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The Dominican theologian Albert the Great (ca. 1200-1280) was one of the first to investigate into the system of the world on the basis of an acquaintance with the entire Aristotelian corpus, which he read under the influence of Islamic philosophers. The present study aims to understand the core of Albert's natural philosophy. Albert's emblematic phrase, “every work of nature is the work of intelligence” (omne opus naturae est opus intelligentiae), expresses the conviction that natural things are produced by the intellects that move the celestial bodies, just as houses are made by architects moving their instruments. Albert tried to fathom the secret of generation of natural things with his novel notion of “formative power” (virtus formativa), which flows from the celestial intellects into the sublunary elements. His conception of the natural world represents an alternative to the dominant medieval view on the relationship between the artificial and the natural. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article considers some of the material in philosopher Immanuel Kant which are speculated to emphasize on the development of pragmatism. Passages in which Kant uses pragmatic formulations and the term pragmatism itself are offered. Kant believes the concept of a highest intelligence which he calls a mere idea and a heuristic concept.

Presents comments on the essay "Plotinus," by L.P. Gerson regarding the philosophy of Plotinus. Overview of the intellectual milieu of the late Roman Empire; Discussion of imputation of scholastic anachronism; Recognition of multiplicity in either the physical world of the Nous.

Examines the roles of reason and sense-experience in epistemology and methodology in the "Phaedo," by the philosopher Plato. Argument for recollection in the "Phaedo"; Description of the philosopher's practice of death; Theory of the gradual development of the human mind.