Robert Alyngton

Robert Alyngton (aka Arlyngton; died September 1398), was an English philosopher who developed new logical, semantic, metaphysical, and ontological theories in 14th century thought. Alyngton is credited with creating the ideological foundation for the Oxford Realists by substituting reference to objective reality with reference to mental and linguistic reality.^[1]

Career

Alyngton was a Fellow of The Queen's College, Oxford^[2] from 1379 until 1386. He was deeply influenced by the metaphysics of John Wyclif who began his theological studies at Queen's College in 1363. Alyngton was Chancellor of Oxford University in 1394–5.^[3] He later became Rector of Long Whatton, Leicestershire, until his death 1398.

Philosophical works

• Litteralis sententia super Praedicamenta Aristotelis — a commentary on Aristotle's Categories. This is Alyngton's most famous work.
• Tractatus de suppositionibus terminorum — a treatise on the supposition of terms. Early linguistic philosophy.
• A commentary on the Liber sex principiorum.
• Tractatus generum — a treatise on the genera of being.

References

1. Robert Alyngton entry by Alessandro Conti in the Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy, 2007-10-14
2. Wood, Anthony (1790). "Fasti Oxonienses". The History and Antiquities of the Colleges and Halls in the University of Oxford. Google Books. p. 34.
3. Hibbert, Christopher, ed. (1988). "Appendix 5: Chancellors of the University". The Encyclopaedia of Oxford. Macmillan. pp. 521–522. ISBN 0-333-39917-X.