Difference between revisions of "Scholasticism" - New World Encyclopedia

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{{redirect|Scholastic|the American book publisher|Scholastic Press}}
 
{{redirect|Scholastic|the American book publisher|Scholastic Press}}
  
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'''Scholasticism''' comes from the [[Latin ]] word ''scholasticus'', which means "that [which] belongs to the school", and was a method of learning taught by the [[academics]] (or ''schoolmen'') of medieval [[university|universities]] circa [[1100]]–[[1500]]. Scholasticism originally began to reconcile the [[philosophy]] of the ancient classical philosophers with medieval Christian theology. It is not a philosophy or theology in itself, but a tool and method for learning which puts emphasis on dialectical reasoning. The primary purpose of scholasticism was to find the answer to a question or resolve a contradiction. It is most well known in its application in medieval theology, but was eventually applied to classical philosophy and many other fields of study.
+
'''Scholasticism''', from the [[Latin|Latin ]] word ''scholasticus'' ("that [which] belongs to the school) was a method of learning taught by the [[academics]] (or ''schoolmen'') of medieval universities circa 1100 - 1500. Scholasticism originally began as a reconciliation of the [[philosophy]] of the [[Ancient Greek philosophy|ancient classical philosophers]] with medieval [[Christianity|Christian]] theology. It was not a philosophy or theology in itself, but a tool and method for learning which emphasized dialectical reasoning. The primary purpose of scholasticism was to find the answer to a question or resolve a contradiction. It is most well known in its application in medieval theology, but was eventually applied to classical philosophy and many other fields of study.
  
−
==Scholastic method==
+
Scholastic theology is distinct from Patristic theology and from positive theology. The schoolmen themselves distinguished between ''theologia speculativa sive scholastica'' and ''theologia positiva''. It combined religious doctrine, study of the ideas of the Church fathers, and philosophical and logical analysis based on [[Aristotle]] and his commentators, and to some extent on themes from [[Plato]]. Prominent scholastics included [[Thomas Aquinas]] , [[Jean Buridan]] , [[Duns Scotus]] , and [[William Ockham]].
  
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The scholastics would choose a book by a renowned scholar, called '''auctor''', as a subject of investigation, for example the [[Bible]]. By reading the book thoroughly and critically, the disciples learned to appreciate the theories of the auctor. Then other documents related to the source document would be referenced, such as Church councils, papal letters, anything written on the subject, be it ancient text or contemporary. The points of disagreement and contention between these multiple sources would be written down.  These individual sentences or snippets of text are called [[sententiae]].  For example, the Bible contains apparent contradictions for Christians, such as the laws regarding what foods are kosher, and these contradictions have been examined by scholars ancient and contemporary, so a scholastic would gather all the arguments about the contradictions, looking at it from all sides with an open mind.
 
  
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Once the sources and points of disagreement had been laid out, through a series of [[dialectic]]s the two sides of an argument would be made whole so that they would be found to be in agreement and not contradictory. This was done in two ways.
+
Scholasticism dominated European philosophy from the time of [[Peter Abelard]] to that of [[Francisco Suárez]], when it was replaced by [[Renaissance]] [[humanism]] , [[rationalism]] , and [[empiricism]]. There have been several revivals, including neo-scholasticism.
  
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First, through [[philology|philological]] analysis. Words were examined and it would be argued they could have more than one meaning, that the author could have intended the word to mean something else. Ambiguity in words could be used to find common ground between two otherwise contradictory statements. Second, through logical analysis which relied on the rules of formal [[logic]] to show contradictions did not exist, but were subjective to the reader.
+
== Origin of the Term “Scholastic” ==
 +
In early Christian schools, especially after the beginning of the sixth century, it was customary to call the head of the school magister ''scholae, capiscola'', or ''scholasticus''. With time, ''scholasticus'' became the title for the head of a school. The curriculum of the early [[Christianity|Christian]] schools was the study of the seven liberal arts, including [[dialectic]], the only branch of philosophy under systematic study at that time. Dialectic, which  was usually taught by the scholasticus, became the prevailing method and system of philosophy throughout the Middle Ages. As a result, the name "Scholastic" came to be associated with the dialectical teaching of the masters of the schools. At the height of  Scholastic philosophy, during the thirteenth century, the curriculum of seven liberal arts had been replaced with the ''studia generalia'', or universities, but the philosophers of the thirteenth century were known as "Scholastics," a designation which continued until the end of the medieval period.  A philosopher or theologian who adopts the method or the system of the medieval Scholastics is said to be a Scholastic.  
 +
== History ==
 +
=== The Patristic Era ===
  
