Page "Adelard of Bath" Paragraph 4

Among Adelard of Bath's original works is a trio of dialogues, written to mimic the Platonic style, or correspondences with his nephew.

The earliest of these is De Eodem et Diverso ( On the Same and the Different ).

It is written in the style of a protreptic, or an exhortation to the study of philosophy.

The work is modelled on Boethius ' Consolation of Philosophy, evident in Adelard's vocabulary and phraseology.

It is believed to have been written near Tours after he had already travelled, though there is no indication that he had travelled past Southern Italy and Sicily at the time of writing.

The work takes the form of a dramatic dialogue between Philocosmia, who advocates worldly pleasures, and Philosophia, whose defence of scholarship leads into a summary of the seven liberal arts.

Underlining the entire work is the contrast between Philocosmia's res ( perceptible reality ), and Philosophia's verba ( mental concepts ).

Each section of the liberal arts is divided into two parts.

Presented first is a description of the allegorical figure representing the art, in which the importance of that art is indicated, followed by a summary of the doctrines of that art, as told by the allegorical figure who is presented as the founder or main proponent of the particular art.