La quaestio Utrum gravia moveantur ex se deorsum vel ab alio di Urbano da Bologna

Abstract

In the Latin world, the question concerning the principles regulating the motion of heavy and light inanimate bodies (gravia et levia) was a relevant issue in the attempts to interpret Aristotle’s texts. Already in the late Middle Ages – and then throughout the Renaissance – the debate on this philosophical question was multifaceted and marked by a wide variety of controversies. The Servite master Urbano of Bologna, whose question on the natural motion of inanimate bodies (Utrum gravia moveantur ex se deorsum vel ab alio) is the subject of this study, was active in the debates of the early 14th century. After a short introduction aimed at providing a brief status quaestionis of the subject and its philosophical implications, the article presents the critical text of Urbano’s question, completed by an apparatus of sources.