Very little is known about the life and times of James Metz. It is a mystery when he was born and when he died, but what is known is that he was philosophically active in the first decade of the fourteenth century. Of his works that survive presently, much of it remains unedited, and only a dozen manuscript copies still exist. James was known as a Dominican Theologian, which meant following the teachings of Saint Thomas Aquinas. However, James earned the reputation for being a "critical-Thomist," as he openly disagreed some of Aquinas's positions. One account of James describes him as an “eclectic thinker,” and that his works were partially influenced by Peter of Auvergne as well as Henry of Ghent.