Weate , J. and Lawman , Peter A Young person’s guide to philosophy

1. Weate, J. and Lawman, Peter A Young person’s guide to philosophy M. Torres History of Western Philosophy. IES Campo San Alberto, Noia

2. Scholasticism • Scholasticism is derived from the Latin word scholasticus ("belongs to the school"). • It was a method of learning taught by the academics of medieval universities (1100-1500). • Scholasticism originally began as an attempt to reconcile ancient classical philosophy (Aristotle re-appearance) with medieval Christian theology (Augustine's platonic theology). • Scholasticism was not a philosophy or theology in itself, but rather a tool or method for learning that places emphasis on dialectical reasoning. • The primary purpose of scholasticism was to find the answer to questions and resolve contradictions. • Scholasticism is most well-known for its application in medieval theology, but was eventually applied to many other fields of study (Science toke its analytic method out Scholasticis). • Scholasticism in its earliest form can be seen in the work of late ancient figures like St. Ambrose and St. Augustine who attempt to use philosophy and philosophical reason to help explain the doctrine and mysteries of the church. But this first approach is known as Patristic. • The main figures of scholasticism were • Peter Abelard, • Albertus Magnus, • Duns Scotus, • William of Ockham, • Bonaventure and, above all, • Thomas Aquinas, whose Summa Theologica is an ambitious synthesis of Greek philosophy and Christian doctrine. R. Osborne and R. Edner, Philosophyforbeginners. M. Torres History of Western Philosophy. IES Campo San Alberto, Noia

3. Latin Averroism • Averroismis the term applied to either of two philosophical trends among scholastics in the late 13th century, the first of which was based on the Arab philosopher Averroes (1126-1198) interpretations of Aristotle and his reconciliation of Aristotelianism with the Islamic faith. • European philosophers in turn applied these ideas to Aristotle's writings and their relation to the Christian faith. Besides Averroes, the main philosophers involved in the movement were Siger of Brabant and Boetius of Dacia. This second school was called Latin Averroim. • Latin Averroimwas declared heretic because its defense of the idea of two independent truths: one obtained with faith (Bible) and the second acquired with empirical reasoning. M. Torres History of Western Philosophy. IES Campo San Alberto, Noia

4. Thomas Aquinas (1.224-1.274): Biography • 1225 Thomas was born at Roccasecca, a hilltop castle from which the great Benedictine abbey of Montecassino is not quite visible, midway between Rome and Naples. • 1230 He was entered at Montecassino where his studies began. • When the monastery became a battle site—not for the last time—Thomas was transferred by his family to the University of Naples. • It was here that he came into contact with the “new” Aristotle and with the Order of Preachers or Dominicans, a recently founded mendicant order. • He became a Dominican over the protests of his family and eventually went north to study, perhaps first briefly at Paris, then at Cologne with Albert the Great, whose interest in Aristotle strengthened Thomas's own predilections. • Returned to Paris, he completed his studies, became a Master and for three years occupied one of the Dominican chairs in the Faculty of Theology. • The next ten years were spent in various places in Italy, with the mobile papal court, at various Dominican houses, and eventually in Rome. • From there he was called back to Paris to confront the controversy variously called Latin Averroism and Heterodox Aristotelianism. • After this second three year stint, he was assigned to Naples. • 1274, on his way to the Council of Lyon, he fell ill and died in the Cistercian abbey at Fossanova, twenty kilometers from Roccasecca. M. Torres History of Western Philosophy. IES Campo San Alberto, Noia

5. Aquinas: Bibliography Middle Ages / Scholastic styles: • Summa contra Gentiles • SummaTheologica • ThePrinciples of Nature • OnBeing and Essence (De Ente et Essentia) • De Magistro (Ontheteacher) •  On the Eternity of the World. • On Prayer and the Contemplative Life. • On the Nature of Law (From Summa Theologica). COMMENTS:anotated comments to the works of Aristotle, Boethius, Dionysius, etc.. They come comes from lectio academic: ordinary classes where the professor commented on students' text.QUAESTIONES DISPUTATAE: where we approach a given topic. In the case of Thomas we have: In Veritatis,De potentia It was the presentation of opposing arguments and their solution.QUAESTIONES QUODLIBETALES: do not respond to unique theme, they were  solemn lessons, as if discussing a free theme. For this reason, do not take a title.OPUSCULA:  Short elaborations with the order and structure that the author ddemmanded as appropriate, they could be about any problem. De ente et Essentia of aeternitatis mundi, De unitateintellectus.SUMMÆ: large bulky elaborations covering a discipline; they not only  intended to cover completely what was said till that moment in given discipline, but also to solve any dispute.Summa Theologica, Summa Contra Gentiles M. Torres History of Western Philosophy. IES Campo San Alberto, Noia

