William of Auvergne, bishop of Paris from 1228 to his death in 1249, was one of the first masters of theology in the Latin West to confront the flood of Greek and Islamic philosophy that poured into Europe through the new translations made in the twelfth and thirteenth centuries. William was deeply influenced by Avicenna, whom he took to be a true representative of Aristotle. Although he adopted many points of Avicennian philosophy, he firmly opposed him wherever the great Islamic thinker was opposed to the Christian faith.
Fr. Teske translated William’s De trinitate with Francis C. Wade, S.J. He has also translated the De immortalitate animae, the De anima, and selections from the De universo creaturarum. The present volume contains a selection of his articles on William’s philosophy published over the past fifteen or so years.
Roland J. Teske, S.J., Donald J. Schuenke Professor of Philosophy (Ph.D., University of Toronto, 1973), specializes in St. Augustine and medieval philosophers, especially William of Auvergne and Henry of Ghent. He has translated 10 volumes of works of St. Augustine, 4 volumes of works of William of Auvergne, and 3 volumes of works of Henry of Ghent.
He has published over 50 articles on Augustine, over a dozen on William, and several on Henry. He has given the St. Augustine Lecture at Villanova and the Aquinas Lecture at ÃÛÌÒÓ°Ïñ. He has been visiting professor at Santa Clara University, John Carroll University, and Villanova University.