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ISAAC ISRAELI 'S DEFINITION OF TRUTHIn theS um m a T h eol o gi ca (I , q. 16; a. 2, ad 2) of St . T homasA quin as we read: P r aeterea, I saac dicit in li bro D e def i n i t i on i b u s ,

De Ve r i t a t e , q. 1, a. 1, w e fi nd the stat ement : E t sic di cit I saac,quod veritas est adaequatio rei et intellectusB. Geyer in his work, D i e Pa t r i s t i sch c un d Schol a s t i s ch e

Ph i l o s o p h i e (B er l in , 1928), p. 334, says B ona ven tu r a, H ein r ichvon Gent, Thomas von Aquin entnehmen die bekanntescholectus dem B u ch der D efin i ti onen I saa k s. H e gives a referenceto St. Bonaventure's commentary on First Book of Sentences(d. 40, a. 2, q. 1) where the defin i ti on is fou nd. I t is not thereattributed to Isaac by St. Bonaventure and the footnote referredto below is repeated distinctly saying it does not occur in Isaac.

In the work S . T h oma s d A q u i n by A .-D . Sertil langes (Pari s,1910) T ome I , p. 41, w e r ea d : Q u an t cell e d'I saac, que saintT homas semble affecti onner par-dessus les au t r es: L a vri t estl 'adquat ion des choses et de l 'in tel l i gence (adaequati o rei etintellectus), c'est une dfinition double entente.J . de T onqudec, in hi sL a C r i t i q u e d e l a C o n n a i ssa n c e (Paris,1929, p. 512) say s: L e vr ai , dit I saac, est l'quati on de la choseet de l'espri t and in a footn ote it is stal ed: L a dfin i ti on dela vrit se trouve dans le L i v r e d es D ef i n i t i o n s, comme le ditsa in t Thomas .In the E n c ycl o p ed i a B r i t a n n i ca (ed. I V , 1929, it is not inthe 1910 edi t i on) s. v. I sraeli , I saac Ben S al omon w e read:T h r ou gh the labours of G undi ssali nus he became very popularwith the thirteenth century scholastics who took from his

definitions the famous definition: veritas est adaequatio rei eti n te l l ec tu s1 .1 T he statement in th e E ncyclopedia B ri tanni ca mi gh t lead one to

MUCKLE, J.T., Isaac Israeli's definition of truth,Archives d'histoire doctrinale et littraire duMoyen-ge, Huitime anne (1933) 5-8.

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6 A R C H I V E S D 'H I S T O I R E D O C T R I N A L E E T L I T T R A I R E D O M O Y E N GET he E n c i cl o p ed i a U n i v er s a l I l u s t r a d a (M adr id, 1930), s. v.I saac Ben Salomon I sraeli , has the fol l ow i n g statement: Guttmannescolsticos del siglo XIII en cuyas obras se encuentran diversostextos del filsofo judeo, entre ellos la famosa definicion de laverdad: adaequatio rei et intellectus.Several other references might be given to modern writerson mediaeval philosophy who attribute the definition to Isaac.A mong mediaeval wr iters, St. A lbertus M agnus attributes thefol l owi ng defini tion of truth to A ri stotle: D i ci t eni m Ari stoteles

in V pri mae ph i l osoph iae, quod ver it as est adaequatio r erum etintellectuum ( S umma Th e o l o g i c a , P . I I , T r . 1; q. 1; m. 2;a. 1, A r g. 4. ). M oreover he gives I saac's defini ti on of tru th asfol l ows : C om pl ex i autem sermoni s veri tas est secundu m I saacin libro de Definitionibus, affirmatio rei de qua vere praedicatur,vel negatio rei de qua vere n ega t u r . (I .S u m . T h eol . , T r. V I , q.25, m. 1). E t hoc m odo Veritas, ut dicit I saac in l i bro de defin i -tionibus, quod veritas non est nisi quod est et quod res vere est.(I . S u m . T h eol . , T . 6, q. 25, m . 1). D i ci t eni m I saac quodveri tas est id qu od est res , vel secun du m al i quos, veri tas estsermo quem confi rmat demonst rati o . (I . S um . T h eol . , T . 6;q. 25, m : 2. ). S ecu n du m I saac et secun dum A ugust inu m, verumest id quod est. ( I b i d . N o. 3. ). E t secun dum h oc dicit I saac,quod veri tas est serm o qu em affi rmat demonstr ati o vel sensiSt. B onaventure quotes the defin i ti on adaequat io rei etintell ectu s several ti mes, (v . g. Sen t . , L ib. I , D . 40; A rt . 2; q. 1.

Sen t . , L i b. I , D . 46; A rt . 1; q. 4.Sen t . , L ib. I I , D . 37; A rt. 2;q. 3. I n H ex . Co l l a t i o n es, I I I . par . 8) , but so far as I havedi scovered, he docs not state where it is to be fou nd. In theQuar acchi E dit ion of his work s (1882), T om. I . p. 707, note 5,the editors call attention to the fact that they had read one ms. ofI saac (M onac. B . R . 8001, ff. 151v.-154r.) w i th out fi nd i ng thedefin it ion of truth whi ch St. T homas attributes to hi m. T heyquote from Isaac a definition which will be referred to later on.In several other places where St. Bonaventure quotes thebelieve that Gundissal inus quoted the definit ion from Isaac. I have alsoread recently a ms. of Gundissal inusD e an ima V at. L at. 2186, f. 104r.-119v.I fou n d there thi s defi ni t i on of t r u t h ; veritas aut em cui usq ue rei est idquod ipsa est. f. 118 v., l. 30.