6. Aquinas: Faith and Reason Aquinas sees reason and faith as two ways of knowing. • Truths of Natural reason, "Reason" covers what we can know by experience and logic alone. From reason, we can know that there is a God and that there is only one God; these truths about God are accessible to anyone by experience and logic alone, apart from any special revelation from God. • Articles of faith, "Faith" covers what we can know by God's special revelation to us (which comes through the Bible and Christian Tradition). By faith, we can know that God came into the world through Jesus Christ and that God is triune (Father, Son, and Holy Spirit). These truths about God cannot be known by reason alone. • Preambles of faith, Faith builds on reason. Since faith and reason are both ways of arriving at truth -- and since all truths are harmonious with each other -- faith is consistent with reason. If we understand faith and reason correctly, there will be no conflict between what faith tells us and what reason tells us. R. Osborne and R. Edner, Philosophyforbeginners. Adaptedfrom: http://www.jcu.edu M. Torres History of Western Philosophy. IES Campo San Alberto, Noia

7. Aquinas’ epistemology Thomas distinguishes three types of knowledge: a) Sensible knowledge. "Nihilest in intellectu quod non fuerit in sensuPrius." All knowledge arises in the senses when objects act on the sensory organs, producing there a "ghost" (pictured). b) Intellectual knowledge. Deals with universals. Understanding agent lights up the ghost and extracts the common characteristics and then excluding (Universals). Sensible objects can not be the object of intellectual knowledge, but intellectual knowledge depends on the sensitive knowledge Ghost printed on our sense organs. What happens with the knowledge of the objects of which we have no ghost (image)? c) Metaphysical knowledge. The human understanding has its starting point in the senses, but it can go beyond the senses, without the limit of material essences. But it can only work with those immaterial things that have some manifested prints inside the tangible world. Thus, we can not know God directly, since it produces no ghost, but as material objects reveal the participation of some essence of God, we can get, by analogy, knowledge of the Supreme Being. • Thomas believed "that for the knowledge of any truth whatsoever man needs divine help, that the intellect may be moved by God to its act.“ Summa •  However, he believed that human beings have the natural capacity to know many things without special divine revelation, even though such revelation occurs from time to time, "especially in regard to [topics of] a faith.“ Summa M. Torres History of Western Philosophy. IES Campo San Alberto, Noia

8. 5 probes of God’s existence. • 1 - FIRST MOVER: Some things are in motion, anything moved is moved by another, and there can't be an infinite series of movers. So there must be a first mover (a mover that isn't itself moved by another). This is God. • 2 - FIRST CAUSE: Some things are caused, anything caused is caused by another, and there can't be an infinite series of causes. So there must be a first cause (a cause that isn't itself caused by another). This is God. • 3 - NECESSARY BEING: Every contingent being at some time fails to exist. So if everything were contingent, then at some time there would have been nothing -- and so there would be nothing now -- which is clearly false. So not everything is contingent. So there is a necessary being. This is God. • 4 - GREATEST BEING: Some things are greater than others. Whatever is great to any degree gets its greatness from that which is the greatest. So there is a greatest being, which is the source of all greatness. This is God. • 5 - INTELLIGENT DESIGNER: Many things in the world that lack intelligence act for an end. Whatever acts for an end must be directed by an intelligent being. So the world must have an intelligent designer. This is God. R. Osborne and R. Edner, Philosophyforbeginners. Adaptedfrom: http://www.jcu.edu M. Torres History of Western Philosophy. IES Campo San Alberto, Noia

