Ramon Llull
Ramon Llull TOSF (Catalan: [rəˈmoɲ ˈʎuʎ]; c. 1232 – 1315/1316), anglicised as Raymond Lully or Lull, was a philosopher, theologian, poet, missionary, Christian apologist and former knight from the Kingdom of Majorca.
Ramon Llull | |
|---|---|
Anachronistic portrait of Ramon Llull by Francisco Ribalta (1620) | |
| Doctor Illuminatus | |
| Born | c. 1232 City of Mallorca, Kingdom of Majorca (now Palma, Spain) |
| Died | 1315 or 1316 (aged 83–84) |
| Venerated in | Roman Catholic Church |
| Beatified | 1847 by Pope Pius IX |
| Feast | 30 June |
Philosophy career | |
Anachronistic image of Ramon Llull with speech scroll, by an unknown artist (16th–17th century) | |
| Notable work | |
| Era | Medieval philosophy |
| Region | Western philosophy |
| School | Lullism |
Main interests | |
Notable ideas | |
He invented a philosophical system known as the Art, conceived as a type of universal logic to prove the truth of Christian doctrine to interlocutors of all faiths and nationalities. The Art consists of a set of general principles and combinatorial operations. It is illustrated with diagrams.
A prolific writer, he is also known for his literary works written in Balearic Catalan, which he composed to make his Art accessible to a wider audience. In addition to Catalan and Latin, he also probably wrote in Arabic (although no texts in Arabic survive). His books were translated into Occitan, French, and Castilian during his lifetime.
Although his work did not enjoy huge success during his lifetime, he has had a rich and continuing reception. In the early modern period his name became associated with alchemical works. More recently he has been recognized as a precursor of the modern liberal voting franchise, 450 years before Borda and Condorcet had proposed the idea and also the computer and a pioneer of computation theory.