Alexander CekalaHistory of Western Philosophy: Part 2
Today's article is going to be the second part of my history of Western Philosophy and will deal with medieval philosophy.
Overview
Medieval philosophy was focused on god and often attempted to combine the theories of Aristotle, who was seen very highly, with the existence of god. During this period there were many attempts to prove gods existence through an application of logic alone.
Aristotle's logic was memorised by students and all of his theories were respected.
Augustine of Hippo
Influenced by Platonic and Neoplatonic ideas Saint Augustine was a major medieval philosopher who encouraged philosophers to attempt to synthesis Christianity with Greek philosophy.
Much of his work dealt with biblical questions and religious debates, as such as the role of original sin. He also dealt with the idea of divine predestination and the nature of time (once again from a biblical angle – he suggested god existed outside of time).
He believed that if the bible clashed with reason, reason should win out, as the bible is only meant to detail the path to salvation, not the way of the world.
He was one of the most influential philosophers of this period.
Anselm of Canterbury
A very influential philosopher, Anselm was one of the first Christian theologians to use scholarly techniques. He attempted to prove the existence of god, and while he had some powerful arguments he was generally ignored at the time.
Roger Bacon
An English philosopher, Bacon championed the empirical methods and is seen as a champion of science, although this view is probably exaggerated to some degree. Bacon believed that argument from tradition was much weaker then that from experimentation, and also found the fact that scholars refused to learn the original languages of the texts they studied foolish.
Thomas Aquinas
Thomas Aquinas is a renown theologian and philosopher. He greatly influenced later medieval philosophers.
His theory of epistemology distinguished between general revelation, which was the revelations that could be discovered through nature, and special revelation, that which could only be discovered through the bible (ie. Christianity). He also believed we could only know about god through analogy.
As with many medieval philosophers he was preoccupied with proving gods existence and he created five such proofs that satisfied him. In talking about ethics Aquinas distinguished between cardinal and theological virtues.
William of Ockham
Ockham was a medieval philosopher who extended his thoughts beyond those of many philosophers of the time. Today, he is probably best known for Ockham's Razor, his concept that if something can be explained without recourse to a hypothesis, it should be. That is, that the simplest explanation should be chosen.
Ockham was also a strong supporter of nominalism, a theory which believes that the ideas represented in language have no existence outside our heads, it is just the physical objects themselves which exist.
He also developed ideas of logic as well as constitutional government.
Francisco Suárez
One of the greatest philosophers of the medieval period. Suarez worked in the areas of metaphysics, where he claimed that existence and essence aren't logically separable, but are only epistemically separable.
He also commented on the philosophy of law, saying that people have rights, which they bestow on their ruler. However, he believed that if a ruler was bad the people were right to revolt against him (which clashed with the later view of Hobbes).
Overview
Medieval philosophy was focused on god and often attempted to combine the theories of Aristotle, who was seen very highly, with the existence of god. During this period there were many attempts to prove gods existence through an application of logic alone.
Aristotle's logic was memorised by students and all of his theories were respected.
Augustine of Hippo
Influenced by Platonic and Neoplatonic ideas Saint Augustine was a major medieval philosopher who encouraged philosophers to attempt to synthesis Christianity with Greek philosophy.
Much of his work dealt with biblical questions and religious debates, as such as the role of original sin. He also dealt with the idea of divine predestination and the nature of time (once again from a biblical angle – he suggested god existed outside of time).
He believed that if the bible clashed with reason, reason should win out, as the bible is only meant to detail the path to salvation, not the way of the world.
He was one of the most influential philosophers of this period.
Anselm of Canterbury
A very influential philosopher, Anselm was one of the first Christian theologians to use scholarly techniques. He attempted to prove the existence of god, and while he had some powerful arguments he was generally ignored at the time.
Roger Bacon
An English philosopher, Bacon championed the empirical methods and is seen as a champion of science, although this view is probably exaggerated to some degree. Bacon believed that argument from tradition was much weaker then that from experimentation, and also found the fact that scholars refused to learn the original languages of the texts they studied foolish.
Thomas Aquinas
Thomas Aquinas is a renown theologian and philosopher. He greatly influenced later medieval philosophers.
His theory of epistemology distinguished between general revelation, which was the revelations that could be discovered through nature, and special revelation, that which could only be discovered through the bible (ie. Christianity). He also believed we could only know about god through analogy.
As with many medieval philosophers he was preoccupied with proving gods existence and he created five such proofs that satisfied him. In talking about ethics Aquinas distinguished between cardinal and theological virtues.
William of Ockham
Ockham was a medieval philosopher who extended his thoughts beyond those of many philosophers of the time. Today, he is probably best known for Ockham's Razor, his concept that if something can be explained without recourse to a hypothesis, it should be. That is, that the simplest explanation should be chosen.
Ockham was also a strong supporter of nominalism, a theory which believes that the ideas represented in language have no existence outside our heads, it is just the physical objects themselves which exist.
He also developed ideas of logic as well as constitutional government.
Francisco Suárez
One of the greatest philosophers of the medieval period. Suarez worked in the areas of metaphysics, where he claimed that existence and essence aren't logically separable, but are only epistemically separable.
He also commented on the philosophy of law, saying that people have rights, which they bestow on their ruler. However, he believed that if a ruler was bad the people were right to revolt against him (which clashed with the later view of Hobbes).