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==Scholastic genres==
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The period extending from the beginning of [[Christianity]] through the time of [[Augustine of Hippo|St. Augustine]] is known as the Patristic era of [[philosophy]] and [[theology]].  The early Fathers of the Church developed a Christian philosophy based on [[Platonism|Platonic]] principles, using reason to support revelation, and relying on spiritual intuition rather than logical proof to establish the truths which became the doctrine of the [[Roman Catholic Church|Church]].  The Patristic era ended in the fifth century, and between the fifth and ninth centuries, there were a number of thinkers, including Claudianus Mamertus, [[Boethius]], Cassiodorus, St. Isidore of Seville, and Venerable Bede, who carried on Patristic traditions along Platonic lines.
 +
=== The Scholastic Period ===
 +
In the ninth century, the Carolingian revival of learning gave a new direction to [[Christianity|Christian]] thought.  The masters of the schools began to include discussions of [[psychology]], [[metaphysics]], [[cosmology]], and [[ethics]] in their teaching of dialectic, giving rise to the Christian [[rationalism]] which characterizes Scholastic philosophy.  The first original thinker in the Scholastic era was John the Scot ([[Johannes Scottus Eriugena]]). During the eleventh and twelfth centuries conflict arose between rationalists such as Roscelin, [[Peter Abelard|Abelard]], and [[Peter Lombard]], and Christian mystics such as St. Anselm, St. Peter Damian, St. Bernard, and the Victorines, who felt that they were threatening the Christian faith.  Gradually the rationalists reconciled their methods with the orthodoxy of the Church and accommodated reverence for the mysteries of faith.  Eclectics, like [[John of Salisbury]], and [[Platonism|Platonists]], like the members of the School of Chartres, brought the Scholastic movement to a greater degree of toleration. By the end of the twelfth century, rationalism was dominant in the Christian universities, but coexisted with mysticism.
  
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Scholastics developed two different genres of literature:
+
After the capture of [[Constantinople]] in 1204, the works of [[Arabic philosophy|Arabian]], [[Judaism|Jewish]] and [[Greek philosophy|Greek]] philosophers were introduced into the [[Christianity|Christian]] schools through [[Ancient Latin|Latin]] translations.  [[Aristotle]] was now known not only as a logician, but as a metaphysician and a psychologist.  The Arabian translations and commentaries on Aristotle were tinged with [[pantheism]], fatalism and other [[Neo-Platonism|Neo-platonic]] errors, and this gave rise to a new wave of conflict within the universities.  Pantheists like [[David of Dinant]] and Averroists like [[Siger of Brabant]] alarmed the Church authorities and threatened to entirely discredit [[Aristotle|Aristotelianism]], which was found to lack the element of mysticism.  The [[University of Paris]] became a center for philosophical debate. The Church imposed strict disciplinary measures in an attempt to control the danger which they felt was undermining the Catholic faith.  New access to translations from Greek revealed that the original teachings of [[Aristotle]] did not necessarily imply the errors attributed to him by students of the Arabian commentators.  St. [[Albertus Magnus]] and [[Thomas Aquinas]] succeeded in establishing the authority of [[Aristotle|Aristotelianism]], and St. [[Bonaventura]] demonstrated that it was not incompatible with Christian mysticism.  The study of Aristotle also opened up new possibilities for the natural sciences, as demonstrated by the work of [[Roger Bacon]].  During the high scholastic period of 1250 - 1350, scholasticism moved beyond [[theology]] into the [[philosophy of nature]], [[psychology]], [[epistemology]] and [[philosophy of science]].  In Spain, the scholastics also made important contributions to [[economics|economic]] theory, which would influence the later development of the [[Austrian school]]. However, all scholastics were bound by Church doctrine and certain questions of faith could never be addressed without risking trialand even execution for heresy.
 +
 +
During the fourteenth century, the energies of the Scholastics became increasingly absorbed in theological debates between the [[Franciscan Order|Franciscans]], who followed the tradition of [[Augustine of Hippo|St. Augustine]], and [[Dominican Order|Dominicans]], who followed [[Thomas Aquinas]].  [[Duns Scotus]] criticized the Dominicans and  developed a new form of Scholasticism, Scotism, which gave  primacy to the will over the intellect.  In the Christian universities, a renewal of interest in [[Averroism]], the cultivation of excessive formalism, the development of artificial terminology, the extended discussion of subtle aspects of theological questions, and neglect of the study of history and nature undermined the creative power of Scholasticism.  [[William Ockham|William Ockham’s]] Nominalism and Durandus's attempt to "simplify" Scholastic philosophy only fueled the debates further.
  
