Philosophy

2. HISTORY OF SCHOLASTICISM
A 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
The term Scholasticism is also used in a
wider sense to signify the spirit and
methods characteristic of this period of
thought or any similar spirit and attitude
toward learning found in other periods of
history
The term Scholastic, which originally
designated the heads of the medieval
monastic or cathedral schools from which
the universities developed, finally came to
be applied to anyone teaching philosophy
or theology in such schools or universities

4. SCHOLASTICISM
1. MedievalTheology and Philosophy
• A medieval theological and philosophical system of
learning based on the authority of St. Augustine and
other leaders of the early Christian Church, and on
the works of Aristotle
• It sought to bridge the gap between religion and
reason
2.Traditional Learning
• Narrowly traditional learning, or adherence to
traditional educational methods
Comes from the Latin
word “scholasticus” which
means “that which
belongs to the school”
It refers to both a doctrine
and a method of teaching
in the medieval European
school and to their
successive revival to the
present day

5. PRINCIPAL CHARACTERISITCS
The basic aim of the Scholastics determined certain common
attitudes, the most important of which was their conviction of
the fundamental harmony between reason and revelation
• The Scholastics maintained that because the same God was
the source of both types of knowledge and truth was one of
his chief attributes, he could not contradict himself in these
two ways of speaking
Any apparent opposition between revelation and reason could
be traced either to an incorrect use of reason or to an inaccurate
interpretation of the words of revelation
Because the Scholastics believed that revelation was the direct
teaching of God, it possessed for them a higher degree of truth
and certitude than did natural reason

6. PRINCIPAL CHARACTERISITCS
In apparent conflicts between religious faith and philosophic
reasoning, faith was thus always the supreme arbiter; the
theologian's decision overruled that of the philosopher
After the early 13th century, Scholastic thought emphasized
more the independence of philosophy within its own domain
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

7. COMMON METHODS
1. Logic And Philosophic Vocabulary Of Aristotle
• One of the principal methods of Scholasticism used in teaching, demonstration, and
discussion
2. Practice OfTeaching A text By Means Of A Commentary
• Another important method used, written by some accepted authority. In philosophy,
this authority was usually Aristotle
• In theology, the principal texts used were:
• The Bible
• The Sententiarum Libri Quatuor
• Four Books of Sentences by the 12th-century Italian theologian and prelate Peter
Lombard, a collection of the opinions of the early Fathers of the Church on problems
of theology
3.Technique Of Discussion By Means Of Public Disputation
• Another important method closely allied with the commentaries on disputed questions
• Every professor in a medieval university was required to appear several times a year
before the assembled faculty and students in a disputation, defending crucial points of
his own teaching against all persons who challenged them
• The forms of Aristotelian logic were employed in both defense and attack

8. PRINCIPAL SCHOLASTIC PHILOSOPHERS
• Theologian, philosopher, and church leader, who proposed an
argument for God's existence that is still being debated.
Anselm
• French philosopher and theologian, whose fame as a teacher
made him one of the most celebrated figures of the 12th century
Peter Abelard
• 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
Thomas Aquinas
• English Scholastic philosopher and scientist, one of the most
influential teachers of the 13th century
Roger Bacon

9. SAINT AUGUSTINE
(354-430), greatest of the Latin Fathers and
one of the most eminent Western Doctors
of the Church and canonized by Pope
Boniface VIII, and his feast day is August
28, the day on which he is thought to have
died
Founded a monastic school at Tagaste for
himself and his friends, and he became
famous preacher and note for combating
Manichean heresy
born on November 13, 354, in Tagaste,
Numidia (now Souk-Ahras, Algeria), His
father, Patricius (died about 371), was a
pagan (later converted to Christianity), but
his mother, Monica, was a devout
Christian who labored untiringly for her
son's conversion
Between the ages of 15 and 30, he lived
with a Carthaginian woman whose name is
unknown; in 372 she bore him a son,
whom he named Adeodatus, which is Latin
for “the gift of God
FAMOUSWORKS
1. Confessions
2. The City of God
3. The
Retractions
4. On Free Will
5. On Christian
Doctrine
6. On Baptism:
Against the
Donatists
7. On the Trinity

