Transcript Document 7112863

MEDIEVAL
PHILOSOPHY
PLAN
 The character of the Medieval
Philosophy
 The main features of the Middle Age
philosophy
 The philosophers of that period
THE MIDDLE AGES
 During the decline of Greco-Roman civilization,
Western philosophers turned their attention
from the scientific investigation of nature and
the search for worldly happiness to the problem
of salvation in another and better world. By the
3rd century ad, Christianity had spread to the
more educated classes of the Roman Empire.
The religious teachings of the Gospels were
combined by the Fathers of the Church with
many of the philosophical concepts of the
Greek and Roman schools.
THE MAIN
CHARACTERISTICS
 THEOCENTRISM - any philosophical problem is studied in the
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context of God.
THEODICY (God and justice)- the study which explains the
contradiction of the idea of God as Absolute and the existence
of the world evil.
THEOLOGISM – everything around is determined by God
and eventually reaches its aim.
PERSONALISM – God is Absolute Personality, which served as
a sample for man creating.
GNOSTICISM - derived from the Greek word gnosis (“revealed
knowledge”). To its adherents, Gnosticism promised a secret
knowledge of the divine realm. Sparks or seeds of the Divine
Being fell from this transcendent realm into the material
universe, which is wholly evil, and were imprisoned in human
bodies. Reawakened by knowledge, the divine element in
humanity can return to its proper home in the transcendent
spiritual realm.
Philo of Alexandria
 He was the first to prove the possibility to combine the Bible
beliefs with the Greek philosophy.
 He conceived of God as a being without attributes, better than
virtue and knowledge, better than the beautiful and the good, a
being so exalted above the world that an intermediate class of
beings is required to establish a point of contact between him
and the world. These beings he found in the spiritual world of
ideas—not merely ideas in the Platonic sense, but real, active
powers, surrounding God as a number of attendant beings.
 All these intermediate powers are known as the Logos, the
divine image in which persons are created and through which
they participate in the deity. An individual's duties consist of
veneration of God and love and righteousness toward others.
Humans are immortal by reason of their heavenly nature, but
just as degrees in this divine nature exist, degrees of
immortality also exist. Mere living after death, common to all
humanity, differs from the future existence of the perfect souls,
for whom paradise is oneness with God.
LOGOS
 Logos (Greek, “word, reason, ratio”), in ancient and especially
in medieval philosophy and theology, the divine reason that acts
as the ordering principle of the universe.
 The Logos is “present everywhere” and seems to be
understood as both a divine mind and at least a semiphysical
force, acting through space and time. Through the faculty of
reason, all human beings (but not any other animals) share in
the divine reason.
 the Greek word logos being translated as “word” in the English
Bible: “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with
God, and the Word was God. . . . And the Word became flesh
and dwelt among us . . .”
 The Logos, for instance, was identified with the will of God, or
with the Ideas (or Platonic Forms) that are in the mind of God.
Christ's incarnation was accordingly understood as the
incarnation of these divine attributes.
Saint Augustine
St. Augustine of Hippo
 St Augustine was born
November 13, 354.
 He died August 28, 430
 He is considered the
patron saint of brewers,
printers, theologians,
sore eyes, and a number
of cities and dioceses.
Education and Christianity
 St. Augustine was born at
Tagaste, which is now SoukAhras, about 60 miles from
Bona (ancient HippoReguis)
 His family was not rich, his
father Patricius was one of
the curiales of the city and
still was a pagan.
 Through the prayers of his
holy mother and the
marvelous preaching of St.
Ambrose, Augustine finally
became convinced that
Christianity was the one true
religion.
 His mother, Monica, was a
Berber
Early Education
 At the age of 11,
Augustine was sent to
school at Madaurus, a
small Numidian city about
19 miles south of
Thagaste noted for its
pagan climate.
 At Madaurus he became
familiar with Latin
literature.
Pre-Christian Days
 Once, when very ill, he asked for baptism, but,
all danger being soon passed, he deferred
receiving the sacrament, yielding to a terrible
ritual of times.