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I SA A C I S R A E L I ' S D E F I N I T I ON O F T R U T H 7d e f i n i t io n V e r it as e st s e r m o q u e m c o n f i r m a t d e m o n s t r a t i o t he yr e f e r t h e r e a d e r t o t h i s n o t e o r r e p e a t i t i n f u l l .

Guttmann, in his treatise D i e Ph i l o soph i schen L eh r en d esI sa a c Ren Sa l om on I sr a el i , inB ei t r ge zu r G esch ich te d er Ph i l oso-p h i e d es M i t t el a l t er s , B and X , H eft 4, p. 27, gives I saac's defi ni ti onof truth as foll ows. D en n die D efin it ion der W ahr heit i st : das,was ein Ding ist, und die Definition des Falschen ist: das, wases nicht ist, indem man es als etwas beschreibt, was es nicht ist.the L atin tr anslat ions. H e mak es no ment i on of the adaequati oetc. .

I have just finished reading three mss. of Isaac d e def i n i t i on i14700, ff. 153r -160v. Catal ogued as bel ongi n g to the X I I I . centu r y,it bears the book- ma r k of the A bbey of St. V i ctor in P aris. I t isthe ms. from which Guttmann draws some of his Latin quotationsin the above-men ti oned w or k , (c) V ati can 2186, ff. 46v-50r .In none of these mss. did I find the definition of truth sopersistently attributed to Isaac.On f. 156v, 14700, there begins a long list of definitions whichcont i nue to the end of the w or k . T hi s li st is also in 6443, but theV ati can ms. lacks it. I n these mss. I saac gives the fol l ow i n gdefinitions of truth:1. D i ff i n i t i o na mqu e veritatis est quod es t ; et dif fi ni ti o vanitaest . 14700, f. 155r. C . 1, ll . 12-13; 6443, f. 147v. C . 2, ll. 45. T h eVatican ms. reads the same except that it has autem for namque,and falsitatis for vanit atis. (F . 47v. C . 2, ll. 26 sq. )2. D iffi ni tio veritatis; and there is wr itten in the m ar gi n , by

the same hand I th i n k , veritas est qu od est res. A n d then th e textgoes on : e t di ffi ni eru nt eam disertores. D i xer u nt en i m , veritasest ser m o qu em firmat dem on str ati o aut sensibi li ter aut intellecluex eius quidi tate. E t i l lud ideo, qu on i am c u m al iqu is dic it qui dest v e r i t a s est r e s p o n s i o in eo e s t qu od est res, et c u m di cit qu al i sest, dic itu r ei qu od est serm o qu em d emon stra tio fir mat autin tellectuali ter aut sensibi l i ter.. . et ser mo qui dem d icenti s veritasest quod est enuntiativus est nature veritatis et essentie eius,qu on i am il lu d secu nd um qu od est res, vere est veritas, no n ni siqu od est. ... falsi tas est n on qu od est res, et di ci tu r falsi tas,

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8 A R C H I V E S D 'H I S T O I R E D O C T RI N A L E E T L I T T R A I R E D U M O Y E N GEnarr atio rei cum diverso quod est ipsa et ipsius con t r ar i o.(14700, 158v, C. 2, ll. 30 sq.)

M s. 6443 is a ver y poor text. T h e ab ov e passage is fau lty bu tthe i mp or tan t par ts relati ve to thi s questi on ar e the sam e. In them ar gi n of 189r . C. 2, l. 21 there i s w r it ten i n the fir st h an d :d i ff i n i t i o veri tatis; veritas est qu od res e s t , and in the same

c ol u m m , l. 39, w e read: s e r m o qui dem dicen tis: veritas est qu odest essenti ati vu m (s ) est na tu r e ver itati s et essenc ie eiu s ququ od est.

3. V er u m est affi rmar e r em rei cui est secun dum veri tatemaut expell ere rem a re a qua vere removetu r . ... F alsum estaffirmare rem rei que ab ea removetur vere et removere rem a reque ei affi rmatur secundum v er i tat em. (14700, 159 r. C . 1, ll.22 sq. 6443, 189r C. 2, ll. 48 sq.)M onacensi s 3001 as quoted in the Quar acchi E dit ion vari essomewhat in wording from the above, but the meaning is muchthe same.The definition of verum (number 3) perhaps comes nearestto the definition ascribed to Isaac by St. Thomas, yet it is by nomeans the same ei ther in mean ing or lan guage. P erh aps somereader may know of a different manuscript tradition of Isaacwherein the classic definition is found.

J . T . M UC K LE , C . S . B .I n st i t u t e o f m ed i a eva l st u d i es, T o ron t o .