        Buridan, Jean  {bue-ree-dahn'}

Jean Buridan, 1300-58, was a French scholastic philosopher and
logician. He produced critical commentaries on the works of ARISTOTLE,
advanced his own theory of CAUSALITY, and wrote works on optics and
mechanics. The parable of "Buridan's Ass," the story of an ass that
lacked the ability to choose and that starved to death when placed
between two equidistant bundles of hay, is attributed to him, but
appears nowhere in his writings.  Buridan, however, did describe a dog
in a similar situation choosing at random; hence he has been credited
with originating PROBABILITY theory.
