Resolution of normative conflicts and paraconsistency in the William of Auxerre’s Summa aurea

Abstract

William of Auxerre, in his Summa Aurea, focuses on the concept of moral perplexity (perplexitas), endeavoring to better clarify it by addressing several situations of normative conflict. In dealing with a sample of cases, he advances a resolution strategy that boils down to the adoption of the so called lesser evil principle as a criterion of choice aimed at picking out the most suitable solution among extant, conflicting alternatives. This approach is remarkable insofar as it adopts a quite adaptive standpoint on the occurrence of inconsistencies, avoids a trivialization of the underlying logic and does not completely surrender the inferential power of classical logic.

Key words: normative conflicts, paraconsistency, lesser evil principle, William of Auxerre.