Rise and Decline of the Scholastic Quaestio Disputata

This book represents a major contribution to the study of scholastic disputation or quaestio disputata. Based on an ever increasing use of logic in law, theology, the arts and medicine, this method rapidly became one of the chief tools of instruction in all these disciplines. Its history is traced from its beginnings in the early 12th century to its decline in the 16th and 17th century and ultimate demise in the 18th. Special emphasis is given to its use in the teaching of science (physica) and medicine since it was this very method which helped to lay the foundations of what has been called the Scientific Revolution of the late 16th and early 17th century. The use of this multidisciplinary approach throughout this period permits a level of analysis and perspective that could not be achieved by any other means.