BURIDAN, bur'i-dan or French bü"rî"dan',
JEAN (Johannes Buridanus): Medieval French
philosopher; b. at Béthune (25 m. n.w. of Douai),
in the latter part of the thirteenth century; d. after
1358. He was educated at Paris, and was made
rector in 1327. The story of his expulsion from
the city, like his love affair with a queen of France,
seems to be a myth, for it is clear that he occupied
a prominent position at Paris between 1348 and
1358. He was the author of the
Summula de
dialectica, or
Compendium logic (Paris, 1487),
and also wrote on the "Politics," "Ethics," and
other Aristotelian writings, but he paid no attention
to theology. As an admirer and follower of Occam,
be was a consistent nominalist, and hence felt a
special interest in ethical and psychological questions,
in which he showed the characteristic union
of skepticism and dogmatism. He became famous
by his thorough research into the problem of the
freedom of the will, but his works contain ingenious
investigations rather than clear decisions, so that
it is doubtful whether he was a determinist or an
indeterminist. His psychology allowed no decision
of the will without a motivating judgment
of the understanding. The famous aphorism of
the ass standing between two hay-stacks, and
obliged either to starve or to decide deterministically
for one or the other, is not found in his writings,
and it is uncertain whether either he or his
opponents used it, or whether later legend ascribed
to him the example already found in Aristotle.
His collected works were first edited at Paris by
J. Dullardus in 1500, and were frequently reprinted.
R. SCHMID.
BIBLIOGRAPHY:
Sketches of his life and philosophy will be
found in the works on the history of philosophy by Ueberweg,
Bitter, and Erdmann. Consult also A. Stöckl,
Geschichte der Philosophie des Mittelalters, ii, 1023-28,
3 vols., Mainz, 1864-66.
BURKE, THOMAS MARTIN ALOYSIUS:
Roman Catholic bishop of Albany, N. Y.; b. in
County Mayo, Ireland, Jan. 10, 1840. He came
to the United States in childhood, and was educated
at St. Michael's College, Toronto, St. Charles'
College, Md. (B.A., 1861), and St. Mary's Seminary,
Baltimore (B.T., 1864). He was ordained to
the priesthood in 1864, and was successively assistant
and rector at St. John's Church, Albany,
N. Y. (1864-74), and rector of St. Joseph's Church
in the same city (1874-94). He was appointed
vicar-general of the diocese of Albany in 1887 and
consecrated bishop in 1894. He was created a
Knight of the Holy Sepulcher in 1890, and a
Knight of the Grand Cross in 1894.
