Practical Philosophy vs. Theology. The Definition and Division of Practical Philosophy in Theological Inception Speeches from the Thirteenth Century

This article examines how the notion of practical philosophy and its constituent parts, as developed by thirteenth-century Arts masters, was received and critically reviewed by contemporary theologians in their principia or inception speeches. Focusing on St Bonaventure and his De reductione, it shows that the authors of the principia followed the developments at the Faculty of Arts in Paris very closely, incorporating philosophical definitions and semantic innovations into their own discourse, while at the same time they questioned the philosophers’ claim of a self-contained and autonomous philosophical realm of practical reflection.