Roger Bacon on Chance in Natural Generation in the Questiones super octo libros Physicorum Aristotelis

This study focuses on Roger Bacon’s thought on chance in nature according to his early Questiones supra libros octo Physicorum Aristotelis. On the basis of Aristotle’s Physics book 2 chapters 4-6 and its interpretation by Avicenna and Averroes, Bacon considers the impediments to the natural course of events in biological generation as a result of the inherent abundance or imperfection of matter. However, under the input of Boethius, Avicenna, and, perhaps, also Robert Grosseteste, Bacon relates the issue of chance to the notion of the divine providence ordering everything for the best and the good. Bacon’s solution for avoiding determinism develops the Avicennian idea of a “universal nature” (natura universalis) which operates as a repairing virtue when an anomalous event occurs. This restorative act is specifically assigned to a “second intention” (secunda intentio) of nature, which is accidental for the proximate causes of the output. The notion of the secondary intention of nature takes inspiration from Averroes, particularly as regards its link with chance in natural generation, and will not appear in Bacon’s later major work on natural philosophy, specifically the Communia naturalium. Here, on the basis of the theories of the multiplication of species and the astrological account of civilizations, Bacon extends the heavenly curative action to the entire universe, which is aimed at realizing happiness for the humankind. This final conception contributed to determine Bacon’s decisive founding of a natural science able to include individuality and singularity as proper objects of scientific knowledge.