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Medieval philosophy
Medieval philosophy is the philosophy that existed through
the Middle Ages, the period roughly extending from the fall of
the Western Roman Empire in the 5th century to the
Renaissance in the 15th century.[1] Medieval philosophy,
understood as a project of independent philosophical inquiry,
began in Baghdad, in the middle of the 8th century,[1] and in
France, in the itinerant court of Charlemagne, in the last quarter
of the 8th century.[1][2] It is defined partly by the process of
rediscovering the ancient culture developed in Greece and Rome
during the Classical period,[1] and partly by the need to address
theological problems and to integrate sacred doctrine with
secular learning.

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 12th century, when the works of
Aristotle and Plato were rediscovered, translated, and studied Philosophy seated between the seven
upon, and the "golden age" of the 12th, 13th and 14th centuries liberal arts; picture from the Hortus
in the Latin West, which witnessed the culmination of the deliciarum of Herrad von Landsberg
recovery of ancient philosophy, along with the reception of its (12th century).
Arabic commentators,[1] and significant developments in the
fields of philosophy of religion, logic, and metaphysics.

The Medieval Era was disparagingly treated by the Renaissance humanists, who saw it as a barbaric
"middle period" between the Classical age of Greek and Roman culture, and the rebirth or
renaissance of Classical culture.[1] Modern historians consider the medieval era to be one of
philosophical development, heavily influenced by Christian theology. One of the most notable
thinkers of the era, Thomas of Aquinas, never considered himself a philosopher, and criticized
philosophers for always "falling short of the true and proper wisdom".[3]

The problems discussed throughout this period are the relation of faith to reason, the existence and
simplicity of God, the purpose of theology and metaphysics, and the problems of knowledge, of
universals, and of individuation.[4]: 1 

Contents
Characteristics
History
Early medieval Christian philosophy
High Middle Ages
Topics
Theology
Metaphysics
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Natural philosophy
Logic
Philosophy of mind
Ethics
See also
References
Further reading
External links

Characteristics
Medieval philosophy places heavy emphasis on the theological.[5]
With the possible exceptions of Avicenna and Averroes, medieval
thinkers did not consider themselves philosophers at all: for them,
the philosophers were the ancient pagan writers such as Plato and
Aristotle.[4]: 1  However, their theology used the methods 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
(ancilla theologiae).[4]: 35  Despite this view of philosophy as the
servant of theology, this did not prevent the medievals from
developing original and innovative philosophies against the backdrop
of their theological projects. For instance, such thinkers as Augustine
of Hippo and Thomas of Aquinas made monumental breakthroughs
in the philosophy of temporality and metaphysics, respectively.
Avicenna
The principles that underlie all the medieval philosophers' 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);
The obligation to co-ordinate the insights of philosophy with theological teaching and revelation
(concordia).[4]: 3–5 

One of the most heavily debated things of the period was that of faith versus reason. Avicenna and
Averroes both leaned more on the side of reason. Augustine stated that he would never allow his
philosophical investigations to go beyond the authority of God.[6]: 27  Anselm attempted to defend
against what he saw as partly an assault on faith, with an approach allowing for both faith and reason.
The Augustinian solution to the faith/reason problem is to (1) believe, and then (2) seek to
understand (fides quaerens intellectum).

History

Early medieval Christian philosophy

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The boundaries of the early medieval period are a matter of

controversy.[4]: 1  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.

After the collapse of the Roman empire, Western Europe lapsed

into the so-called Dark Ages. Monasteries were among the limited
number of focal points of formal academic learning, which might
be presumed to be a result of a rule of St Benedict's in 525, which
required monks to read the Bible daily, and his suggestion that at
the beginning of Lent, a book be given to each monk. In later
periods, monks were used for training administrators and
churchmen.[4]: 45 

Early Christian thought, in particular in the patristic period, tends

Portrait by Philippe de Champaigne,
to be intuitional and mystical, and is less reliant on reason and
17th century
logical argument. It also places more emphasis on the sometimes-
mystical doctrines of Plato, and less upon the systematic thinking
of Aristotle. Much of the work of Aristotle was unknown in the West in this period. Scholars relied on
translations by Boethius into Latin of Aristotle's Categories, the logical work On Interpretation, and
his Latin translation of Porphyry's Isagoge, a commentary on Aristotle's Categories.

