The art of doubting in Obligationes Parisienses
Sara L. Uckelman, Jaap Maat, Katherina Rybalko

Abstract:
Recent studies on obligationes tend to focus on the specific type of
positio. This emphasis has led to a neglect of the less standard
types, including dubitatio. While some claim that dubitatio is merely
a trivial variant of positio, we show that the dubitatio rules given
in the 13th-century treatise Obligationes Parisienses are by no means
trivial and in fact lend themselves to a somewhat peculiar system of
dialogue. Dubitatio in this treatise shares many aspects with
dubitatio in two other 13th-century treatises, by William of Sherwood
and Nicholas of Paris. We use these similarities to shed some light on
the history of dubitatio in general and the interpretation of the
Parisienses rules in particular.