Peter Abelard (1079-1142)

a.k.a Petrus Abaelardus or Pierre Abelard

 The Pre-eminent Philosopher and Theologian of the 12th Century

 Teacher of his generation and a famous poet and musician
 He was the greatest logician of the middle ages and is equally famous as the first great
NOMINALIST PHILOSOPHER
 He championed the use of reason in matters of faith and the first one to use theology in
its modern sense.
 Abelard’s quick wit, sharp tongue, perfect memory and boundless arrogance made him
unbeatable in debate.
 His luckless affair with Heloise made him a tragic figure of Romance (Abelard and
Heloise were secret lovers, who married after Heloise had a child. In revenge, her
brothers and uncle captured Abelard, and castrated him. Afterward, he became a monk
and Heloise became a nun. The two of them wrote letters to one another, which are
now considered part of world literature.)
 His conflict with Bernard of Clairvaus over reason and religion made him the “Hero of
Enlightenment”

Life

 His inner life is revealed in his autobiographical letter “Historia Clamitatum” (The
Story of My Troubles and his famous correspondence with Eloise)
 He was born around 1079 in Le Pallet.
 He renounced his inheritance including its attendant knighthood to pursue
hilosophy.
 Abelard died on April 21, 1142. His body was interred at the Paraclete and today is
with Heloise in Pere Lachaise Cemetery in Paris.

Works

 His most widely discussed views are those in metaphysics, specifically the problem of
universals
On the Dispute of the Nature of Universals:
 He argued that universals are utterances or mental terms, and not things in the real
world.
 The universality of a universal derives from the fact that it is predicable of many things.
 However, unless a number of things are in the same state, the one universal term
cannot be predicated of them.
 As explained by Oxford Companion: “Although universals are not themselves real things,
it is a common feature of real things that justifies the predication of a universal of
them.”

 Universals are terms such as “red” or “tree” that can be applied in exactly the same way
to an indefinitely large number of different objects. The concept of universals raises the
issue: Do these terms denote something that itself exists or not?
There are two opposing answers:
1. Plato’s view: Realism
Universals exist.
There is an Ideal Form of redness. The particular redness of each individual red object is
a copy or reflection of that Ideal Form, however imperfect.
2. Aristotle’s view: Nominalism
Universals DO NOT exist.
Of course there are red objects. But redness is not something that exists separately and
apart from the actual red objects. Universals are useful names for certain
characteristics, but are not things that exist in themselves.

RELATION BETWEEN HUMAN FREEDOM AND DIVINE PROVIDENCE

 If God, who is omniscient, knows that we are going to perform a given act, is it not
necessary that we perform it, and in that case how can the act be free?
God’s foreknowing them carries no implication that we are not free to avoid performing
them.

 Abelard’s best known work is “Sic et Non” (Yes or No) in which he pointed out
apparently contradictory quotations from the Church Fathers on many of the traditional
topics of Christian Theology (such as multiple significations of a single word) and
outlined rules for reconciling these contradicitions.
This work rekindled interest in the dialectic as a philosophical tool and argued that
dialectic was the road to the truth as well as being good mental exercise.

 He made contributions to the field of Ethics on area rarely touched on Scholastic

teaching anticipating something of modern speculation with his idea that the moral
character or value of human action is atleast to some extent determined by subjective
intention.
 PHILOSOPHICAL WORKS

1. Logica ingredientibus ("Logic for Beginners") completed before 1121

2. Petri Abaelardi Glossae in Porphyrium ("The Glosses of Peter Abailard on Porphyry"),
c.1120
3. Dialectica, before 1125 (1115–1116 according to John Marenbon, The Philosophy of
Peter Abelard, Cambridge University Press 1997).
4. Logica nostrorum petitioni sociorum ("Logic in response to the request of our
comrades"), c.1124-1125
5. Tractatus de intellectibus ("A treatise on understanding")
6. Sic et Non ("Yes and No") (A list of quotations from Christian authorities on
philosophical and theological questions)
7. Theologia 'Summi Boni', Theologia christiana, and Theologia 'scholarium'. His main work
on systematic theology, written between 1120 and 1140, and which appeared in a
number of versions under a number of titles (shown in chronological order)
8. Dialogus inter philosophum, Judaeum, et Christianum, (Dialogue of a Philosopher with a
Jew and a Christian) 1136–1139
9. Ethica or Scito Te Ipsum ("Ethics" or "Know Yourself"), before 1140.