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The first is called ''quæstiones'' or "questions" which is basically as described above, except rather than being confined to a single scholar, or auctor, the scholastic method would be applied to a question. For example, "Is it permissible to kill for self-preservation?" From there any number of sources could be referenced to find the pros and cons of the question.  
+
The development of scientific discovery and the [[humanism]] of the 1400s and 1500s, pushed scholastics into the background, though there was a revival in Spain at the School of Salamanca under the Jesuit teachers, Toletus, Vasquez, and [[Francisco Suárez]].
  
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The second genre was called a ''summa''. A summa was a system of all questions so that it would answer every question about Christianity one could ever have. In this way any question could be found in the summa and would reference any other question that might arise. The most famous summa is by [[Thomas Aquinas]] called [[Summa Theologiae]], covering the "sum" total of Roman Catholic theology.
+
Scholasticism came to be viewed as rigid, formalistic, outdated and an improper method of doing philosophy. During the '''catholic scholastic revival''' in the late 1800s and early 1900s, certain scholastics, notably [[Thomas Aquinas]], and their respective schools of thought were revisited. Scholasticism is often referenced in discussions of [[theology]] or [[metaphysics]].
  
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==Scholastic school==
+
==Scholastic Method==
 +
Scholastic philosophy combined [[Term Logic | logic]], [[metaphysics]] and [[semantics]] into one discipline, and is recognized to have contributed significantly to modern understanding of [[logic]]. 
  
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Scholastic schools had two methods of teaching.  The first is the ''[[lectio]]''. A teacher would read a text, expounding on certain words or ideas, but no questions were allowed, it was a simple reading of a text, the instructors explained, and silence for the students.
+
The scholastics would choose a book by a renowned scholar, called '''auctor''', as a subject of investigation, for example, the [[Bible]].  Common ''auctores'' included [[Aristotle]] ("The Philosopher") and commentaries by [[Averroes]] ("The Commentator");
 +
[[Anicius Manlius Severinus Boethius|Boethius]] and his ''Consolation of Philosophy;''
 +
[[Augustine of Hippo|Saint Augustine]]; [[Plato]] (''Timaeus'' dialogue); [[Peter Lombard]] (''Sentences of Peter Lombard''); and the [[Bible]].  By reading the book thoroughly and critically, the scholars learned to appreciate the theories of the ''auctor''. Then other documents related to the source document would be referenced, such as Church councils, papal letters, ancient texts or commentaries. The points of disagreement and contention among these multiple sources would be written down as individual sentences or snippets of text called ''sententiae''.  For example, the Bible contains apparent contradictions for [[Christianity|Christians]], such as the laws regarding what foods are kosher, and these contradictions have been examined by scholars ancient and contemporary, so a scholastic would gather all the arguments about the contradictions, looking at them from all angles with an open mind.
  
−
The second is the ''[[disputatio]]'' which is at the heart of the scholastic method. There were two types of disputatios. The first was called the "ordinary" in which the question to be disputed was announced beforehand. The second was the ''quodlibetal'' in which the students would propose the question to the teacher without any prior preparation. The teacher would then have to come up with a response. The teacher would cite authoritative texts such as the Bible and prove his position. Students would then rebut the response and this would go back and forth. During this exercise someone would be keeping notes on what was said, the teacher would then summarize the arguments from the notes and present his final position the next day, answering all the rebuttals.
+
Once the sources and points of disagreement had been laid out, [[dialectic]] was used to reconcile the two sides of an argument so that they would be found to be in agreement. This was done using two methods, [[philology|philological]] analysis and logical analysis. Words would be examined and it would be argued they could have more than one meaning, and that the author could have intended the word to mean something else. The ambiguous meaning of words could be used to find common ground between two otherwise contradictory statements. Logical analysis relied on the rules of formal [[logic]] to show that contradictions did not exist objectively, but were subjective to the reader.
  
