Roscelin

French philosopher and theologian

Also known as: Roscelin of Compiègne, Roscellinus Compen-diensis, Rucelinus

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Latin:: Roscellinus Compendiensis, or Rucelinus

Born:: c. 1050,, Compiègne, Fr.

Died:: c. 1125

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Roscelin (born c. 1050, Compiègne, Fr.—died c. 1125) was a French philosopher and theologian known as the originator of an extreme form of nominalism holding that universals are nothing more than verbal expressions. His only extant work seems to be a letter to the French philosopher Peter Abelard, who studied under him at Besançon; the little that is otherwise known of Roscelin’s doctrines is derived from the works of St. Anselm and of Abelard and from the anonymous work De generibus et speciebus (“Of Generals and Specifics”). Roscelin retracted his doctrine on the Trinity, namely that it consisted of three separate persons in God, when it was declared heretical by the Council of Soissons in 1092.

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