3 Introduction To Medieval Philosophy

 TheMiddle Ages cover about
1000 years from about 500

A.D to 1500 A.D. However, the
change from ancient ways to
medieval customs came so
gradually.
 Some historians say that the
Middle Ages began in 476 A.D
when the Barbarian Odoacer
overthrew Emperador
Augustulus ending the
Western Roman Empire.
 Barbarian Odoacer - also known
as Flavius Odovacer or Odovacar,
was a barbarian statesman of
uncertain ethnic origin who in 476
A.D. became the first King of Italy.
His reign is commonly seen as
marking the end of the Western
Roman Empire.
 German Barbarians pillaged (spoil) the
declining Western Roman Empire. The
invaders however, lacked the knowledge
and skills to carry on Roman
Achievements in art, literature and
engineering – MEDIEVAL PERIOD
 MEDIEVAL PERIOD is sometimes
referred to as the Dark Ages (Solomon
and Higgins, 1996)
 From the Barbarians’ idea of personal
rights grew their respect for women,
“their government by the people” and
their crude but representative law
courts, kings and chiefs were elected
by tribal councils (which serve as
court of laws).
 In the reign of Clovis, Christianity began to lift
Europe from the Dark Ages.
 Many Barbarians had become Christians

though hold the Arian belief.
 ARIAN BELIEF – a doctrine that holds the

conviction that Son of God is finite and
created by the God the Father.
 Christianity influence widened
when the great Charlemagne
became King of Franks who
founded school in monasteries
and churches for both the poor
and nobility.
 The way of life in the Middle Ages is called
“FEUDALISM” which comes from Medieval
Latin “FEUDUM”, meaning property or
possession.
 PEASANTS – farmers or village laborers

 Peasants
A peasant is a pre-industrial
agricultural laborer or farmer,
especially one living in the Middle Ages
under feudalism and paying rent, tax,
fees, or services to a landlord.
 Feudalism was a combination of legal
and military customs in medieval Europe
that flourished between the 9th and 15th
centuries. Broadly defined, it was a way of
structuring society around relationships
derived from the holding of land in
exchange for service or labour.
 All peasants (men and women and children
worked to support their Lord).
 They also have to pay taxes to the Lord in
money or produce.
 They have to give a tithe to the church.
 Famines were frequent.
 Plagues cut down the livestock.
 Floods, frost, droughts destroyed the crops.
 Still,others say 500 A.D or
even later. Historians say that
Middle Ages ended with the
fall of Constantinople in 1453,
with the discovery of America
in 1942.
 Constantinople - Constantinople was
the capital city of the Roman/Byzantine
Empire, and also of the brief Crusader
state known as the Latin Empire, until
finally falling to the Ottoman Empire.
By the 14th century, the acceptance of
Christianity by the Roman Empire as
its religion, signaled a new kind of art
like;
 Painting
 Music
 And Philosophy turned for inspiration
to the church
 Art was austere, symbolic and other
wordly from about 8th to 12th
centuries, the middle period of the
Middle Ages.
 Religious in subject matter, sculpture
was closely related to church
architecture.
 Dance of Death
Was a popular allegorical theme among
European artist in the 14th and 15th centuries
due to the wars in medieval society.
Hartmann Schedel taken from the Nuremberg
Chronicle (1493) portrays the skeleton
thought to entice the living into a dance that
eventually brought them to their death.
 Reformation
The Protestant Reformation was a major
16th century European movement aimed
initially at reforming the beliefs and practices of
the Roman Catholic Church.
Its religious aspects were supplemented
by ambitious political rulers who wanted to
extend their power and control at the expense
of the Church. The Reformation was a schism
in Western Christianity initiated by Martin
Luther.
 Growth of Commerce and
Towns.
 With the growth of commerce and towns,
feudalism as a system of government
began to pass. As changes in business
government and social customs steadily
shaped a new life in Europe
 Renaissance- a revival of classical
learning.
 Amid the turmoil of the Middle Ages, one
institution stood for the common good.
 Roman Catholic Church
 By the 13th century, the church was the
strongest single influence in Europe.
 Everyone except Arabs, Jews and the
people in Byzantine Empire belonged to
the church and felt its authority.
In this section, new body of philosophical
writings that set of forth new problems is
discussed.
 In the 5th century, Augustine’s writing
is considered the most influential in the
early medieval period.
 In Aquinas, new material is made
fundamental and the old assimilated to it.
This chapter looks at reasonableness of
belief in God’s existence.
 In doing so, we shall treat the statement
‘God exists’ as a hypothesis.
 This is called theistic hypothesis.
Theistic hypothesis- means we shall

ask whether or not the existence of provides
the best explanation of the existence of the
world, as we know it.
 To treat the existence of God as
hypothesis is related from the point of
view of agnosticism.
Agnosticism- a claim of ignorance or the

claim that God’s existence can be neither
proved nor disproved.
 Religious people definitely do not treat
God’s existence as a hypothesis, for God
is a constant presence for them.
 In neither Jewish nor Christian Bibles is
there any argument for God’s existence.
For the biblical writers, proving God’s
existence would be pointless as trying to
prove the existence of the air we
breathe.
 The religious problem reflected in the Old
Testament narratives is not atheism but
polytheism.
 Polytheism is not the denial of God

but to worship of too many Gods.

3 Introduction To Medieval Philosophy

Uploaded by

Copyright:

Available Formats

3 Introduction To Medieval Philosophy

Uploaded by

Document Information

Original Title

Copyright

Available Formats

Share this document

Share or Embed Document

Sharing Options

Did you find this document useful?

Is this content inappropriate?

Copyright:

Available Formats

3 Introduction To Medieval Philosophy

Uploaded by

Copyright:

Available Formats

 TheMiddle Ages cover about

1000 years from about 500

 Many Barbarians had become Christians

 ARIAN BELIEF – a doctrine that holds the

 PEASANTS – farmers or village laborers

Theistic hypothesis- means we shall

Agnosticism- a claim of ignorance or the

 Polytheism is not the denial of God

You might also like