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. For over a thousand years,
there was hardly a Latin work of theology or philosophy that did not quote his writing, or invoke his
authority. Some of his writing had an influence on the development of early modern philosophy, such
as that of Descartes.[7]: 15  Anicius Manlius Severinus Boethius (480 c.–524) was a Christian
philosopher born in Rome to an ancient and influential family. He became consul in 510 in the
kingdom of the Ostrogoths. His influence on the early medieval period was also marked (so much so
that it is sometimes called the Boethian period).[8] He intended to translate all the works of Aristotle
and Plato from the original Greek into Latin, and translated many of Aristotle's logical works, such as
On Interpretation, and the Categories. He wrote commentaries on these works, and on the Isagoge
by Porphyry (a commentary on the Categories). This introduced the problem of universals to the
medieval world.[7]: 114–117 

The first significant renewal of learning in the West came when Charlemagne, advised by Candidus,
Peter of Pisa and Alcuin of York, 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.

Johannes Scotus Eriugena (c. 815 – 877), successor of Alcuin of York as head of the Palace School,
was an Irish theologian and Neoplatonic philosopher. He is notable for having translated and made
commentaries upon the work of Pseudo-Dionysius, initially thought to be from the apostolic age.
Around this period several doctrinal controversies emerged, such as the question of whether God had
predestined some for salvation and some for damnation. Eriugena was called in to settle this dispute.
At the same time, Paschasius Radbertus raised an important question about the real presence of
Christ at the Eucharist. Is the host the same as Christ's historical body? How can it be present at many

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places and many times? Radbertus argued that Christ's real body is
present, veiled by the appearance of bread and wine, and is present
at all places and all times, by means of God's incomprehensible
power.[4]: 397–406 

This period also witnessed a revival of scholarship. At Fleury,

Theodulphus, bishop of Orléans, established a school for young
noblemen recommended there by Charlemagne. By the mid-ninth
century, its library was one of the most comprehensive ever
assembled in the West, and scholars such as Lupus of Ferrières (d.
862) traveled there to consult its texts. Later, under St. Abbo of
Fleury (abbot 988–1004), head of the reformed abbey school, Fleury
enjoyed a second golden age.[9]: 1 
Abbo of Fleury
Remigius of Auxerre, at the beginning of the tenth century, produced
glosses or commentaries on the classical texts of Donatus, Priscian,
Boethius, and Martianus Capella. The Carolingian period was followed by a small dark age that was
followed by a lasting revival of learning in the eleventh century, which owed much to the rediscovery
of Greek thought from Arabic translations and Muslim contributions such as Avicenna's On the
soul.[10]

High Middle Ages

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.[11] Powerful Norman kings
gathered men of knowledge from Italy and other areas into their courts
as a sign of their prestige.[12] William of Moerbeke's translations and
editions of Greek philosophical texts in the middle half of the thirteenth
century helped in forming a clearer picture of Greek philosophy, and in
particular of Aristotle, than was given by the Arabic versions they had
previously relied on, which had distorted or obscured the relation
between Platonic and Aristotelian systems of philosophy.[13] His work
formed the basis of the major commentaries that followed.
Plato, Seneca, and Aristotle
from Devotional and
The universities developed in the large cities of Europe during this
Philosophical Writings, c.
period, and rival clerical orders within the Church began to battle for
1330
political and intellectual control over these centers of educational life.
The two main orders founded in this period were the Franciscans and
the Dominicans. The Franciscans were founded by Francis of Assisi in
1209. Their leader in the middle of the century was Bonaventure, a traditionalist who defended the
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theology of Augustine and the philosophy of Plato, incorporating only a little of Aristotle in with the
more neoplatonist elements.[7]: 454  Following Anselm, Bonaventure supposed that reason can discover
truth only when philosophy is illuminated by religious faith. Other important Franciscan writers were
Duns Scotus, Peter Auriol, and William of Ockham.