−
==History==
+
Scholastics developed two different genres of literature: ''Quæstiones'' or "questions" applied the scholastic method to a particular question. Any number of sources could be referenced to illustrate the answer to the question.  The second genre was a ''summa,'' encompassing all the conceivable questions about Christianity and cross-referencing them with related questions. The most famous ''summa'' is the ''Summa Theologiae'' of [[Thomas Aquinas]], summarizing the total of [[Roman Catholicism|Roman Catholic]] theology.
  
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Scholastic philosophy usually combined [[Term Logic | logic]], [[metaphysics]] and [[semantics]] into one discipline, and is generally recognized to have developed our understanding of [[logic]] significantly when compared to the older sources.
+
== Scholastic Training ==
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In the high scholastic period of [[1250]] - [[1350]], scholasticism moved beyond theology into the [[philosophy of nature]], [[psychology]], [[epistemology]] and [[philosophy of science]].  In Spain, the scholastics also made important contributions to [[economics|economic]] theory, which would influence the later development of the [[Austrian school]]. However all scholastics were bound by Church doctrine and certain questions of faith could never be addressed without risking trial for heresy.
 
−
 
 
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During the [[humanism]] of the [[1400s]] and [[1500s]], scholastics were put to the background and somewhat forgotten (though revived in Spain in the [[School of Salamanca]]). This has been the source of the view of scholasticism as a rigid, formalistic, outdated and improper way of doing philosophy. During the '''catholic scholastic revival''' in the late [[1800s]] and early [[1900s]] the scholastics were repopularized, but with a somewhat narrow focus on certain scholastics and their respective schools of thought, notably [[Thomas Aquinas]]. In this context, scholasticism is often used in [[theology]] or [[metaphysics]], but not many other areas of inquiry.
 
−
 
 
−
Scholasticism was concurrent with movements in Jewish philosophy (especially [[Maimonides]]) and Islamic philosophy (for example, the work of [[Averroes]]).
 
−
 
 
−
 
 
−
The following [[author]]s and works were commonly used as ''auctores'':
 
−
*[[Aristotle]] ("The Philosopher") and commentaries by [[Averroes]] ("The Commentator")
 
−
*[[Anicius Manlius Severinus Boethius|Boethius]] and his ''[[Consolation of Philosophy]]''
 
−
*[[Augustine of Hippo|Saint Augustine]]
 
−
*[[Plato]] (specifically, ''[[Timaeus (dialogue)|Timaeus]]'')
 
−
*[[Peter Lombard]] (specifically, his ''[[Sentences]]'')
 
−
*[[Bible]]
 
  
 +
Scholastic schools had two methods of teaching, the ''lectio'' and the ''disputatio.''  The ''lectio'' was a simple reading of a text by a teacher who would expound on certain words or ideas, but no questions were allowed. The ''disputatio'' was at the heart of the scholastic method. There were two types of ''disputatio''. The first was the "ordinary," in which the question to be disputed was announced beforehand. The second was the ''quodlibetal'' in which the students would propose a question to the teacher without any prior preparation, and the teacher would respond, citing authoritative texts such as the [[Bible]] to prove his position. Students would then rebut the response and the debate would continue back and forth. During the exercise notes would be taken, and the teacher would then summarize the arguments from the notes and present his final position the next day, answering all the rebuttals.
 