 His association with "men of prayer" left three
great ideas deeply engraved upon his soul: a
Divine Providence, the future life with terrible
sanctions, and, above all, Christ the Savior.
 But a great intellectual and moral crisis stifled
for a time all these Christian sentiments.
Education
 Patricius, proud of his son's success in the
schools of Tagaste and Madaura determined to
send him to Carthage to prepare for a forensic
career.
 Unfortunately, it required several months to
collect the necessary means, and Augustine
had to spend his sixteenth year at Tagaste in an
idleness which was fatal to his virtue
 The gave himself up to pleasure with all the
vehemence of an ardent nature.
Education
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When he reached Carthage,
towards the end of the year
370, every circumstance tended
to draw him from his true course
 The many seductions of the
great city that was still half
pagan, the licentiousness of
other students, the theatres, the
intoxication of his literary
success, and a proud desire
always to be first, even in evil
 Before long he was obliged to
confess to Monica that he had
formed a sinful liaison with the
person who bore him a son
St. Ambrose
 His religious problem
would come to end when
he went to Italy under the
influence of St. Ambrose.
 Having visited Bishop
Ambrose, the fascination
of that saint's kindness
induced him to become a
regular attendant at his
preaching's.
Bishop of Hippo
 In 391 he was ordained a
priest in Hippo Regius
 He became a famous
preacher and was noted for
combating the Manichaean
religion, to which he had
formerly adhered.
 In 396 he became Bishop of
Hippo
Bishop of Hippo
 Augustine worked tirelessly
in trying to convince the
people of Hippo, who were
diverse racial and religious
group, to convert to the
Catholic faith.
 He left his monastery, but
continued to lead a monastic
life in the Episcopal
residence. He left a rule for
his monastery that has led
him to be designated the
"patron saint of regular
clergy", that is, clergy who
live by a monastic rule.
Teaching of Philosophy
 Along with being a prominent figure in the religious spectrum,
Augustine was also very influential in the history of education.
 He introduced the theory of three different types of students,
and instructed teachers to adapt their teaching styles to each
student's individual learning style.
 He claimed there are two basic styles a teacher uses when
speaking to the students.
 The mixed style includes complex and sometimes showy
language to help students see the beautiful artistry of the
subject they are studying.
 The grand style is not quite as elegant as the mixed style, but is
exciting and heartfelt, with the purpose of igniting the same
passion in the students' hearts.
Pelagian Heresy
 St. Augustine was involved
was his battle against
Pelagianism.
 The Pelagians denied
original sin and the fall of
humanity.
 From his writings the
controversies on grace
proceed, and as supposed
followers of Augustine, John
Calvin and the Jansenists
developed predestinarian
theologies.
Heresies
 St Augustine of Hippo dealt
 The Donatists claimed to be
with the heresies of the
Donatists, Manichaeans.
 Augustine himself was
drawn to Manichaeism for
nine years before his
conversion.
 But, as soon as he became
a Christian, Augustine felt
the need for protecting the
Church from the
Manichaean heresy.
the only faithful and pure
Christians.
 The unity of the Church was
severely threatened.
 Augustine took pains to
address this problem from
around 396
 He distinguished between
the gift of baptism itself and
the efficacious use of it, by
saying that the former exists
everywhere, whether inside
or outside of the Catholic
Church.
Confessions
 His Confessions is
considered a classic of
Christian autobiography.
 The work outlines
Augustine's sinful youth and
his conversion to
Christianity.
 St. Augustine writes about
how much he regrets having
led a sinful and immoral life.
He discusses his regrets for
following the Manichaean
religion and believing in
astrology
St Augustine’s Books
 City of God a mammoth
defense of Christianity
against its pagan critics,
and famous especially for
the uniquely Christian
view of history elaborated
in its pages.
 On the Trinity comes from
his polemic writings.
 On the Work of Monks,
has been much used by
monastics.
