TITLE:
Sense Knowledge, Experience, and Experiential Science in the Commentary on Aristotle’s De Anima in the Jesuit Course of Coimbra (1598), according to Manuel de Góis, S. J.
AUTHORS:
Maria da Conceição Camps
KEYWORDS:
External and Internal Senses, Natural Philosophy, Experience, Aristotle, Experiential Science, Rational Soul, Creation
JOURNAL NAME:
Open Journal of Philosophy,
Vol.15 No.4,
November
4,
2025
ABSTRACT: In this paper, we discuss the role of sense knowledge, experience, and so-called experiential science in the Commentary on Aristotle’s De Anima (DA) of the 1598 Jesuit Course of Coimbra, to highlight their importance both in the discovery and articulation of the laws of nature and in accessing the wonders of creation. Experiential science takes on a prominent role in conducting an epistemological process that begins with Natural Philosophy and leads into Metaphysics to find its conclusion in Theology, as it is the outcome of sense knowledge arising from experience, as well as intellectual and spiritual knowledge, which is inherent in separate substances.