Medieval Philosophy

The Emergence and Flourishing of Scholasticism

It so happened that after Augustine of Hippo, philosophical inquiry in the West sharply and enduringly diminished, adopting a markedly different character. One of the reasons for the decline of philosophy during the early medieval period was the sacking of Rome by the Vandals and the subsequent invasions of Gothic tribes, leading to a stagnation of cultural progress for centuries. Some renewal of philosophical thought in the early Middle Ages is linked to the Carolingian Renaissance, which began with Emperor Charlemagne (reigned 768-814) at the end of the eighth century in the territories of France and Germany. Here, a peculiar center of spirituality emerged—the "Academy." This was more of a circle than a formal institution, with Charlemagne himself as a member, and it was led by Alcuin (730-806), an English scholar. Charlemagne believed that order within the state depended on the discipline of each individual, which was instilled by the Christian faith; thus, education in the Christian spirit became a necessity. The Carolingians aspired to establish schools in every bishopric and monastery, where children of various social classes were welcomed. These schools would eventually serve as centers of intellectual life in Europe until the establishment of universities in the twelfth and thirteenth centuries. Alcuin held the ancient culture in high esteem and became renowned more for his civilizing endeavors than for his philosophical contributions.

A prominent philosopher of the Carolingian era was John Scotus Erigena (810-877), an Irishman influenced by the works of Pseudo-Dionysius the Areopagite, Gregory of Nazianzus, and Gregory of Nyssa. In his work "On the Division of Nature," Erigena posits that with the acquisition of the Gospel, humanity received truth as revealed by God. Thus, faith must precede reason, yet reason is not dismissed; when illuminated by faith, it imparts the necessary lessons for life. Erigena uses the term "nature" to denote everything that exists, distinguishing it into four forms: 1) uncreated and creating nature—God as the cause (who is Himself uncaused) of all; 2) created and creating nature—divine ideas, intermediaries between God and the world; 3) created and non-creating nature—the world as the manifestation of divine ideas and God Himself; 4) uncreated and non-creating nature—God as the ultimate end of all things. A crucial observation regarding the fourth form is that God is not conceived as a distinct variety of being; rather, He is known through His manifestations, and in order to conceive of God, we resort to imagining Him as if He were a separate form or part of nature. In Erigena's teaching, humanity occupies a special place—not merely a manifestation of God but also His image. Defining humanity as "an intellectual concept, eternally created in the Divine Mind," Erigena emphasizes that in humanity, as in God (since humanity is the image of God), exists the concept of all things. However, this was not always the case; it was true only prior to the Fall. After that event, a division of nature occurred within humanity, leading to a rupture between being and thought, with sensuality prevailing. The meaning of human life and the essence of the entire cosmic process lie in the return of human nature to its original unity.

Following the disintegration of the Carolingian Empire in the mid-ninth century, Western Europe lacked the strength to halt the frequent and devastating invasions of the Normans, pirate raids by the Arabs, and the advance of nomadic Hungarians. This once again marked a cultural decline, along with a specific decline in philosophy. However, by the eleventh century, a new conception of philosophy began to take shape, commonly referred to as scholasticism.

During the formative period of scholasticism, philosophy was taught exclusively in monastic schools, where future priests were trained (the term "scholasticism" derives from the Greek word for "school"). It was during these times that philosophy lost its freedom entirely, becoming subordinate to the Church, serving as "the handmaiden of theology," and for many years remaining in the thrall of Christian ideas. Thus, the investigations of the scholastics can only conditionally be termed philosophical. The subject matter investigated by theologians, namely the divine essence, was the same as that of philosophical inquiry. This characteristic was common to all medieval philosophy, including both patristics and scholasticism, yet one cannot overlook the differences between the two. Patristics aimed to construct a systematic dogmatics based on the content of Sacred Scripture, while the scholastics, already possessing a ready-made dogmatic structure, sought to organize and adapt it for the uneducated populace.

