Buridan

Jean Buridan was a French philosopher and priest active in the 14th century, associated with the University of Paris. Although few biographical details survive, he is generally dated to around 1295 to 1358 and is regarded as a leading figure in the medieval Scholastic tradition. His work helped shift the study of motion and logic away from a strict Aristotelian framework toward ideas that anticipated later physics.

Buridan is best known for the theory of impetus, an early attempt to explain motion. In his account, a moving body carries an internal force or impetus that sustains motion even after the initial cause has ceased; this impetus is gradually diminished by resistance. The theory was part of a broader effort to reconcile observation with formal explanations of natural phenomena and is seen as a precursor to the later concept of inertia. He also engaged in voluntarist discussions about human action, emphasizing the role of the will in voluntary behavior.

The name Buridan is often attached to the paradox of Buridan’s ass, a thought experiment in which a hungry donkey between two equally appealing piles of hay cannot choose and starves. The attribution is subject to scholarly debate, but the paradox is widely used in discussions of determinism and free will.

Buridan’s writings, including works such as Quaestiones super octo physicarum Aristotelis, contributed to the Parisian scholastic tradition and influenced later developments in medieval and early modern thought, laying groundwork for debates on motion, causation, and rational decision.