Augustine’s Works
 Augustine was one of the most prolific Latin authors, and
the list of his works consists of more than a hundred
separate titles.
 They include apologetic works against the heresies of the
Arians, Donatists, Manichaeans and Pelagians, texts on
Christian doctrine, notably De doctrina Christiana (On
Christian Doctrine), exegetical works such as
commentaries on Book of Genesis, the Psalms and
Paul's Letter to the Romans, many sermons and letters,
and the Retractationes (Retractions), a review of his
earlier works which he wrote near the end of his life
Influence on Church
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Augustine was a bishop, priest, and
father who remains a central figure,
both within Christianity and in the
history of Western thought, and is
considered by modern historian
Thomas Cahill to be the first
medieval man and the last classical
man.
Bishop John Fisher of Rochester, a
chief opponent of Luther, articulated
an Augustinian view of grace and
salvation consistent with Church
doctrine, thus encompassing both
Augustine’s soteriology and his
teaching on the authority of and
obedience to the Catholic Church.
Influence on the Church
 Later, within the Roman
Catholic Church, the writings
of Cornelius Jansen, who
claimed heavy influence
from Augustine, would form
the basis of the movement
known as Jansenism.
 Augustine was canonized by
popular acclaim, and later
recognized as a Doctor of
the Church in 1303 by Pope
Boniface VIII
 His feast day is August 28,
the day on which he died.
St. Augustine’s Death
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Shortly before Augustine's
death, Roman Africa was
overrun by the Vandals, a
warlike tribe with Arian
sympathies.
 They had entered Africa at the
instigation of Count Boniface,
but soon turned to lawlessness,
plundering private citizens and
churches and killing many of the
inhabitants.
 The Vandals arrived in the
spring of 430 to besiege Hippo
and during that time, Augustine
endured his final illness.
Saint Augustine
 Saint Augustine, born in what is now Souk-Ahras, Algeria,
in ad 354, brought a systematic method of philosophy to
Christian theology.
 As a writer, Augustine was prolific, persuasive, and a
brilliant stylist. His best-known work is his
autobiographical Confessions (400), exposing his early
life and conversion. In his great Christian book The City
of God (413-26), Augustine formulated a theological
philosophy of history. Ten of the 22 books of this work are
devoted to polemic against pantheism. The remaining 12
books trace the origin, progress, and destiny of the
church and establish it as the proper successor to
paganism.
Saint Augustine
 The process of reconciling the Greek emphasis on
reason with the emphasis on religious emotion in the
teachings of Christ and the apostles found eloquent
expression in the writings of Saint Augustine during the
late 4th and early 5th centuries.
 Augustine argued that religious faith and philosophical
understanding are complementary rather than opposed
and that one must “believe in order to understand and
understand in order to believe.”
 He considered the soul a higher form of existence than
the body and taught that knowledge consists in the
contemplation of Platonic ideas as abstract notions apart
from sensory experience and anything physical or
material.
Saint Augustine
 Late in his life Augustine came to a pessimistic view
about original sin, grace, and predestination: the ultimate
fates of humans, he decided, are predetermined by God
in the sense that some people are granted divine grace to
enter heaven and others are not, and human actions and
choices cannot explain the fates of individuals.
 His view of human life was pessimistic, asserting that
happiness is impossible in the world of the living, where
even with good fortune, which is rare, awareness of
approaching death would mar any tendency toward
satisfaction. He believed further that without the religious
virtues of faith, hope, and charity, which require divine
grace to be attained, a person cannot develop the natural
virtues of courage, justice, temperance, and wisdom.
SCHOLASTICISM
 philosophic and theological movement that attempted to
use natural human reason, in particular, the philosophy
and science of Aristotle, to understand the supernatural
content of Christian revelation.
 It was dominant in the medieval Christian schools and
universities of Europe from about the middle of the 11th
century to about the middle of the 15th century.
 The ultimate ideal of the movement was to integrate into
an ordered system both the natural wisdom of Greece
and Rome and the religious wisdom of Christianity.