10. HIS PHILOSOPHY
Developed his doctrines of
original sin and divine grace,
divine sovereignty, and
predestination
He held that human spiritual
disobedience had resulted in a
state of sin that human nature
was powerless to change
Men and women are saved by the
gift of divine grace
Man should not interpret the Bible
because what we know about
science contradicts our God-
given reason
Everything on earth was created
by God simultaneously not within
6 days
No one can be saved unless they
have received infant baptism
INTELLECTUAL QUOTATIONS
1. Man should love the sinner
but hate sin
2. Nothing can conquer man
except truth and the victory
of truth love
3. If a person sings once, he
must pray twice
4. Christ is the teacher of men
5. There is no salvation of
men outside the Church
6. Total abstinence is easier
than perfect moderation
7. People make themselves a
ladder out of their vices if

11. IMPORTANT CONCEPTS
GRACE
In Christianity,
the infinite
love, mercy,
favor, and
goodwill
shown to
humankind by
God or in the
condition of
being free of
sin, e.g.
through
repentance to
PREDESTINATI
ON
In some religious
beliefs, the
doctrine that
God decided at
the beginning of
time who would
go to heaven
after death and
who would not
ABSTINENCE
Restraint from
indulging a
desire for
something, e.g.
alcohol or
sexual relations

12. WILLIAM OF OCKHAM
 Known as Doctor
Invincibilis (Latin)
“unconquerable
doctor” and
Venerabilis
Inceptor (Latin)
“worthy initiator”,
English philosopher
and Scholastic
theologian, who is
considered the
greatest exponent
of the nominalist
school, the leading
rival of theThomist
and Scotist schools
Born in Surrey, England and entered the
Franciscan order and studied and taught at the
University of Oxford from 1309 to 1319
Denounced by Pope John XXII for dangerous
teachings, he was held in house detention for
four years (1324-1328) at the papal palace in
Avignon, France, while the orthodoxy of his
writings was examined
He fled to Munich in 1328 to seek the protection
of Louis IV, Holy Roman emperor, who had
rejected papal authority over political matters
Excommunicated by the pope, because he
wrote against the papacy and defended the
emperor until the latter's death in 1347
He died in Munich, apparently of the plague,
while seeking reconciliation with Pope Clement
VI

13. OCKHAM’S PHILOSOPHY
He won fame as a rigorous
logician who used logic to show
that many beliefs of Christian
philosophers could not be
proved by philosophical or
natural reason but only by
divine revelation
• That God is one
• That God is omnipotent
• That God is the creator of all
things
• That the human soul is
immortal
His name is applied to the
principle of economy in formal
logic, known as Ockham's razor
He also formulated the “Principle
of Sufficient Reason”
OCKHAM’S RAZOR
 The philosophical and
scientific rule that simple
explanations should be
preferred to more
complicated ones, and that
the explanation of a new
phenomenon should be
based on what is already
known
 He maintained that such
abstract entities are merely
references of words to other
words rather than to actual
things

14. 1. The term Scholastic finally came to be applied to anyone teaching
philosophy and what other field of knowledge?
2. During this period, the precursors of many modern institutions, such
as universities and bodies of representative government, were created
3. A Latin word which means “that which belongs to the school”
4. The infinite love, mercy, favor, and goodwill shown to humankind by
God
5. Who said this statement “Understand so that you may believe, believe
so that you may understand”?
6. He wrote the “Four Books of Sentences”
7. He is sometimes called the Angelic Doctor and the Prince of
Scholastics
8. The doctrine that God decided at the beginning of time who would go
to heaven after death and who would not
9. He is known as the “unconquerable doctor” and “worthy initiator”
10. The philosophical and scientific rule that simple explanations should
be preferred to more complicated ones
1. Theology
2. Medieval Era
3. Scholasticus
4. Grace
5. St. Augustine
6. Peter Lombard
7. St. Thomas
Aquinas
8. Predestination
9. William of
Ockham
10. Ockham’s
Razor

15. AnswerThe Following January 20, 2011
1. Compare St. Augustine and William of
Ockham’s philosophy of human person
2. Explain St. Augustine’s maxim “Understand
so that you may believe, believe so that you
may understand”
3. What is the primary purpose of
scholasticism?
4. What is “Universal concept” according to
William of Ockham?
5. What is the “Principle of Sufficient
Reason”? Cite instances where this