Scholasticism

Scholasticism, the philosophy of the Middle Ages, grew out of the endeavour to reconcile man's innate tendency to speculation with the demands made upon his faith by the Church. John Scotus Erigena (q.v.) may be regarded as in some respects a forerunner of the schoolmen; but he cannot properly be reckoned among them, as his works have only an indirect bearing on the problems with which they were chiefly occupied. The great discussion which throughout the Middle Ages divided the schoolmen into two hostile camps was that concerning the real existence of the entities corresponding to abstract names, The Realists held that all genra and species exist as intelligible forms apart from their manifestation in this or that individual, whereas the Nominalists believed the sole source of general notions to be abstraction from particulars. The dispute was in great measure due to a confusion between names and things, which could not have persisted so long if men's minds had not been cramped by the exclusive study of the Aristotelian logic, whilst at the same time the authority of the Church prevented them from taking a free view of the universe and their own natures. The Renaissance and the Reformation were at once the symptoms and the causes of a new order of convictions; men now felt that the capabilities of the mind transcended the limits imposed upon it by tradition. They were seized with an eager desire to probe the secrets of Nature, and, wherever these ideas prevailed, the whole fabric of Scholasticism speedily crumbled away. Roscellinus (b. circa 1050) is held to be the founder of Nominalism, whilst Anselm (1033-1109) was the first who came forward to defend the Realism implicitly involved in the doctrines of the Church, Abelard (q.v.), the disciple of Rosce11inus, carried his speculations much further than his master, thereby earning for himself many bitter years of persecution. The attempt to reconcile the discrepancies between the Fathers, which had been too clearly pointed out by Anselm, was undertaken with but imperfect success by his pupil Peter Lombard (q.v.). Early in the 13th century the metaphysical and ethical writings of Aristotle became known to the western world through the Arabian philosophers Avicenna and Averrhoes, and from that time the discussions of the schoolmen were carried forward on a wider basis. Albertus Magnus (q.v.) was the first who undertook the perilous task of reconciling the teaching of Aristotle with the doctrines of the Church. He was followed by Thomas Aquinas (q.v.), author of the famous Summa Tlwoloqiea, in which he endeavoured to show that faith and reason may be regarded as independent sources of knowledge in their respective spheres. He was opposed by Duns Scotus (q.v.), who holds the same place among the Franciscan doctors which belongs to Aquinas among the Dominicans. The dispute between the two gave rise to the rival schools of Thomists and Scotists. Roger Bacon (1214-94) belonged to the Franciscan order, but he was far in advance of his age, and seems to have actually made use of inductive methods. The last of the great schoolmen was William of Ockham (circa 1270-1349), a. pupil of Duns Scotus, who carried Nominalism to its logical result, and thus undermined the whole scholastic system.