Richard Rufus Project (RRP)

FAIN: RQ-271143-20

Trustees of Indiana University (Bloomington, IN 47405-7000)
Rega Wood (Project Director: December 2019 to present)

Preparation for print and online publication of a commentary on Aristotle’s metaphysics, redaction of Averroes’ Metaphysics, and the Oxford lectures of Richard Rufus of Cornwall, an early Scholastic philosopher-theologian (ca. 1200-1260). (36 months)

Richard Rufus introduced the teaching of Aristotle's Metaphysics and natural philosophy at Paris, the heart of the 13th-c. western intellectual world. At Oxford Rufus was the first bachelor to lecture on Lombard's Sentences. His very early lectures analyzed & challenged Aristotle's and Lombard's views. He thereby influenced the views of the great Scholastic philosophers who followed him, such as Roger Bacon's arguments for a beginning of the world, Albertus Magnus' discussion of universals, Aquinas' rejection of the ontological argument, and Duns Scotus' formal distinction and his theory of haecceity. After they were lost for 600 years, the British Academy (BA) began publishing our editions of Rufus' works, most recently his psychology lectures in 2018. In 2006, the Richard Rufus project (RRP) began publishing critical editions online. In 2020-23 RRP will submit vol. 2 of Rufus' Metaphysics lectures and vol. 1 of his Oxford lectures to the BA and publish online a newly discovered redaction of Averroes' Metaphysics in Latin. 

Associated Products

Scriptum in Metaphysicam Aristotelis, Libri Introductorii: Alpha -- Epsilon (Book)
Title: Scriptum in Metaphysicam Aristotelis, Libri Introductorii: Alpha -- Epsilon
Author: Richard Rufus of Cornwall
Editor: Rega Wood
Editor: Neil Lewis
Editor: Jennifer R. Ottman
Abstract: Abstract: The first major metaphysics commentary in the Western philosophical tradition, based on lectures delivered at Paris before 1238. Includes an introduction by the editors to his life and works, a description of the place and date the work originated, the text of Aristotle on which Rufus lectured, the sources on which he relied, the manuscripts in which the work is preserved, and the editorial method followed. There is also a sustained discussion of two topics of doctrinal interest.
Year: 2022
Primary URL: https://global.oup.com/academic/product/richard-rufus-of-cornwall-9780197266908?cc=us&lang=en&
Primary URL Description: Oxford University Press
Access Model: Purchase
Publisher: Oxford University Press for the British Academy
Type: Scholarly Edition
ISBN: 9780197266908
Copy sent to NEH?: Yes

Richard Rufus Project (Web Resource)
Title: Richard Rufus Project
Author: Aristotle
Author: Averroes
Author: Richard Rufus of Cornwall
Author: Roger Bacon
Author: Adam Buckfield
Author: Rega Wood
Author: Jennifer R. Ottman
Author: Eva St. Clair
Author: Robert Andrews
Abstract: Richard Rufus was a Franciscan scholastic philosopher and theologian. He was one of the first medieval philosophers to interpret Aristotle’s metaphysics and natural philosophy. This website publishes works by Rufus, works by authors whose works he depended on, and authors whom he influenced. This website allows scholars to view the version of Aristotle's Metaphysics that he knew in the 1230's, works by Roger Bacon and Adam Buckfield whom he influenced, and other works closely connected with his understanding of Aristotle and Boethius.
Year: 2006
Primary URL: http://rrp.stanford.edu
Primary URL Description: Publishes works by Richard Rufus and other medieval philosophers, both in final and provisional form. Describes the editors and their editorial method. Offers other research tools including searches.
Secondary URL: http://rrp.indiana.edu
Secondary URL Description: A mirror site

The Elusive Substrate: Hylomorphic Turns (Public Lecture or Presentation)
Title: The Elusive Substrate: Hylomorphic Turns
Abstract: This ongoing series is organized by Nicola Polloni, and covers Prime Matter and Hylomorphism from Ancient Rome to Early Qing China (158 views • Apr 1, 2021). Chaired by Wood, this session featured a presentation by Neil Lewis, entitled "Kilwardby, Rufus, and Grosseteste on the Infinite Replicability of Prime Matter." Jeffrey Brower spoke on Aquinas, and Nicola Polloni on Roger Bacon.
Author: Rega Wood
Author: Neil Lewis
Author: Jeffrey Brower
Author: Nicola Polloni
Date: 11/05/2021
Location: Leuven, Belgium, & the world wide web
Primary URL: https://youtu.be/65IhxlYN7tw
Primary URL Description: In this video Neil Lewis presents his talk.
Secondary URL: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=areSaXi43F8
Secondary URL Description: This ongoing series is organized by Nicola Polloni, and covers Prime Matter and Hylomorphism from Ancient Rome to Early Qing China (161 views • Apr 1, 2021) . This video introduces the series as a whole.

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