County NY: Red Astrachan (Russia, pre-1816); Duchess of Oldenburg (Russia, pre-1817); Beacon (Ribston Pippin x Unknown, Buckinghamshire 1825).

Alessandro Achillini died this date in 1512. Philosopher and physician. Aristotelian-Averroist Humanist, noted for his anatomical studies and his interest in the occult. Key figure in the Ockhamist revival. Physiognomist and chiromant. Early critic of Galen.

Milton apple (McIntosh X Yellow Transparent). Cornell 1909. Picking in another week or two.

Francesco Filelfo died this date in 1481. Opinionated and argumentative Renaissance humanist and philosopher. Key figure in the introduction of the Greek legacy to the West. Unwisely quarreled with Cosimo de' Medici and argued for his execution in the brief period of Cosimo's exile. Moved to Milan.

On this date, July 27, in 1797 - 9 Thermidor II - Jean-Lambert Tallien, until then an outspoken ally of Robbespierre, arose in the National Convention and denounced Robbespierre. Other deputies rallied around Tallien, and Robbespierre was arrested the next day.

Francis of Meyronnes died this date in 1328. Scholastic philosopher, pupil of Duns Scotus who defended the formal distinction, the univocity of being and the concept of haecceity. Dedicated to finding rational defenses of Catholic doctrine.

Oh, give us pleasure in the orchard white,
Like nothing else by day, like ghosts by night;
And make us happy in the happy bees,
The swarm dilating round the perfect trees.

Peter Abelard died this date in 1142.
The most controversial philospher of the 12th century. Theologian, composer, logician, poet. Sic et Non. Lover of Héloïse du Paraclet. The tomb of Héloïse and Abelard in Père-Lachaise

Anselm of Canterbury died this date in 1109. Early Scholastic philosopher. Faith precedes reason. Ontological proof of the living God. His satisfaction theory of atonement bridges theology from Augustine to Calvin. His tomb in Canterbury Cathedral.

Proclus died this date in 485. Master exigete of Plato. Profoundly influential Neoplatonist philosopher who shaped the thoughts of centuries of Byzantine, Islamic, Scholastic and even German Idealist philosophers, notably Kant and Hegel.

William of Ockham died this date in 1347. Last great Scholastic philosopher. Logician, Nominalist, empiricist. Ockham’s Razor-reductive metaphysics. A fideist like Augustine: only with faith can we access truth. His monument in the Franciscan convent of St. Anna in Munich.

Joachim of Fiore died this date in 1202. Theologian. Mystic. Chiliast. Profoundly influential apocalyptic thinker and commentator on the Book of Revelation. His ideas 0n the Trinity were disputed by Aquinas and considered heretical. Mentioned by Joyce and Yeats.

William of Auvergne died this date in 1249. Liminal philosopher. First thinker in the Latin West to develop a systematic metaphysics based on the concepts of being and essence. Early commentator on Aristotelian and Islamic metaphysics and natural philosophy. Wrote against the poor Cathars.

Ramon Llull died this date in 1315. Philosopher, theologian, poet. Alchemist. Catalan. His "art" - universal logic sought to prove the truth of Christian doctrine. Precursor of social choice theory and computation theory. His tomb in the Franciscan Church in Palma.

Jonathan Edwards died this date in 1758. Singularly important American philosopher/theologian. Merged Enlightenment with Puritanism. "Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God". Key mover in the First Great Awakening. Supported smallpox inoculations; died of smallpox. Eponym of a Yale residential college

Benedict of Nursia died this date in 547. The Patron Protector of Europe. Founder of Western Christian monasticism. His Rule of St Benedict, the most influential rule in Western Europe, moderates asceticism with reasonableness. His tomb in Monte Casino, buried with his sister.

Recently arrived: Anne Margaret Daniel's brilliant edition of unpublished F. Scott Fitzgerald stories, some beautiful.

Peter Olivi died this date in 1298. Bursting with ideas. Voluntarist. Cognition does not require divine illumination. Critic of contemporary Averroist interpretations of Aristotle. Two forms of matter: corporeal and spiritual. Proposed an extreme view of ecclesiastical poverty. Accused of heresy

Saint Symeon the New Theologian died this date in 1022. Monk, poet, mystic. Devout Hesychast whose attempts to reform the Byzantine monasteries met with fierce resistance. Charismatic exiled for his views on actual experience of the Holy Spirit. Vegetarian who died of dysentery.

Denis the Carthusian died this date in 1471. Theologian. Philosopher. Mystic. Christian Platonist who followed Pseudo-Dionysius the Areopagite. The Ecstatic Doctor, whose spirit of contemplation led to hours of ecstatic union with God and visions of the souls in Purgatory.

Sophronius the Sophist died this date in 638. Philosopher. Theologian. Christology warrior: foe of monoenergism (Christ had two natures but only one divine capacity for choice), monothelitism (two natures but only one divine will in Christ) and monophysitism (only one divine nature in Christ).

Thomas Aquinas died this date in 1274. Theologian. Philosopher. The bridge from Aristotle to Locke. Reconciled Aristotle with Christian theology. Five proofs of the living God. Contra Duns Scotus, analogous not univocal predication of God. His tomb in the Couvent des Jacobins

Rupert of Deutz died this date in 1129. Theologian, exegete. Congenital disputant with Anselm of Laon and William of Champeaux on investiture, liturgy and transubstantiation. Contra Augustine, he maintained that the Incarnation was planned from eternity, independently of human sin.

I am pleased to have a selection of my leaf collages in:
"The Body Politic: Women, Earth, and the Environment"
through May 6, 2025
Reception, Wednesday, March 5, 6:00 - 8:00 PM
Curated by Hallie Cohen and Kallie Cassidy
Hewitt Gallery of Art
Marymount Manhattan College
221 East 71st Street, NYC

Thank you Karlyn Benson and "Two Coats of Paint" for including news about the exhibition at Geary Contemporary.

Robert of Melun died this date in 1167. Scholastic theologian/philosopher. Sided with Henry II against Thomas Becket. Student of Abelard. teacher of John of Salisbury. Active in the Council of Reims condemning the Christology of Gilbert of Poitiers. Buried in Hereford Cathedral.

Didn't say he was. Didn't say he was Christian, or Gnostic. He was Persian. But he was a prophet in the Jewish, Christian and Gnostic traditions.

Mani died this date in 277. Jewish Christian Gnostic prophet. THE Mani of Manichaeism, the persistently influential syncretism postulating a rigid dualism of good and evil, spirit and matter. Powerful influence on the poor Cathar victims of the Albigensian Crusade. His sealstone.

1772: Austria, Poland and Russia seized a third of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth. 20 years later they took the rest. 1939: Germany and the Soviet Union (Russia) divided reconstituted Poland.
Two notes: one, a proud people ultimately will endure. Two, Russia, always Russia.

Andrea Cesalpino died this date in 1603. Philosopher. Physician. Pantheist. Demonologist. The first modern botanist. Innovative taxonomer whose Averroistic Aristotelian methodology inspired Galileo, Harvey, Spinoza and Linnaeus. His statue in the Uffizi. pic.x.com/sk003bw5dd