Il timore dell’altra parte : Il ruolo della 'formido' nei dibattiti scolastici sull’assenso (da Tommaso d’Aquino a Pietro Aureolo)

According to a definition derived from Isaac Israeli and Avicenna, ‘opinion’ signifies an act of the intellect which leans to one side of a contradiction, whilst in fear of the other. The term ‘fear’ (formido) thus enters the Scholastic vocabulary concerning the different kinds of assent and adher- ence and plays a crucial role in the debates over the distinction between science, opinion and faith. The article deals with the use of ‘fear’, in this technical sense, in the writings of Thomas Aquinas, Henry of Ghent, Godfrey of Fontaines, Durandus of Saint-Pourçain and Peter Auriol.