Ramon Llull
Truth, including the truth of Christianity, could be demonstrated by mechanically combining basic concepts – an early idea of logic as a machine.
Placement
Majorcan polymath: his “Art” combined basic concepts on rotating figures to convince Muslims and Jews of Christian truth – a forerunner of combinatorics.
Key ideas
- Ars combinatoria
- Interreligious dialogue
- Logic as a mechanism
Influence
Influenced by 2
Augustine
influenced by
Llull built his Art on the Augustinian triad of the soul’s powers – memory, understanding and will – which are to remember, know and love God. R. Llull, Ars generalis ultima (1305–08); A. Bonner, The Art and Logic of Ramon Llull (2007); SEP “Ramon Llull”
Evidence: AI draft
Augustine › 354–430
al-Ghazali
influenced by
Llull adapted the logic of al-Ghazali’s Intentions of the Philosophers in his Compendium logicae Algazelis and its Catalan verse version, the Lògica del Gatzell (c. 1271–72). R. Llull, Compendium logicae Algazelis; Lògica del Gatzell; A. Bonner, The Art and Logic of Ramon Llull (2007); SEP “Ramon Llull”
Evidence: AI draft
al-Ghazali › 1058–1111
Influenced 3
Nicholas of Cusa
influenced
Cusanus copied and excerpted Llull’s works, still kept in his library at Kues, and drew on Lullian correlatives for his trinitarian thought. E. Colomer, Nikolaus von Kues und Raimund Llull (1961); SEP “Nicholas of Cusa”; SEP “Ramon Llull”
Evidence: AI draft
Nicholas of Cusa › 1401–1464
Giordano Bruno
influenced ✓
Bruno wrote several works on Llull’s art, such as De compendiosa architectura et complemento artis Lullii (1582), and combined its combinatorics with the art of memory. G. Bruno, De compendiosa architectura et complemento artis Lullii (1582); F. A. Yates, The Art of Memory (1966); SEP “Giordano Bruno”
Giordano Bruno › 1548–1600
Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz
influenced ✓
In the Dissertation on the Combinatorial Art (1666) Leibniz took up and generalised Llull’s art of combining basic concepts, aiming at an alphabet of human thoughts. G. W. Leibniz, Dissertatio de arte combinatoria (1666); SEP “Ramon Llull”
Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz › 1646–1716
Works
The final form of Llull’s Art: combining basic concepts to answer any question.
Position
Llull wanted to win people of other faiths not by force but by reasons they could accept; in late works such as the Liber de fine (1305), however, he combined his plans for peaceful mission with proposals for a military crusade. His “Art” started from concepts shared by Jews, Christians and Muslims – divine attributes such as goodness, greatness, eternity, power and wisdom – marked them with letters and combined them systematically on rotating concentric discs and tables, so that every question could be answered. In The Book of the Gentile and the Three Wise Men, a Jew, a Christian and a Muslim courteously present their faiths to a seeker, and the book leaves his choice open. Llull also helped found Catalan literary prose. His combinatorics influenced Nicholas of Cusa, Giordano Bruno and Leibniz.
Life & context
Ramon Llull was born around 1232 in Palma on Majorca, shortly after its Christian conquest. A married courtier, he had visions of the crucified Christ around 1263 and devoted his life to converting Muslims and Jews. He learned Arabic, founded a missionary school at Miramar and travelled to Paris, Rome and North Africa. He wrote over 250 works in Catalan, Latin and Arabic and died in 1316.
Further main works
- The Book of the Gentile and the Three Wise Men (c. 1274–1276)
- Blanquerna (c. 1283)
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