Download Scholasticism

Homework Check:
Explain the difference between essence and
existence using “What is a unicorn” as an
example.
What was the major argument presented by
William Ockham, known as Ockham’s
Razor?
Thomas Aquinas believed a child is born
tabula rasa. Explain the meaning of this.
Scholasticism
The philosophers who attempted to reconcile the beliefs of
the Christian church and the ideas which had come down
to them from the Greeks were known as “Schoolmen,” and
the philosophies which they developed were in general
called “Scholasticism.”
*Loyal members of Christian church
*Believed the doctrine without serious question
*Wanted to show that doctrines were reasonable and
justifiable by the mind of man
Medieval Philosophy
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John the Scot-aka John Scotus Erigena
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Correct reasoning cannot lead to false
conclusion. There can be no conflict
between reason and divine revelation.
They are both ways at arriving at truth.
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Set out to rationally demonstrate truths of
the Christian faith
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Danger: his work could render both faith
and revelation unnecessary
Erigena
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God is unknowable, in the sense of not being the
sort of entity that constitutes a possible object of
knowledge. It is impossible for God to know
himself, to understand his own nature.
Correct reasoning cannot lead to false
conclusions
Conclusions, therefore cannot be no conflict
between reason and divine knowledge
Creation is a kind of self manifestation wherein
the hidden transcendent God creates himself by
manifesting himself into a visible (but not
material) human
Erigena
Divisions:
1. That which creates and is not created
2. That which creates and is created (ideas)
3. That which is created and does not create
4. That which is neither created nor creates
1st and 4th refer to God as beginning and
end of all things
Teleological Argument (design)
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The natural world around us contains many apparently
complex and seemingly well-designed working structures that
appear to serve well various purposes.
It is improbable for these natural processes and structures to
have just been around forever, or else to have been produced
by blind chance
There is a divine designer behind the mechanisms of nature
and responsible for the designs we see there
As a house implies a builder, and a garment a weaver, and a door
a carpenter, so does the existence of the Universe imply a Creator.
--Akiba in Midrash
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1. So far as we are able to determine, every highly complex
object with intricate moving parts is a product of intelligent
design. (the only such objects whose ultimate origin we are
sure about are artifacts designed by people)
2. The universe is a highly complex object with intricate
moving parts. (from observation) Therefore,
3. Probably, the universe is a product of intelligent design.
4. No one could design a universe but God. (It's a big job)
Therefore,
5. Probably, there is a God
Ontological Argument
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Human reason alone can draw at least one important
conclusion about what exists in reality.
We have many ideas of things that don't exist, like unicorns
and fairies. Typically when we have an idea of something that
might exist, we have to somehow go look to see whether the
ultimate inventory of reality includes any such thing or not.
God -”That than which no greater can be conceived” or “the
greatest possible being”
Ontological Argument
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1. God is the one and only greatest possible being.
2. A greatest possible being has the greatest form of existence
possible, which is necessary existence, or existence in all
possible circumstances.
3. It is at least possible that there is a God. (There is a
God in some possible set of circumstances, whether they
are actual circumstances, or fictional, yet possible, ones)
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4. A God who exists in any possible circumstances exists in all.
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5. God exists in the actual world.
Cosmological Argument
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Why is there something rather than
nothing? How could all this profusion of
being come to exist at all? Why is there
light, and matter?
A cosmos or orderly universe of being
exists.
The only adequate explanation for that fact
would be the existence of a being very
different from anything in that universe.
Cosmological Argument
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1. The existence of something is intelligible only if it has an
explanation.
2. The existence of the universe thus either a) is unintelligible,
or b) has an explanation.
3. no rational person should accept 2-a.
4. A rational person should accept 2-b: the universe has an
explanation.
Cosmological Argument
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5. There are only three kinds of explanation:
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Scientific: independent initial physical Conditions +
relevant Laws= Event
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Personal: explanations that cite the desires, beliefs,
powers, and intentions of some personal agent.
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Essential: the essence of the thing to be explained
necessitates its existence or qualities
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6. The explanation for the existence of the whole universe
can't be scientific. (There can't be initial physical conditions and
laws independent of what is to be explained.)
7. The explanation for the existence of the whole universe
can't be essential. (The universe is not the sort of thing that
exists necessarily.) Therefore (hold onto your desk),
8. A rational person should believe that the universe has a
personal explanation
9. no personal agent but God could create an entire universe.