By contrast, the Dominican order, founded by St Dominic in 1215 placed

more emphasis on the use of reason and made extensive use of the new
Aristotelian sources derived from the East, and Moorish Spain. The great
representatives of Dominican thinking in this period were Albertus
Magnus and (especially) Thomas Aquinas, whose artful synthesis of
Greek rationalism and Christian doctrine eventually came to define
Catholic philosophy. Aquinas placed more emphasis on reason and
argumentation, and was one of the first to use the new translation of
Aristotle's metaphysical and epistemological writing. This was a
significant departure from the Neoplatonic and Augustinian thinking
that had dominated much of early Scholasticism. Aquinas showed how it
was possible to incorporate much of the philosophy of Aristotle without
falling into the "errors" of the Commentator Averroes.

At the start of the 20th century, historian and philosopher Martin

Thomas Aquinas
Grabmann was the first scholar to work out the outlines of the ongoing
development of thought in scholasticism and to see in Thomas Aquinas a
response and development of thought rather than a single, coherently emerged and organic whole.
Although Grabmann's works in German are numerous, only Thomas Aquinas (1928) is available in
English. However, Grabmann's thought was instrumental in the whole modern understanding of
scholasticism and the pivotal role of Aquinas.

Topics
All the main branches of philosophy today were a part of Medieval philosophy. Medieval philosophy
also included most of the areas originally established by the pagan philosophers of antiquity, in
particular Aristotle. However, the discipline now called Philosophy of religion was, it is presumed, a
unique development of the Medieval era, and many of the problems that define the subject first took
shape in the Middle Ages, in forms that are still recognisable today.

Theology

Medieval philosophy is characteristically theological. Subjects discussed in this period include:

The problem of the compatibility of the divine attributes: How are the attributes traditionally
ascribed to the Supreme Being, such as unlimited power, knowledge of all things, infinite
goodness, existence outside time, immateriality, and so on, logically consistent with one another?
The problem of evil: The classical philosophers had speculated on the nature of evil, but the
problem of how an all-powerful, all-knowing, loving God could create a system of things in which
evil exists first arose in the medieval period.
The problem of free will: A similar problem was to explain how 'divine foreknowledge' – God's
knowledge of what will happen in the future – is compatible with our belief in our own free will.
Questions regarding the immortality of the intellect, the unity or non-unity between the soul and
the intellect, and the consequent intellectual basis for believing in the immortality of the soul.

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The question of whether there can be substances which are non-material, for example, angels.

Metaphysics

After the 'rediscovery' of Aristotle's Metaphysics in the mid-twelfth

century, many scholastics wrote commentaries on this work (in
particular Aquinas and Scotus). The problem of universals was one of
the main problems engaged during that period. Other subjects
included:

Hylomorphism – development of the Aristotelian doctrine that Book 7 of the Metaphysics: Ens
individual things are a compound of material and form (the statue dicitur multipliciter – the word
is a compound of granite, and the form sculpted into it) 'being' is predicated in many
Existence – being qua being ways
Causality – Discussion of causality consisted mostly of
commentaries on Aristotle, mainly the Physics, On the Heavens,
On Generation and Corruption. The approach to this subject area was uniquely medieval, the
rational investigation of the universe being viewed as a way of approaching God. Duns Scotus'
proof of the existence of God is based on the notion of causality.
Individuation. The problem of individuation is to explain how we individuate or numerically
distinguish the members of any kind for which it is given. The problem arose when it was required
to explain how individual angels of the same species differ from one another. Angels are
immaterial, and their numerical difference cannot be explained by the different matter they are
made of. The main contributors to this discussion were Aquinas and Scotus.

Natural philosophy

In natural philosophy and the philosophy of science, medieval philosophers were mainly influenced
by Aristotle. However, from the fourteenth century onward, the increasing use of mathematical
reasoning in natural philosophy prepared the way for the rise of science in the early modern period.
The more mathematical reasoning techniques of William Heytesbury and William of Ockham are
indicative of this trend. Other contributors to natural philosophy are Albert of Saxony, John Buridan,
and Nicholas of Autrecourt. See also the article on the Continuity thesis, the hypothesis that there was
no radical discontinuity between the intellectual development of the Middle Ages and the
developments in the Renaissance and early modern period.