St. Thomas Aquinas (1225-1274)

a.k.a Thomas of Aquin or Aquino

 An Italian Philosopher and theologian of the Medieval Period

 The foremost classical proponent of natural theology at the peak of scholasticism in
Europe and the founder of Thomistic School of Philosophy and Theology.
 Considered the outstanding philosopher of the 13th century, and the greatest
philosopher since Augustine

Life

Born in Naples

After studies, he entered the Order of Preachers, also known as the Dominican Order

Oxford Companion places his written output at 8 million words, which is the more remarkable
because he died at 50, four months after an experience during mass which prompted him to
write: “All that I have written seems to me like straw compared to what has now been revealed
to me.”
  The two most important works of Thomas Aquinas are:
1. The Summa Theologica/Summation of Theology which he expounds his systematic
theology of the “Quinquae Viae” (The Five Proofs of Existence of God)
2. Summa Contra Gentiles/On the Truth of the Catholic Faith Against the Gentiles

PHILOSOPHY

THOMISM - consists of “a highly successful marriage” between Platonist Christianity and

Aristotle’s philosophy, with elements of Jewish and Islamic thought

 Aquinas insisted on drawing a distinction between philosophy and religion, or between

reason and faith.
 According to him, in philosophy, there is no way of deciding whether the world had a
beginning and will have an end.
 But in religion, the world had a beginning because it was created by God, and one day
will have an end.
 Aquinas based himself on Aristotle
“There is nothing in the intellect which was not first in the senses.”
All our rational knowledge of this world is acquired through sensory experience. Our
minds then reflect on this sensory experience.
 His theory of knowledge is “empiricist”
 But he holds that the world of which we gain our knowledge is God’s creation through
and through. Therefore, it is impossible for the knowledge thus gained to conflict with
religious revelation.

FAMOUS DISTINCTION BETWEEN ESSENCE & EXISTENCE

 The essence of a thing is what that thing is.

If a child asks: What is a unicorn? The answer would be: It is a white horse with a long
straight horn on its head. Such an answer addresses itself to the question of essence.

 The existence of a thing is a separate question from its essence. The essence or
description of a thing does not indicate whether it exists or not. If a thing is only
essence, it has the potential for existence. But its existence is not yet actual.

CONCLUSIONS:

The essence of the world precedes its existence.

Because God made the world in accordance with his wishes. This notion is supported
by Plato’s theory of Ideal Forms.
 God is pure existence.

Because His own essence cannot have preceded his existence. This notion is
supported by Aristotle.

DISTINCTION BETWEEN TWO ROUTES TO KNOWLEDGE OF GOD

1. Revelation
a. Natural Revelation (certain truths are available to all people through their human
nature and through correct human reasonin)
b. Supernatural Revelation ( faith based knowledge revealed through scripture)
c. Special Revelation
2. Human Reason
It is possible to reach the truth without the aid of revelation, by arguing on the basis of
the facts of common experience.
The proposition “God exists” is not self-evident to us, and since we need a
demonstration of God’s existence, which can proceed in either two directions:
From consideration of a cause, we can infer its effect.
From consideration of an effect, we can infer its cause.
 Aquinas believed that faith and reason are two primary tools which are both
necessary together for processing this data in order to obtain true knowledge of
God.
 He also believed that God reveals himself through nature so that rational thinking
and the study of nature is also the study of God (this is a blend of Aristotelian Greek
Philosophy with Christian Doctrine)
 Aquinas proposed 5 positive statements about the divine qualities of God:
1. God is simple.
2. God is perfect.
3. God is infinite.
4. God is immutable.
5. God is one.

SUMMA THEOLOGICA

1. The first part is on God. In it, he gives five proofs for God's existence as well as an
explication of His attributes. He argues for the actuality and incorporeality of God as the
unmoved mover and describes how God moves through His thinking and willing.
5 PROOFS OF GOD’S EXISTENCE
Aquinas, starting with an effect, argues back to the cause, and presents five proofs of
God’s existence, summarized as follows:
 a. Fact: Things move in this world. (ex motu)
Conclusion: There must be a first mover which is not moved by anything, namely God.
b. F: We find in the world an order of efficient causes. (ex causa)
C: There must be some efficient cause, which is first in the chain of such causes, called
“God.”
c. F: We find things that have the possibility of both being and not being. They are
things that are generated and will be destroyed. (ex contingencia)
C: There must exist something, called “God,” which is necessary of itself and does
not have a cause of its necessity outside itself.
d. F: We find gradation in things, for some things are more good, some less, etc. (ex
gradu)
C: There must be something called “God,” which is the cause of being, and
goodness, and even perfection in things.
e. F: Things in nature act for the sake of an end, even though they lack awareness. (ex
fine)
C: There must be an intelligent being called “God,” by whom all natural things are
directed to an end.
2. The second part is on Ethics. Thomas argues for a variation of the Aristotelian Virtue
Ethics. However, unlike Aristotle, he argues for a connection between the virtuous man
and God by explaining how the virtuous act is one towards the blessedness of the
Beatific Vision (beata visio).
3. The last part of the Summa is on Christ and was unfinished when Thomas died. In it, he
shows how Christ not only offers salvation, but represents and protects humanity on
Earth and in Heaven. This part also briefly discusses the sacraments and eschatology.
The Summa remains the most influential of Thomas’s works and is mostly what will be
discussed in this overview of his philosophy.

