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Peter John Olivi

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Book cover Encyclopedia of Medieval Philosophy
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Abstract

Peter John Olivi (1248–1298) was in his time well known as social reformist, but in histories of philosophy, he has often been ignored. He was, however, a very original thinker who had a major influence on well-known Franciscan thinkers of the time. In social philosophy, he was an active participant in the influential debates concerning the Franciscan ideal of absolute poverty. From more theoretical perspectives, freedom of the will and the activity of the soul in respect to the corporeal world are the most important tenets of Olivi’s thought, and it was in this area that he had the most lasting influence on the western intellectual heritage. Olivi laid the ground for distinctively modern habits of thought. His thought centered around self-reflexive and free human subjectivity, and its place in the corporeal, mechanical world on the one hand, and in the social–political order on the other.

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Yrjönsuuri, M. (2011). Peter John Olivi. In: Lagerlund, H. (eds) Encyclopedia of Medieval Philosophy. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4020-9729-4_381

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4020-9729-4_381

  • Publisher Name: Springer, Dordrecht

  • Print ISBN: 978-1-4020-9728-7

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