Richard Rufus also called Richard of Cornwall (d. c.1260), English philosopher-theologian who wrote some of the earliest commentaries on Aristotle in the Latin West. His commentaries were not cursory summaries; they included sustained philosophical discussions. Richard was a master of arts at Paris, where he studied with Alexander of Hales; he was also deeply influenced by Robert Grosseteste. He left Paris and joined the Franciscan order in 1238; he was ordained in England. In 1256, he became regent master of the Franciscan studium at Oxford; according to Roger Bacon, he was the most influential philosophical theologian at Oxford in the second half of the thirteenth century.
In addition to his Aristotle commentaries, Richard wrote two commentaries on Peter Lombard’s Sentences (c.1250, c.1254). In the first of these he borrowed freely from Robert Grosseteste, Alexander of Hales, and Richard Fishacre; the second commentary was a critical condensation of the lectures of his younger contemporary, St. Bonaventure, presented in Paris. Richard Rufus was the first medieval proponent of the theory of impetus; his views on projectile motion were cited by Franciscus Meyronnes. He also advocated other arguments first presented by Johannes Philoponus. Against the eternity of the world, he argued: (1) past time is necessarily finite, since it has been traversed, and (2) the world is not eternal, since if the world had no beginning, no more time would transpire before tomorrow than before today. He also argued that if the world had not been created ex nihilo, the first cause would be mutable. Robert Grosseteste cited one of Richard’s arguments against the eternity of the world in his notes on Aristotle’s Physics.
In theology, Richard denied the validity of Anselm’s ontological argument, but, anticipating Duns Scotus, he argued that the existence of an independent being could be inferred from its possibility. Like Duns Scotus, he employs the formal distinction as an explanatory tool; in presenting his own views, Duns Scotus cited Richard’s definition of the formal distinction. Richard stated his philosophical views briefly, even cryptically; his Latin prose style is sometimes eccentric, characterized by interjections in which he addresses questions to God, himself, and his readers. He was hesitant about the value of systematic theology for the theologian, deferring to biblical exposition as the primary forum for theological discussion. In systematic theology, he emphasized Aristotelian philosophy and logic. He was a well-known logician; some scholars believe he is the famous logician known as the Magister Abstractionum. Though he borrowed freely from his contemporaries, he was a profoundly original philosopher. See also ALEXANDER OF HALES, BONAVEN- TURE , GROSSETESTE , PETER LOMBAR. R.W.