Logic

The great historian of logic I. M. Bochenski[14] regarded the Middle Ages as one of the three great
periods in the history of logic. From the time of Abelard until the middle of the fourteenth century,
scholastic writers refined and developed Aristotelian logic to a remarkable degree. In the earlier
period, writers such as Peter Abelard wrote commentaries on the works of the Old logic (Aristotle's
Categories, On interpretation, and the Isagoge of Porphyry). Later, new departments of logical
enquiry arose, and new logical and semantic notions were developed. For logical developments in the
Middle Ages, see the articles on insolubilia, obligations, properties of terms, syllogism, and
sophismata. Other great contributors to medieval logic include Albert of Saxony, John Buridan, John
Wyclif, Paul of Venice, Peter of Spain, Richard Kilvington, Walter Burley, William Heytesbury, and
William of Ockham.

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Philosophy of mind

Medieval philosophy of mind is based on Aristotle's De Anima, another work discovered in the Latin
West in the twelfth century. It was regarded as a branch of the philosophy of nature. Some of the
topics discussed in this area include:

Divine illumination – The doctrine of Divine illumination was an alternative to naturalism. It holds
that humans need a special assistance from God in their ordinary thinking. The doctrine is most
closely associated with Augustine and his scholastic followers. It reappeared in a different form in
the early modern era.
theories of demonstration
mental representation – The idea that mental states have 'intentionality'; i.e., despite being a state
of the mind, they are able to represent things outside the mind is intrinsic to the modern
philosophy of mind. It has its origins in medieval philosophy. (The word 'intentionality' was revived
by Franz Brentano, who was intending to reflect medieval usage[15]). Ockham is well known for
his theory that language signifies mental states primarily by convention, real things secondarily,
whereas the corresponding mental states signify real things of themselves and necessarily.[16]

Writers in this area include Saint Augustine, Duns Scotus, Nicholas of Autrecourt, Thomas Aquinas,
and William of Ockham.

Ethics

Writers in this area include Anselm, Augustine, Peter Abelard, Scotus, Peter of Spain, Aquinas, and
Ockham. Writers on political theory include Dante, John Wyclif, and William of Ockham.

See also
Christian philosophy
Early Muslim philosophy
Jewish philosophy
Nominalism
Renaissance of the 12th century
Scholastic philosophy
Supposition theory

References
1. Spade, Paul Vincent (2018). Edward N. Zalta (ed.). "Medieval Philosophy" (https://plato.stanford.e
du/archives/sum2018/entries/medieval-philosophy/). Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy. Center
for the Study of Language and Information.
2. Pasnau, Robert (2010). "Introduction". The Cambridge History of Medieval Philosophy (https://arc
hive.org/details/cambridgehistory01pasn). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. p. 1 (https://ar
chive.org/details/cambridgehistory01pasn/page/n14). ISBN 978-0-521-76216-8.
3. Davies, Brian (2004). Aquinas. Continuum International Publishing Group. p. 14.
4. Gracia, Jorge J. E.; Noone, Timothy B. (2003). A Companion to Philosophy in the Middle Ages.
Oxford: Blackwell. ISBN 9780631216728.

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5. Medieval Philosophy: Essential Readings with Commentary, edited by Gyula Klima, Fritz Allhoff,
Anand Jayprakash Vaidya, Wiley-Blackwell, 2007, p. 3.
6. Kretzmann, Norman (2002). Stump, Eleonore (ed.). The Cambridge Companion to Augustine.
Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press. ISBN 9780521650182.
7. Hyman, J.; Walsh, J.J. (1967). Philosophy in the Middle Ages: The Christian, Islamic, and Jewish
Traditions. New York: Harper & Row. OCLC 370638 (https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/370638).
8. Catarina Dutilh Novaes & Stephen Read, The Cambridge Companion to Medieval Logic,
Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2016, Introduction
9. Schulman, Jana K., ed. (2002). The Rise of the Medieval World: 500–1300: A Biographical
Dictionary. Westport, CT: Greenwood Press. ISBN 9780313308178.
10. Jonathan Lyons (2007). The House of Wisdom. Bloomsbury.
11. Marshall Clagett, "Medieval Latin Translations from the Arabic of the Elements of Euclid, with
Special Emphasis on the Versions of Adelard of Bath," Isis 44: 16–42 (1982).
12. David C. Lindberg (ed.), Science in the Middle Ages, Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1978,
p. 70-72.
13. Fryde, Edmund (2000). The Early Palaeologan Renaissance (1261-c.1360). Leiden: Brill.
ISBN 9789004117143.
14. I. M. Bochenski, A History of Formal Logic, Notre dame University Press, 1961, pp. 10–18
15. Psychology from an Empirical Standpoint, transl. by A.C. Rancurello, D.B. Terrell, and L.
McAlister, London: Routledge, 1973. (2nd ed., intr. by Peter Simons, 1995), p. 88.
16. That is, our idea of a rabbit necessarily represents a rabbit. A mental state 'is a true similitude of
the external thing, on account of which it represents (repraesentat) the external thing itself, and
stands for it from its nature, just as an utterance denotes things by institution'.

