The Averroism in the Corpuscular Philosophy of Petrus of Oleza

Abstract

Oleza is an obstinate defender of Atomism in the Spanish scientific world of the XVIth century. He was the author of a Summa totius philosophiae et medicinae, published in 1536, five years after his death. Probably, Oleza's stay in Montpellier and Pisa conciliated his critical disposition towards Scholastic Galenism. His scientific thought must be connected not only with the flourishing Atomism of the first half of XVIth century, but also with Scholastic Aristotelism deriving from the Arabic transmission and from its main representative, Averroes. Oleza's natural philosophy of the human body is strongly influenced by Averroes' ideology. This article supplies new elements about his life based on investigations of archives.