==Famous scholastics==
 
==Famous scholastics==
  
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{{main|list of scholastic philosophers}}
+
*Early scholastics (1000 - 1250):
−
 
 
−
*Early scholastics ([[1000]]–[[1250]]):
 
 
**[[Anselm of Canterbury]]
 
**[[Anselm of Canterbury]]
−
**[[Pierre Abélard]]
+
**[[Peter Abélard]]
 
**[[Solomon Ibn Gabirol]]
 
**[[Solomon Ibn Gabirol]]
 
**[[Peter Lombard]]
 
**[[Peter Lombard]]
 
**[[Gilbert de la Porrée]]
 
**[[Gilbert de la Porrée]]
−
*High scholastics ([[1250]]–[[1350]]):
+
*High scholastics (1250 - 1350):
 
**[[Robert Grosseteste]]
 
**[[Robert Grosseteste]]
 
**[[Roger Bacon]]
 
**[[Roger Bacon]]
Line 66: Line 59:
 
**[[Nicolas Oresme]]
 
**[[Nicolas Oresme]]
 
**[[Marsilius of Padua]]
 
**[[Marsilius of Padua]]
−
*Late scholastics ([[1350]]–[[1650]]):
+
*Late scholastics (1350- 1650):
 
**[[Gregory of Rimini]]
 
**[[Gregory of Rimini]]
 
**[[Francisco de Vitoria]]
 
**[[Francisco de Vitoria]]
−
**[[Francisco Suarez]]
+
**[[Francisco Suárez]]
 
**[[Leonardus Lessius]]
 
**[[Leonardus Lessius]]
  
Line 78: Line 71:
 
* [[Thomas More]]
 
* [[Thomas More]]
 
* [[Robert Boyle]]
 
* [[Robert Boyle]]
−
* [[Bernard of Clairvaux]] - during his lifetime, Bernard was the fiercest opponent to scholasticism.{{citation needed}}
+
* [[Bernard of Clairvaux]]  
 
* [[René Descartes]]
 
* [[René Descartes]]
 
* [[Galileo Galilei]]
 
* [[Galileo Galilei]]
Line 85: Line 78:
 
* [[John Milton]]
 
* [[John Milton]]
 
* [[Michel de Montaigne]]
 
* [[Michel de Montaigne]]
 +
== References ==
 +
*Dawson, Christopher. ''Religion and the Rise of Western Culture''. Image; Image Books ed edition, 1991
 +
Pieper, Josef. ''Guide to Thomas Aquinas''. Ignatius Press, 1991.
 +
*Kretzmann, Norman (Editor);  Kenny, Anthony (Editor); Pinborg, Jan (Editor); Stump, Eleonore (Editor). ''The Cambridge History of Later Medieval Philosophy: From the Rediscovery of Aristotle to the Disintegration of Scholasticism, 1100-1600''. Cambridge University Press; New Ed edition, 1988.
 +
*Pieper, Josef. ''Scholasticism Personalities and Problems''. Mcgraw-hill Publishing Company
 +
*Pieper, Josef; Winston, Richard (Translator); Winston, Clara (Translator). ''Scholasticism: Personalities and Problems of Medieval Philosophy''. St. Augustine's Press; 2r.e. edition, 2001.
  
 
==See also==
 
==See also==
 
* [[Medieval philosophy]]
 
* [[Medieval philosophy]]
 
* [[Aristotelianism]]
 
* [[Aristotelianism]]
−
* [[Renaissance of the 12th century]]
 
 
* [[History of science in the Middle Ages]]
 
* [[History of science in the Middle Ages]]
  

Revision as of 21:42, 5 December 2006

"Scholastic" redirects here.

Scholasticism, from the Latin word scholasticus ("that [which] belongs to the school) was a method of learning taught by the academics (or schoolmen) of medieval universities circa 1100 - 1500. Scholasticism originally began as a reconciliation of the philosophy of the ancient classical philosophers with medieval Christian theology. It was not a philosophy or theology in itself, but a tool and method for learning which emphasized dialectical reasoning. The primary purpose of scholasticism was to find the answer to a question or resolve a contradiction. It is most well known in its application in medieval theology, but was eventually applied to classical philosophy and many other fields of study.

Scholastic theology is distinct from Patristic theology and from positive theology. The schoolmen themselves distinguished between theologia speculativa sive scholastica and theologia positiva. It combined religious doctrine, study of the ideas of the Church fathers, and philosophical and logical analysis based on Aristotle and his commentators, and to some extent on themes from Plato. Prominent scholastics included Thomas Aquinas , Jean Buridan , Duns Scotus , and William Ockham.


Scholasticism dominated European philosophy from the time of Peter Abelard to that of Francisco Suárez, when it was replaced by Renaissance humanism , rationalism , and empiricism. There have been several revivals, including neo-scholasticism.

