HENRY OF

See also:

• GHENT (Flem. Gent, Fr. Gand)

GHENT [Henricus a Gandavo] (c. 1217–1293)  , scholastic philosopher, known as " Doctor Solennis," was born in the district of Mude, near Ghent, and died at Tournai (or Paris) . He is said to have belonged to an Italian family named Bonicolli, in Flemish Goethals, but the question of his name has been much discussed (see authorities below) . He studied at Ghent and then at Cologne under Albertus Magnus . After obtaining the degree of doctor he returned to Ghent, and is said to have been the first to lecture there publicly on philosophy and theology . Attracted to Paris by the fame of the university, he took part in the many disputes between the orders and the secular priests, and warmly defended the latter . A contemporary of Aquinas, he opposed several of the dominant theories of the time, and united with the current Aristotelian doctrines a strong infusion of Platonism . He distinguished between knowledge of actual objects and the divine inspiration by which we cognize the being and existence of God . The first throws no light upon the second . Individuals are constituted not by the material element but by their independent existence, i.e. ultimately by the fact that they are created as separate entities . Universals must be distinguished according as they have reference to our minds or to the divine mind . In the divine intelligence exist exemplars or types of the genera and species of natural objects . On this subject Henry is far from clear; but he defends Plato against the current Aristotelian criticism, and endeavours to show that the two views are in harmony .

In

psychology, his view of the intimate union of soul and body is remarkable . The body he regards as forming part of the substance of the soul, which through this union is more perfect and complete . WoRics.—Quodlibeta theologica (Paris, 1518; Venice, 1608 and 1613) ; Summa theologiae (Paris, 152o; Ferrara, 1646) ; De scriptoribus ecclesiasticis (Cologne, 158o) .