AQUINAS’ METAPHOR

 Aquinas said that we do not have an insight into God’s nature. He has perfections in the
fullest way possible.
 Among these divine perfections is knowledge. God knows everything knowable.
 It is God’s knowing that brings things into existence.
 Are human beings free, if God is indeed omniscient?

“A man standing on top of a hill sees simultaneously all the travelers walking along the path
that goes round the hillside even though the travelers on the path cannot see each other.
Likewise, the eternal God sees simultaneously everything past, present, and future, for
‘eternity includes all time.’ And just as my present certain knowledge of the action you are
 performing before my eyes does not imply that your action is unfree, so also God’s
timelessly present knowledge of our acts, past, present, and future, does not imply that our
acts are unfree.”

AQUINAS’ CONCEPT OF TRUTH

He discusses the concept of truth, in the light of the biblical assertion: “I am the truth.”
According to him, truth can be sought in two ways:

1. Truth can be sought in the knowing mind.

Intellect

Our intellect draws inward to the truth, which is in our mind.

Although the knowledge in our mind is primarily true, the outer object is said to be true in
virtue of its relation to the truth in mind.

2. Truth can be sought in the things which are known.

Desire

Our desire directs us outward to the thing desired.

The thing desired is good, but then the desire itself is good in so far as what desired is
good.

HUMAN ACTS

 If an act is to be human, it should have the following features:

1. Voluntariness
2. Intention
3. Choice
4. Deliberation

Subsidiary end – the reason for performing an act

Ultimate end – happiness

Ignorance or incompetence – serves as obstacle in the achievement of happiness

No person is ignorant of the principle built into all human beings. This fundamental principle is:
“Eschew evil and do good.”

FOUR KINDS OF LAW

  Eternal law (the decree of God that governs all creation)
 Natural law (human "participation" in eternal law, which is discovered by reason)
 Human law (the natural law applied by governments to societies)
 Divine law (the specially revealed law in the scriptures).

PRINCIPLE OF DOUBLE EFFECT

Aquinas was the first to identify the Principle of Double Effect in ethical decisions, when an
otherwise legitimate act (e.g. self-defense) may also cause an effect one would normally
be obliged to avoid (e.g. the death of another).

John Duns Scotus (1266-1308)

often known as Duns Scotus

 The Scottish Philosopher and Franciscan Theologian of Medieval Period

 He was the one of the most important theologians along with St. Thomas Aquinas and
William of Ockham and St. Bonaventure.
 He was the founder of special form of Scholasticism which came to be known as
Scotism.
 He was also an early adopter of the Doctrine of Voluntarism
 He was nicknamed as Doctor Subtilis for his penetration and subtle manner of thought
and had considerable influence on Roman Catholic Thought.
 In the 16th Century, he was accused of sophistry which led to the use of his name to
describe someone incapable of scholarship

Life

 He was born around 1266 in the town of Duns in the Borders Region of Southern
Scotland (Scotus simply means Scot)
 Scotus was ordained to the priesthood in the Order of Friars Minor—the Franciscans --at
Saint Andrew's Priory in Northampton, England, on 17 March 1291
 Scotus studied philosophy and then theology at Oxford beginning sometime in the
1280s.
 In June 1303 Scotus was expelled from France along with eighty other friars for taking
Pope Boniface VIII's side in a dispute with King Philip IV of France over taxation of
church property.
 He died on November 8, 1308 in Colowas actually gne and was buried in the Church of
Minorities ( an old unsubstantiated tradition holds that Scotus was actually buried alive
following his lapse into a coma)
  He was beatified by Pope John Paul II in 1993

Works

 Unlike St. Thomas Aquinas, Scotus rejected the distinction between essence and
existence denying that we can conceive of what is it to be something, without
conceiving it as existing.
 In contrast to St. Thomas Aquinas, he believed in the controversial doctrine of
UNIVOCITY, that certain predicates may be applied with exactly the same meaning to
God as to his creatures.
 Scotus is generally to have been considered as REALIST rather than a Nominalist, in that
he treated universal as real.
 He recognized the need for an intermediate distinction (that was not merely conceptual
but not fully real or mind dependent either) resulting in his concept of formal distinction
(example: entities are inseperable and indistinct in reality but their distinctions are not
identical)
 His causal argument for the existence of God which he offered several versions is
perhaps the most complicated of any ever written and constitutes a Philosophical Tour
de Force, despite it flaws. First, he proved what he called as the triple primacy (that
there is a being that is first in efficient casuality and in pre-eminence); then he proved
that these three primacies are co-extensive (any being which is first in one of those ways
will necessarily also be first in the other two); the he proved that any being enjoying the
triple primacy is endowed with intellect and will; and finally, he proved that there can
only be one such being.
 Scotus devised the earliest formulation of Voluntarism (the view that regards the will is
the basic factor, both in the universe and in human freedom in all philosophical issues.

Four (4) main areas of Philosophy

1. Natural theology

2. Metaphysics

3. The theory of knowledge

4. Ethics and moral psychology