MAIGNAN, EMMANUEL. - Scientist, philosopher, and theologian, b. at Toulouse on 17 July 1601, d. 1 vol. 2 vol. 1676. At the age of 18 he entered the Order of Minims, and on account of his marked aptitude for the mathematical sciences he was sent to teach in Rome. Returning to Toulouse in 1650, he continued his teaching there, acquiring fame and renown for his works in mathematics and physics.
He opposed the abstractism of the Aristotelian physicists of his time, and appealing to experience attempted to elaborate an encyclopedic philosophical system with a sensistic-empiricist orientation. He extended its reflections to theological questions, particularly those concerning the Eucharist, which were then very much alive due to the influence of the new Cartesian philosophy, in his attempts to elucidate the mystery of transubstantiation and the nature of sacramental species. On the latter subject he formulated his theory of the “intentional species,” which gave rise to lively controversies.
Principal works: *Perspectiva horaria, sive de horologio-graphia tum theoria tum practica libri IV* (Rome 1648); *Cursus philosophicus* (4 vols., Toulouse 1652; 2nd ed. augmented, Lyons 1673); *Sacra philosophia sive entis tum supernaturalis tum increati* (2 vols., Toulouse 1662-72); *Disertatio theologica de usu licito pecuniae* (Lyons 1673), favoring the licit practice of lending at interest; *De sensibilitate S. Mae Eucharistiae Sacramenti per species* (Toulouse 1675).