Consequently, the beginnings of scholasticism date back to the eleventh century, continuing to evolve until the fifteenth century. The method employed by scholasticism is already known. It did not pertain to the discovery of truth, which had already been revealed in the Bible, but rather to the exposition and proof of established truths through the means of reason, that is, philosophy. This leads to three primary objectives:

• To facilitate a deeper understanding of the truths of faith through reason, thereby bringing their essence closer to the thoughtful spirit of humanity;
• To provide a systematic form to religious truths;
• To utilize philosophical arguments to eliminate critiques of religious truths.

These elements constitute the broad understanding of the scholastic method. In a narrower sense, scholasticism can be defined as formal reasoning surrounding concepts and categories without consideration of their real content.

What themes were most popular during the age of scholasticism? They predominantly included the following:

• The interpretation of humanity as the image and likeness of God;
• The problem of the relationship between the soul and the body;
• The relationship between "essence" and "existence" (previously distinguished by Boethius [480-524]). It is held that essence and existence coincide only in God, while in individual entities, they are not identical. For a particular essence to attain existence, it must participate in being, in other words, it must be created by divine will;
• The problem of universals.

Regarding the last theme, over the centuries, a debate raged between realists and nominalists concerning whether universals (general concepts) exist in reality or not. The philosophical basis for this dispute lay in the relationship between the general and the particular. Realists (from the Latin realis—actual) attributed true existence only to general concepts, universals. Nominalists (from the Latin nomina—name) denied the real existence of the general, asserting that the general exists only as a name after things (post res). Alongside these positions was a third, termed "conceptualism," which was championed by Peter Abelard. Conceptualists acknowledged the presence of general concepts (concepts) in the human mind as a distinct form of knowing reality. The general ideas inherent to us may suddenly manifest in our minds upon observing a particular phenomenon; however, in a latent form, such ideas already existed in our minds independently of experience.

The source of the discussion about universals can also be traced back to the Neoplatonist Porphyry and the commentaries of Boethius on his works and those of Aristotle. In his "Introduction to Aristotle's Categories," Porphyry writes about universals: "I shall not speak regarding the genera and species, whether they exist independently or are found only in thought; and if they exist, whether they are bodies or incorporeal entities, and whether they have separate existence or exist in sensible objects..." In turn, Boethius presents the subject of "Categories" as follows: "This book is not about the genera of things, nor about things themselves, but about the words that denote the genera of things." Already in these statements, the roots of the future debate are present—whether universals are words or things. Nominalists asserted (e.g., Roscelin) that universals are merely words, while proponents of extreme nominalism even considered the declared general to be no more than "a breath of the voice," thus lacking any substantiality. Realists, insisting on the reality of universals, were closer to Plato, who believed that ideas are more real than the data provided by our senses.

For Christian philosophy, the dispute over universals assumed a principled character due to the need to clarify the nature of the Trinity: it was necessary to prove that the substantively unified God exists in three persons. After all, if God is merely a name and not a real unity, then the divine essence of Christ is undermined. The same holds true for the third person—the Holy Spirit.

The period of scholasticism's flourishing was also rich in notable figures. These included Anselm of Canterbury (1033-1109), John Roscelin (1050-1110), Peter Abelard (1079-1142), Siger of Brabant (1240-1281), and particularly Thomas Aquinas (1225-1274). Let us now focus on the latter.

Thomas Aquinas stands as a central figure in scholastic philosophy. He was born around 1225 into a noble family in the Kingdom of Naples, near the town of Aquino, from which he derives the title "Aquinas." From his early childhood, he was raised in the Benedictine monastery of Monte Cassino. In 1239, he began studying at the University of Naples for several years. In 1244, he joined the Dominican Order as a monk. The leaders of this order sent him to the University of Paris, which at the time was a prominent center of theological thought. There, he studied under Albertus Magnus, with whom he later journeyed to Cologne to assist in establishing theological instruction. In 1252, Aquinas returned to Paris, earned the title of Master, and taught theology there until 1259. After being called to Rome by Pope Urban IV, he taught theology in Dominican schools throughout Italy until 1268. From 1269, he returned to the University of Paris for three years, and later continued his teaching at the University of Naples. In 1274, upon the request of the newly elected Pope Gregory X, he set out for the Council of Lyon but fell gravely ill on the journey and passed away on March 7, 1275.