Origin of the Term “Scholastic”

In early Christian schools, especially after the beginning of the sixth century, it was customary to call the head of the school magister scholae, capiscola, or scholasticus. With time, scholasticus became the title for the head of a school. The curriculum of the early Christian schools was the study of the seven liberal arts, including dialectic, the only branch of philosophy under systematic study at that time. Dialectic, which was usually taught by the scholasticus, became the prevailing method and system of philosophy throughout the Middle Ages. As a result, the name "Scholastic" came to be associated with the dialectical teaching of the masters of the schools. At the height of Scholastic philosophy, during the thirteenth century, the curriculum of seven liberal arts had been replaced with the studia generalia, or universities, but the philosophers of the thirteenth century were known as "Scholastics," a designation which continued until the end of the medieval period. A philosopher or theologian who adopts the method or the system of the medieval Scholastics is said to be a Scholastic.

History

The Patristic Era

The period extending from the beginning of Christianity through the time of St. Augustine is known as the Patristic era of philosophy and theology. The early Fathers of the Church developed a Christian philosophy based on Platonic principles, using reason to support revelation, and relying on spiritual intuition rather than logical proof to establish the truths which became the doctrine of the Church. The Patristic era ended in the fifth century, and between the fifth and ninth centuries, there were a number of thinkers, including Claudianus Mamertus, Boethius, Cassiodorus, St. Isidore of Seville, and Venerable Bede, who carried on Patristic traditions along Platonic lines.

The Scholastic Period

In the ninth century, the Carolingian revival of learning gave a new direction to Christian thought. The masters of the schools began to include discussions of psychology, metaphysics, cosmology, and ethics in their teaching of dialectic, giving rise to the Christian rationalism which characterizes Scholastic philosophy. The first original thinker in the Scholastic era was John the Scot (Johannes Scottus Eriugena). During the eleventh and twelfth centuries conflict arose between rationalists such as Roscelin, Abelard, and Peter Lombard, and Christian mystics such as St. Anselm, St. Peter Damian, St. Bernard, and the Victorines, who felt that they were threatening the Christian faith. Gradually the rationalists reconciled their methods with the orthodoxy of the Church and accommodated reverence for the mysteries of faith. Eclectics, like John of Salisbury, and Platonists, like the members of the School of Chartres, brought the Scholastic movement to a greater degree of toleration. By the end of the twelfth century, rationalism was dominant in the Christian universities, but coexisted with mysticism.

After the capture of Constantinople in 1204, the works of Arabian, Jewish and Greek philosophers were introduced into the Christian schools through Latin translations. Aristotle was now known not only as a logician, but as a metaphysician and a psychologist. The Arabian translations and commentaries on Aristotle were tinged with pantheism, fatalism and other Neo-platonic errors, and this gave rise to a new wave of conflict within the universities. Pantheists like David of Dinant and Averroists like Siger of Brabant alarmed the Church authorities and threatened to entirely discredit Aristotelianism, which was found to lack the element of mysticism. The University of Paris became a center for philosophical debate. The Church imposed strict disciplinary measures in an attempt to control the danger which they felt was undermining the Catholic faith. New access to translations from Greek revealed that the original teachings of Aristotle did not necessarily imply the errors attributed to him by students of the Arabian commentators. St. Albertus Magnus and Thomas Aquinas succeeded in establishing the authority of Aristotelianism, and St. Bonaventura demonstrated that it was not incompatible with Christian mysticism. The study of Aristotle also opened up new possibilities for the natural sciences, as demonstrated by the work of Roger Bacon. During the high scholastic period of 1250 - 1350, scholasticism moved beyond theology into the philosophy of nature, psychology, epistemology and philosophy of science. In Spain, the scholastics also made important contributions to economic theory, which would influence the later development of the Austrian school. However, all scholastics were bound by Church doctrine and certain questions of faith could never be addressed without risking trialand even execution for heresy.

During the fourteenth century, the energies of the Scholastics became increasingly absorbed in theological debates between the Franciscans, who followed the tradition of St. Augustine, and Dominicans, who followed Thomas Aquinas. Duns Scotus criticized the Dominicans and developed a new form of Scholasticism, Scotism, which gave primacy to the will over the intellect. In the Christian universities, a renewal of interest in Averroism, the cultivation of excessive formalism, the development of artificial terminology, the extended discussion of subtle aspects of theological questions, and neglect of the study of history and nature undermined the creative power of Scholasticism. William Ockham’s Nominalism and Durandus's attempt to "simplify" Scholastic philosophy only fueled the debates further.

