Editing Ramon Llull (section)

===Llull's ''Art''===

Llull's ''Art'' (in Latin ''Ars'') is at the center of his thought and undergirds his entire corpus. It is a system of universal logic based on a set of general principles activated in a combinatorial process. It can be used to prove statements about God and Creation (e.g., God is a Trinity). Often the ''Art'' formulates these statements as questions and answers (e.g., Q: Is there a Trinity in God? A: Yes.). It works cumulatively through an iterative process; statements about God's nature must be proved for each of His essential attributes in order to prove the statement true for God (i.e., Goodness is threefold, Greatness is threefold, Eternity is threefold, Power is threefold, etc.).

What sets Llull's system apart is its unusual use of letters and diagrams, giving it an algebraic or algorithmic character. He developed the ''Art'' over the course of many decades, writing new books to explain each new version. The ''Art''{{'}}s trajectory can be divided into two main phases, although each phase contains numerous variations. The first is sometimes called the Quaternary Phase (1274 - 1290) and the second the Ternary Phase (1290 - 1308). This terminology was coined by Anthony Bonner.{{sfn|Bonner|2007|p=121}}

====Quaternary Phase====

The two main works of the Quaternary Phase are the ''Ars compendiosa inveniendi veritatem'' (ca. 1274) and the ''Ars demonstrativa'' (ca. 1283).{{sfn|Bonner|2007|p=26}} The ''Ars demonstrativa'' has twelve main figures. A set of sixteen principles, or 'dignities' (divine attributes) comprise the general foundation for the system's operation. These are contained in the first figure (Figure A) and assigned letters (B through R). The rest of the figures enable the user to take these principles and elaborate to demonstrate the truth of statements. Figure T is important because it contains "relational principles" (i.e.: minority, majority, equality, etc.), also assigned letters. The ''Art'' then lists combinations of letters as a sort of visual aid for the process of working through every possible combination of principles. Figure S displays the Augustinian powers of the soul (will, intellect, and memory) and their acts (willing, understanding, and remembering). Figure S was eliminated from the ''Art'' after 1290, though even in its subsequent versions Llull maintained that—for a proper operation of the ''Art''—the powers of the soul needed to be in alignment. This differentiates Llull's system from Aristotelian logic; because classical logic did not take the powers of the soul into account, it was—thereby, in Llull's view—ill-equipped to handle theological issues.

====Ternary Phase====

Llull inaugurated the Ternary Phase with two works written in 1290: the ''Ars inventiva veritatis'' and the ''Art amativa'' (or ''Ars amativa boni'').{{sfn|Bonner|2007|p=121}} The culmination of this phase came in 1308 with a finalized version of the ''Art'' called the ''Ars generalis ultima''. In the same year Llull wrote an abbreviated version called the ''Ars brevis''. In these works Llull revised the ''Art'' to have only four main figures. He reduced the number of divine principles in the first figure to nine (goodness, greatness, eternity, power, wisdom, will, virtue, truth, glory). Figure T also now has nine relational principles (difference, concordance, contrariety, beginning, middle, end, majority, equality, minority), reduced from fifteen. Llull kept the combinatorial aspect of the process.

====Correlatives====

Llull introduced an aspect of the system called the "correlatives" just before the final transition to the Ternary Phase. The correlatives first appear in a work called the ''Lectura super figuras Artis demonstrativae'' (c. 1285-7) and came to undergird his formulation of the [[ontology|nature of being]].<ref>Gayà, Jordi (1979). “La teoría luliana de los correlativos. Historia de su formación conceptual.” Universität Freiburg im Breisgau.</ref> The doctrine of correlatives stipulates that everything, at the level of being, has a threefold structure: agent, patient, act. For example, the divine principle "goodness" consists of "that which does good" (agent), "that which receives good" (patient), and "to do good" (act). Llull developed a system of Latin suffixes to express the correlatives, i.e. ''bonitas'' (goodness); ''bonificans'', ''bonificatus'', ''bonificare''. This became the basis for proving that the divine principles are distinct yet equivalent in God (each principle has the same underlying threefold structure, yet retains its own unique correlatives). This supports the combinatorial operation of the ''Art'' (i.e., this means that in God goodness ''is'' greatness and greatness ''is'' goodness, goodness ''is'' eternity and eternity ''is'' goodness, etc.), the Lullian proof of the [[Trinity]] (each divine principle has the three correlatives, and together the principles comprise the Godhead; therefore, the Godhead is threefold) and the [[Incarnation]] (the active and passive correlatives are equivalent to matter and form, and the trinitarian unfolding of being occurs on all levels of reality).{{sfn|Pring-Mill|1955}}

Within this framework, ''Liber Chaos''—a section of the ''Lectura''—explores the concept of primordial chaos as the initial state of creation, whereat divine principles had yet to impose order upon formless potential. Llull's treatment of chaos aligns with his system of correlatives, suggesting that chaos itself contains within it the active force of divine causation, the passive potential of undifferentiated being, and the act of transformation by which it becomes structured reality. This concept—though philosophical, in Llull’s system—bears a striking resemblance to alchemical notions of ''[[prima materia]]'', the raw substance from which all transmutations arise.{{sfn|Bonner|2007|pp=107–108}}