 Nonetheless, throughout the Scholastic period,
philosophy was called the servant of theology, not only
because the truth of philosophy was subordinated to that
of theology, but also because the theologian used
philosophy to understand and explain revelation.
SAINT THOMAS AQUINAS
 Aquinas, Saint Thomas, sometimes
called the Angelic Doctor and the Prince
of Scholastics (1225-1274), Italian
philosopher and theologian, whose
works have made him the most
important figure in Scholastic philosophy
and one of the leading Roman Catholic
theologians.
SAINT THOMAS AQUINAS
 Aquinas combined Aristotelian science and Augustinian
theology into a comprehensive system of thought that
later became the authoritative philosophy of the Roman
Catholic Church.
 He wrote on every known subject in philosophy and
science, and his major work, Summa Theologica, in
which he presents a persuasive and systematic structure
of ideas, still constitute a powerful influence on Western
thought. His writings reflect the renewed interest of his
time in reason, nature, and worldly happiness, together
with its religious faith and concern for salvation.
SAINT THOMAS AQUINAS
 Aquinas made many important investigations into the
philosophy of religion, including an extremely influential study of
the attributes of God, such as omnipotence, omniscience,
eternity.
 He also provided a new account of the relationship between
faith and reason that the truths of faith and the truths of reason
cannot conflict but rather apply to different realms. The truths of
natural science and philosophy are discovered by reasoning
from facts of experience, whereas the tenets of revealed
religion, the doctrine of the Trinity, the creation of the world, and
other articles of Christian dogma are beyond rational
comprehension, although not inconsistent with reason, and
must be accepted on faith. The metaphysics, theory of
knowledge, ethics, and politics of Aquinas were derived mainly
from Aristotle, but he added the Augustinian virtues of faith,
hope, and charity and the goal of eternal salvation through
grace to Aristotle’s naturalistic ethics with its goal of worldly
happiness.
St. Thomas Aquinas (1224 – 1274)
Life and Significance
 Educated as Friar (Dominican Order), Studies
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Theology in Cologne and Paris, Teaches in
Paris and various Italian Cities
Most famous Works Summa contra Gentiles,
Summa Theologiae (unfinished), numerous
biblical and philosophical Commentaries
Scholasticism and the Revival of Learning
Canonized in 1323
Aquinas’ work is declared the official
‘philosophy’ of the Catholic church in 1879
Aquinas’ Challenge
 The Return of Aristotle
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Teleology
Causality Book III ScG
The ‘Errors of Aristotle’
 The Claims of Reason and Faith
 What do you know about God?
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Being
Attributes
Aquinas, God, and Ontology
 Five Ways of proving God’s Existence
 Descartes, Leibniz and Kant
 Causality, Being, Time, Space
“Not how the world is, is the mystical, but
that it is” (Ludwig Wittgenstein)
Politics and Religion
in the Middle Ages
 From zoon politikon to homo credens
 This world and the next world
(St.Augustine 354-430: City of God)
 Religion and Politics, Pope and Emperor,
The Holy Roman Empire, Investiture and
Coronation
 Feudalism
The Cosmos
Universe/God
Society/King
Household/Pater familias
Analogies and Hierarchies
 God is to the Universe what the King is
to Society is what the Head of
Household is to the Household
 Harmony, Hierarchy and Teleology
Law and Politics
 Law is “an ordinance of reason for the
common good”
 Eternal Law, Natural Law, Human Law,
Divine Law
 Disobedience, Resistance, Legitimacy
and Legality
What is Natural Law
 Underlying principles of moral practice
 One more Analogy: The Principle of Non-
Contradiction and the Law of Nature
 “Good should be pursued and done and evil
avoided”
 “Since good has the character of an end and
evil the contrary character, all those things to
which a man has a natural inclination reason
naturally grasps as goods, and consequently as
things to be pursued…”
 Self-Preservation, Community, Contemplation