9. Divine Law / Natural Law / Positive Law • Aquinas bases his doctrine on the natural law on his understanding of God and His relation to His creation. • He grounds his theory of natural law in the notion of an eternal law (in God). • Law is a dictate of reason from the ruler for the community he rules. It is the idea of what should be done to insure the well ordered functioning of whatever community the ruler has care for. • God rules the world with his reason, therefore Aquinas concludes that God has in His intellect an idea by which He governs the world. This Idea, in God, for the governance of things is the eternal law. • (Eternal Law) Things of creation that are ruled by that Law have it imprinted on the them through their nature or essence. Since things act according to their nature, they derive their proper acts and ends (final cause) according to the law that is written into their nature. Everything in nature, insofar as they reflects the order by which God directs them through their nature for their own benefit, reflects the Eternal Law in their own natures. • Natural Law applied to human beings) By nature humans act freely by being inclined toward our proper acts and end. That is, we human beings must exercise our natural reason to discover what is best for us in order to achieve the end to which their nature inclines • The natural inclination of humans to achieve their proper end through reason and free will is the natural law. • Formally defined, the Natural Law is humans' participation in the Eternal Law, through reason and will. Humans actively participate in the eternal law of God (the governance of the world) by using reason in conformity with the Natural Law to discern what is good and evil. • When a person discovers by reason what the purpose of living is, he or she discover his or her natural end is. • Aquinas distinguishes different levels of precepts or commands that the Natural Law entails. The most universal is the command "Good is to be done and pursued and evil avoided.“ • The Thomistic notion of Natural Law has its roots, then, in a quite basic understanding of the universe as caused and cared for by God, and the basic notion of what a law is. • The legitimacy of human law in something more universal than the mere agreement and decree of legislators.   Adaptedfrom: http://www.aquinasonline.com M. Torres History of Western Philosophy. IES Campo San Alberto, Noia

10. http://christophersapologies.blogspot.com M. Torres History of Western Philosophy. IES Campo San Alberto, Noia

11. The problem of universals • The problem of universals is an ancient problem in metaphysics whether universals exist. • The problem arises from attempts to account for the phenomenon of similarity or attribute agreement among things. • A universal is what particular things have in common, namely characteristics or qualities. • Universals are repeatable or recurrent entities that can be exemplified by many particular things. • The noun "universal" contrasts with "individual", while the adjective "universal" contrasts with "particular". • Paradigmatically, universals are abstract (e.g. humanity), whereas particulars are concrete (e.g. the person of Socrates). • The problem of universals is how to account for this sort of agreement in attribute among things. • There are two main positions on the issue: realism and nominalism (or "anti-realism"). • Realists posit the existence of universals to account for attribute agreement. • Nominalists deny that universals exist, claiming that they are not necessary to explain attribute agreement. http://newleft.tumblr.com M. Torres History of Western Philosophy. IES Campo San Alberto, Noia

12. Aquinas: Moderate realism Moderate Realism of Universals: Aquinas Nominalism: anti-realism Universals = Names Nominalism advocated by Roscellinus of Compiegne (12th century) and Occam (13th -14th C), universals are only names, voice beat, flatus vocis, we use tehm to describe sets of objects.  Exaggerated realism of William of Champeaux (12th century). Affirmed the substantial reality of universals, and argued that this was entirely true in every single individual.  Conceptualism of Peter Abelard(1079-1142),in open dispute with William of Champeaux says: universal is only a concept or idea of the human mind.  • The moderate realism of Thomas Aquinas, according to which universals have a real extra-mental foundation, because it corresponds to the essence or underlying reality of things, but you can only access them through a mental process or abstraction  • Universals have somehow a tripe reality: eal: • Real before reality: Ante rem • Real inside each individual substance: In rem • Real inside human mind: Post rem • Check out this web page in Spanish: http://ficus.pntic.mec.es/~igop0009/filosofia2/cuadro6.1.htm#3 M. Torres History of Western Philosophy. IES Campo San Alberto, Noia

13. Tomas of Aquinas. Summa Theologica. Christian Aristotle Five paths to demonstrate god existence: empirical theology. Faith and Reason: perfect complementary, with the Bible as natural guide. M. Torres History of Western Philosophy. IES Campo San Alberto, Noia