The development of scientific discovery and the humanism of the 1400s and 1500s, pushed scholastics into the background, though there was a revival in Spain at the School of Salamanca under the Jesuit teachers, Toletus, Vasquez, and Francisco Suárez.

Scholasticism came to be viewed as rigid, formalistic, outdated and an improper method of doing philosophy. During the catholic scholastic revival in the late 1800s and early 1900s, certain scholastics, notably Thomas Aquinas, and their respective schools of thought were revisited. Scholasticism is often referenced in discussions of theology or metaphysics.

Scholastic Method

Scholastic philosophy combined logic, metaphysics and semantics into one discipline, and is recognized to have contributed significantly to modern understanding of logic.

The scholastics would choose a book by a renowned scholar, called auctor, as a subject of investigation, for example, the Bible. Common auctores included Aristotle ("The Philosopher") and commentaries by Averroes ("The Commentator"); Boethius and his Consolation of Philosophy; Saint Augustine; Plato (Timaeus dialogue); Peter Lombard (Sentences of Peter Lombard); and the Bible. By reading the book thoroughly and critically, the scholars learned to appreciate the theories of the auctor. Then other documents related to the source document would be referenced, such as Church councils, papal letters, ancient texts or commentaries. The points of disagreement and contention among these multiple sources would be written down as individual sentences or snippets of text called sententiae. For example, the Bible contains apparent contradictions for Christians, such as the laws regarding what foods are kosher, and these contradictions have been examined by scholars ancient and contemporary, so a scholastic would gather all the arguments about the contradictions, looking at them from all angles with an open mind.

Once the sources and points of disagreement had been laid out, dialectic was used to reconcile the two sides of an argument so that they would be found to be in agreement. This was done using two methods, philological analysis and logical analysis. Words would be examined and it would be argued they could have more than one meaning, and that the author could have intended the word to mean something else. The ambiguous meaning of words could be used to find common ground between two otherwise contradictory statements. Logical analysis relied on the rules of formal logic to show that contradictions did not exist objectively, but were subjective to the reader.

Scholastics developed two different genres of literature: Quæstiones or "questions" applied the scholastic method to a particular question. Any number of sources could be referenced to illustrate the answer to the question. The second genre was a summa, encompassing all the conceivable questions about Christianity and cross-referencing them with related questions. The most famous summa is the Summa Theologiae of Thomas Aquinas, summarizing the total of Roman Catholic theology.

Scholastic Training

Scholastic schools had two methods of teaching, the lectio and the disputatio. The lectio was a simple reading of a text by a teacher who would expound on certain words or ideas, but no questions were allowed. The disputatio was at the heart of the scholastic method. There were two types of disputatio. The first was the "ordinary," in which the question to be disputed was announced beforehand. The second was the quodlibetal in which the students would propose a question to the teacher without any prior preparation, and the teacher would respond, citing authoritative texts such as the Bible to prove his position. Students would then rebut the response and the debate would continue back and forth. During the exercise notes would be taken, and the teacher would then summarize the arguments from the notes and present his final position the next day, answering all the rebuttals.

Famous scholastics

Key anti-scholastics

References
ISBN links support NWE through referral fees

  • Dawson, Christopher. Religion and the Rise of Western Culture. Image; Image Books ed edition, 1991

Pieper, Josef. Guide to Thomas Aquinas. Ignatius Press, 1991.

  • Kretzmann, Norman (Editor); Kenny, Anthony (Editor); Pinborg, Jan (Editor); Stump, Eleonore (Editor). The Cambridge History of Later Medieval Philosophy: From the Rediscovery of Aristotle to the Disintegration of Scholasticism, 1100-1600. Cambridge University Press; New Ed edition, 1988.
  • Pieper, Josef. Scholasticism Personalities and Problems. Mcgraw-hill Publishing Company
  • Pieper, Josef; Winston, Richard (Translator); Winston, Clara (Translator). Scholasticism: Personalities and Problems of Medieval Philosophy. St. Augustine's Press; 2r.e. edition, 2001.

See also

External links

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