Intentiones as Mediators of Experience in 14th – 15th century Hebrew Philosophical Works

Following Averroes' interpretations of Aristotle's De Anima, Parva Naturalia, and De Interpretatione, Hebrew commentators understood intentiones as media between human beings and the external world as well as between descriptions things in the world and their descriptions in speech. 13th and 14th century Hebrew authors used a cognate of the Arabic ma‘ana, the Hebrew term ‘inyan, to describe what in Latin commentaries was known as intentiones. Yet, the Hebrew term ‘inyan was also used to translate a number of other key Arabic terms (including amr and ḥāl) and in other ways that did not always correspond directly to the specific meaning of associated with intentiones in Latin. Consequently, many commentators, particularly in 15th century Italy, dedicate significant effort to explaining the meaning of ‘inyan and to raising critical problems with ‘inyan as a medium between human beings and the world and between the world and words about the world. These problems derive from 14th century scholastic discussions of intentiones, but take on their own character in Hebrew form.