Therefore,
10. a rational person should believe that there is a God
It is impossible to account for the creation of the universe
without the agency of a Supreme Being. --George Washington
Medieval Renaissance 13th century
Interchanges between Christian and Islamic
cultures
Aristotle’s works return from Arab world to
Europe
Time of Arthurian Legends
French gothic cathedrals
Oxford and Cambridge University
Magna Carta/ House of Commons
Thomas Aquinas
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Greatest philosopher since Augustine
Put together all the best stuff argued so far
in Dark Ages and showed its compatibility
to Christian belief
Incorporated Jewish, Islamic, Aristotle
Distinction between Philosophy and
Religion/ reason and faith
Thomas Aquinas
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Our knowledge is acquired through sensory
experience- on which our minds then reflect
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Tabula Rasa
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“The soul is known by its acts”
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Knowledge we gain is through God's
creations- justification
Existence and Essence
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Essence- what the thing is
His problem with ontological argumentprovides the essence, not the existence.
Page 60, right column, middle paragraph-Chicken or egg argument....
--God must be pure existence
Duns Scotus
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Criticized Aquinas's positions
Proofs of immortality of the soul aren't
proofs at all
Distinction between reason and faith
KEEP IT SIMPLE, STUPID
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William of Ockham furthered his work: necessity
in logic but not in the natural order of things; can't
reach any knowledge of world through purely
logical argument—observation and experience
provides us with reliable basis for knowledge.
Ockham's razor: 2 alternative explanations for the
same phenomena the more complicated is more
likely to have something wrong with it-- the more
simple is the more likely to be correct.
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Whatever God does is by definition good, regardless of what it
is. There are no objective values apart from God's commands.
“If God had commanded his creatures to hate himself, hatred
of God would have been praiseworthy.”
Disapproved of Church's use of tons of money to construct
buildings in honor of people.
Pope got mad—jailed, broke out, excommunicated-- but not
executed. Spiritually inked out, not physically cut off.
Place of burial is marked by a plaque in a parking garage in
Germany.
Roger Bacon (1214-1294)
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4 Causes of Ignorance (criticisms of the
church)
He openly attacked clerical ignorance
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Unsuited Authority
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Custom
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Unlearned crowd
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Wisdom that covered up ignorance
John Wycliffe (1324-1484)
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Righteousness alone gave people the right
to property and power-- corruption
Wycliffe pointed out-- Christ and early
apostles had no property and the clergy
shouldn’t either
King was God's vicar and the church was
subject to him
Translates the vulgate into English—gave
access to people besides the clergy
Scholasticism
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Initially shook up Catholicism, but
Strengthened it in the long run
Accepted Aristotle as a greater thinker than
Plato
Developed as a reaction to corruption in the
church
Thomas More (1478-1535)
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Beheaded for refusing to agree to Henry 8th
Wrote Utopia- sets out how a perfect
society should be run
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Equality of sexes, freedom of religion, a
representative democracy and no private
property
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Laying the foundations of secular politics
and a scientific way of thinking
Martin Luther (1482-1546)
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Authority of the bible supreme over church
tradition
Said that men must obey their rulers at all
times.
John Calvin (1509-1564)
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His ideas about a civil life organized in an
egalitarian way influenced the Pilgrim
Fathers of America
Egalitarian- one who believes in the
equality of all people
His radicalism gave rise to Presbyterianism
and Congregationalism
Zwingli (1484-1531)
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Attacked the clergy for their corrupted
image of living celibate, “poor,” unworldly
lives
Denied transubstantiation- bread and wine
becoming Christ's flesh and blood in
eucharist
CATHOLIC RESPONSE: counterreformation Council of Trent: doctrine was
reformed and discipline restored
CHURCH ESTABLISHES NEW ORDERS –
ESP. JESUITS
*ST. IGNATIUS OF LOYOLA (1491-1556) –
EX-SOLDIER, SPANIARD, FORMS HIS SOCIETY OF
JESUS ALONG MILITARY LINES.
*STRENUOUS FIGHTERS OF HERESY, VIGOROUS
MISSIONARIES, AND CREATED THE BEST SCHOOLS
IN CHRISTENDOM.
**COUNTER-REFORMATION SLOWS THE SPREAD
OF PROTESTANTISM BUT DID LITTLE FOR
PHILOSOPHY….
SO—WHAT HAS ALL THIS GOT TO DO WITH
PHILOSOPHY?
SCIENCE HAS ALWAYS BEEN CONNECTED WITH
PHILOSOPHY, AND IN THE 17TH CENTURY ADVANCES IN
SCIENTIFIC THINKING STARTED OFF WHAT WE CALL
“THE MODERN WORLD” AND “MODERN PHILOSOPHY”