Phenomenon of philosophy in the Medieval culture

1. KARAGANDA STATE MEDICAL UNIVERSITYDepartment: History of Kazakhstan and social-political disciplines Lecture 7 Phenomenon of philosophy in the Medieval culture Temirbekova M.Y. - teacher of department’s History of Kazakhstan and SPD, Master of Humanities

2. Brief contents: • Introduction • Character of medieval philosophy • History: • Early medieval Christian philosophy • High Middle Ages

3. Introduction • Medieval philosophy is the philosophy in the era now known as medieval orthe Middle Ages, theperiodroughlyextendingfromthefall of theWesternRomanEmpireinthefifthcentury AD totheRenaissanceinthesixteenthcentury. Medieval philosophy, understoodasaproject of independentphilosophicalinquiry, beganinBaghdad, inthemiddleoftheeighthcentury, andinFrance, intheitinerantcourtofCharlemagne, inthelastquarteroftheeighthcentury.ItisdefinedpartlybytheprocessofrediscoveringtheancientculturedevelopedinGreeceandRomeintheclassicalperiod, andpartlybytheneedtoaddresstheologicalproblemsandtointegratesacreddoctrinewithsecularlearning.

4. Character of medieval philosophy • Medieval philosophy is characteristically theological: With the possible exceptions of Avicenna and Averroes, medieval thinkers did not consider themselves philosophers at all. Their concerns are theological: For them, the philosophers were the ancient pagan writers such as Plato and Aristotle. However, the theological works of medieval writers use the ideas and logical techniques of the ancient philosophers to address difficult theological questions, and points of doctrine. Thomas Aquinas, following Peter Damian, argued that philosophy is the handmaiden of theology (ancillatheologiae). • The three principles that underlie all their work are the use of logic, dialectic, and analysis to discover the truth, known as ratio, respect for the insights of ancient philosophers, in particular Aristotle, and deference to their authority (auctoritas), and the obligation to co-ordinate the insights of philosophy with theological teaching and revelation (concordia).

5. History • Early medieval Christian philosophy • High Middle Ages • The history of medieval philosophy is traditionally divided into two main periods: the period in the Latin West following the Early Middle Ages until the 12-th century, when the works of Aristotle and Plato were preserved and cultivated and the 'golden age' of the 12-th, 13-th and 14-th centuries in the Latin West, which witnessed the culmination of the recovery of ancient philosophy, along with a reception of its Arabic commentators, and significant developments in the field of Philosophy of religion, Logic and Metaphysics.

6. The boundaries of the early medieval period are a matter of controversy. It is generally agreed that it begins with Augustine (354 – 430) who strictly belongs to the classical period, and ends with the lasting revival of learning in the late eleventh century, at the beginning of the high medieval period. • Two Roman philosophers had a great influence on the development of medieval philosophy: Augustine and Boethius. Augustine is regarded as the greatest of the Church Fathers. He is primarily a theologian and a devotional writer, but much of his writing is philosophical. His themes are truth, God, the human soul, the meaning of history, the state, sin, and salvation. • The first significant renewal of learning in the West came when Charlemagne attracted the scholars of England and Ireland, and by imperial decree in 787 AD established schools in every abbey in his empire. These schools, from which the name Scholasticism is derived, became centres of medieval learning.

7. The period from the middle of the eleventh century to the middle of the fourteenth century is known as the 'High medieval' or 'scholastic' period. It is generally agreed to begin with Saint Anselm of Canterbury (1033–1109) an Italian philosopher, theologian, and church official who is famous as the originator of the ontological argument for the existence of God. • The 13th and early 14th centuries are generally regarded as the high period of scholasticism. The early 13th century witnessed the culmination of the recovery of Greek philosophy. Schools of translation grew up in Italy and Sicily, and eventually in the rest of Europe. Scholars such as Adelard of Bath travelled to Sicily and the Arab world, translating works on astronomy and mathematics, including the first complete translation of Euclid’s Elements. Powerful Norman kings gathered men of knowledge from Italy and other areas into their courts as a sign of their prestige. 

8. References: • David K. Naugle. Philosophy: A Student's Guide. NY, 2012. • AQA Philosophy AS: Student's Book. Houston, Texas, 2008. • Doing Philosophy: A Practical Guide for Students, London, 2008. • Философия медицины. Учебник для медицинских вузов под редакцией Шевченко Ю.Л. М.:ГЭОТАР – МЕД, 2004. • Антология мировой философии. В4-хт.М.:Мысль, 1969-1972. • Барулин В.С.Социальная философия. М., 2000. • Бердяев Н. О рабстве и свободе человека. М., 1995.