Further reading
Guerizoli, Rodrigo; Hamelin, Guy, eds. (3 June 2015). "Preface: Medieval Logic" (https://doi.org/1
0.1007%2Fs11787-015-0124-x). Logica Universalis. 9 (2): 129–131. doi:10.1007/s11787-015-
0124-x (https://doi.org/10.1007%2Fs11787-015-0124-x). ISSN 1661-8300 (https://www.worldcat.o
rg/issn/1661-8300).
Thomson, Garrett; Kolak, Daniel (2006). The Longman Standard History of Philosophy. New York:
Pearson, Longman. ISBN 9780321235114.
Lagerlund, Henrik, ed. (2011). Encyclopedia of Medieval Philosophy: Philosophy Between 500
and 1500. Dordrecht: Springer. ISBN 9781402097287.
Marenbon, John (2007). Medieval Philosophy: An Historical and Philosophical Introduction.
London: Routledge. ISBN 9780203968765.
Maurer, Armand A. (1982). Medieval Philosophy (https://archive.org/details/medievalphilosop0000
maur) (2nd ed.). Toronto: Pontifical Institute of Mediaeval Studies.
Pasnau, Robert; Van Dyke, Christina, eds. (2010). The Cambridge History of Medieval
Philosophy. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press. ISBN 9780521762168.
Pasnau, Robert (2011). Metaphysical Themes, 1274-1689. Oxford, England: Clarendon Press.
ISBN 9780191501791.
Schoedinger, Andrew B., ed. (1996). Readings in Medieval Philosophy. New York: Oxford
University Press. ISBN 9780195092929.

External links

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The London Philosophy Study Guide (http://www.ucl.ac.uk/philosophy/LPSG/) offers many

suggestions on what to read, depending on the student's familiarity with the subject: Medieval
Philosophy (http://www.ucl.ac.uk/philosophy/LPSG/Medieval.htm)
Zalta, Edward N. (ed.). "Medieval philosophy" (https://plato.stanford.edu/entries/medieval-philosop
hy//). Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy.
Zalta, Edward N. (ed.). "Literary forms of Medieval Philosophy" (https://plato.stanford.edu/entries/
medieval-literary//). Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy.
"Medieval philosophy" (http://www.iep.utm.edu/category/history/medieval/). Internet Encyclopedia
of Philosophy.
Medieval philosophy (https://philpapers.org/browse/medieval-and-renaissance-philosophy) at
PhilPapers
Medieval philosophy (https://www.inphoproject.org/taxonomy/2309) at the Indiana Philosophy
Ontology Project*Medieval Philosophy Electronic Resources (https://web.archive.org/web/200807
19105814/http://www2.bc.edu/~solere/siepm.html)
Article Philosophy at The Catholic Encyclopedia (http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/12025c.htm)
Some medieval Jewish philosophers (https://web.archive.org/web/20030301105108/http://radicala
cademy.com/adiphiljewish1.htm)
Medieval Natural Philosophy and the Church (http://jameshannam.com/medievalscience.htm) by
James Hannam
The Fathers, the Scholastics, and Ourselves by von Balthasar (https://archive.today/20130630101
530/http://tcrnews2.com/vonbalthasarfathers.html)
Medieval Philosophy and Theology journal (http://cip.cornell.edu/mpat)
(in German) ALCUIN – Regensburger Infothek der Scholastik (http://www.alcuin.de/) – Huge
database with information on biography, text chronology, editions.

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