Hugh of st victor biography

Any attempted synthesis of Hugh’s teaching should be preceded by a critical examination of the authenticity of the treatises which have been included in the collected edition of his works, and some of the most authoritative historians of philosophy and theology have gone astray through non-observance of this elementary precaution.

Others again have concentrated their attention on his writings on mystical theology, where the supernatural reigns supreme—to attempt to appreciate an author’s philosophical teaching upon data furnished by his endeavors to explain what passes in the soul possessed of perfect charity can only lead to confusion.

Hugh has left us sufficient material, philosophical and theological, in which rational explanations stand side by side with revealed teaching, to enable us to form a sound opinion of his position as a philosopher, a theologian, and a mystic.

As a Philosopher, he has a clear idea, frequently emphasized, of the subject