In his relatively brief life, Aquinas demonstrated remarkable productivity, authoring numerous works on a wide range of topics. His most famous work is the Summa Theologica. In his writings, Aquinas achieved a grand synthesis of theology and philosophy, creating a system that is still revered by the Catholic Church.

At the heart of Aquinas' thought lies the relationship between faith and knowledge, religion and science, theology and philosophy. According to his view, the differences between science (and philosophy as part of it) and religion are not absolute but relative. Knowledge in science and philosophy may indeed be true, but it cannot encompass all reality. Beyond the domain of philosophical knowledge lies the realm of theology, a realm that cannot be penetrated by mere reasoning. The truths pertaining to this domain are not irrational, nor are they contrary to reason; they are supra-rational. The human mind cannot comprehend them fully, but they are perfectly clear to the infinite, divine mind.

There is no contradiction between science and faith; Christian truth transcends reason, but it does not contradict it. Arguments against Christian faith made from the standpoint of human reason are ultimately opposed to the higher divine reason, against which humans have no valid defense. Philosophy serves theology by presenting and interpreting religious truths in the categories of reason and by refuting arguments against faith as fallacious.

A significant place in Aquinas' philosophy is occupied by the problem of being. Here, he drew upon Aristotle's thought. Aquinas conceived of the world as a hierarchical system composed of various levels, from inanimate nature to God. Everything that exists is composed of essence and existence.

Aquinas, also known as the Angelic Doctor, believed that the existence of God could be demonstrated through reason, and he formulated five proofs on the following grounds:

1. Everything that moves is moved by something else, so there must be a Prime Mover, and this is God.
2. There is a series of efficient causes in the world, and the first cause is God.
3. Contingency and necessity are interconnected; the contingent depends on the necessary, which in turn depends on its own necessity, and the first necessity is God.
4. We observe a gradation in qualities, from lesser to greater; the highest quality is God.
5. Everything has a purpose, a sense, and utility; therefore, there must be a supreme intelligent being that directs all things towards their end, and this is God. This final argument is known as the teleological argument.

Possessing a vast and all-encompassing intellect, Aquinas also addressed the problems of human nature and society. Humanity, as one of God's creations, has a soul, which is the form of the body and governs it, forming with the body a single living organism. However, after the death of the body, the soul does not perish, though it loses the characteristics of personal identity. Since the soul’s existence outside the body violates its natural purpose to be the body’s form, Aquinas inferred the future resurrection of the body. Moreover, human beings possess free will, which makes them responsible for their actions, as they have the ability to choose between good and evil. The recognition of free will in humans makes morality possible. Without free will, and with everything subject to necessary determination, holding individuals responsible or blaming them for their actions would be meaningless. To speak of sin and virtue, punishment and reward, one must assume the existence of free will and grant individuals the capacity for choice. According to Aquinas, the will is closely tied to reason, with the intellect having primacy over the will (in contrast to Augustine of Hippo). It is sufficient for a person to have true knowledge of good and evil in order to act morally. Nevertheless, it should not be forgotten that Aquinas was a Christian philosopher, and he did not overlook God: in the end, it is God who instills in people the desire to act in one way and not another.

Based on the premise that humans possess certain inclinations determined by their nature, Aquinas derived a series of moral imperatives in the form of "natural law." When human reason declares such a natural law to itself, it participates in the eternal divine law, which expresses God's vision of the plan for human history in His creation, namely humanity as His image and likeness. State legislation must be aligned with the natural moral law, but not to the extent that legal order fully coincides with moral order. Therefore, it is unreasonable to demand that all moral beliefs be supported by established state laws.

In his political philosophy, as in many other matters, Aquinas followed Aristotle. Like Aristotle, Aquinas believed that the state as a whole takes precedence over individuals, though he explained this with a Christian argument: in the divine mind, the state was conceived even before the unfolding of human history. The state is meant to guide humanity on its path to salvation. Differentiating between monarchy, oligarchy, tyranny, and democracy, Aquinas favored a form of government that combines elements of monarchy, aristocracy, and democracy. Aquinas also distinguished between the essence and form of power: the essence of power comes from God, but its form (the mode of governance, the structure of authority) is not always divinely ordained and may, in certain cases, deviate from its intended purpose and be improved by human efforts.