Simon of Faversham

Simon Faversham
Born	1260 England
Died	1306 Oxford, England unknown
Occupation	Philosopher
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Simon of Faversham (Simon Favershamensis, Simon de Faverisham, Simon von Faversham, Simon Anglicus).

Life

Simon of Faversham was born around 1260 in Faversham, a small port on the North coast of Kent in England. He received his Masters degree at Oxford. However, the presence of his writing in continental manuscripts, and references to him in some manuscripts as ‘Simon Anglicus’ suggest that he taught at Paris in the 1280's. The colophon to his Questions on the Prior Analytics in Ms V speaks of him as ‘magistro Symone Anglico Parisius’. His return to England is suggested by his ordination as a deacon in 1290 he was ordained a deacon by Archbishop Peckham. He received the rectorship of Preston, a village near Faversham, a sinecure suitable for the support of a scholar. He never became a priest, and seems to have spent most of his scholarly life in the Arts faculty, a somewhat uncommon practice for his day, though it was done more frequently in the next century. He became chancellor in January 1304, but served only a short time, dying in 1306.

Apart from the opusculum, Sophisma: A Universal is an Intention, Simon’s work consists entirely of commentaries and questions on Aristotle's logical and psychological works. His questions are similar in content and form to the work of Parisian writers, especially that of Peter of Auvergne, in the 1270's and early 1280's. However, according to Longeway, his work seems unaffected by later Parisian developments of Radulphus Brito's day. He follows Henry of Ghent in adopting the phrase esse in effectu for existence, from Avicenna (On First Philosophy V 1).

Notability

This philosopher has 1 pages in the Blackwell Companion.