Why Medieval Philosophy Matters

Description

Tackling the question of why medieval philosophy matters in the current age, Stephen Boulter issues a passionate and robust defence of this school in the history of ideas. He examines both familiar territory and neglected texts and thinkers whilst also asking the question of why, exactly, this matters or should matter to how we think now. Why Medieval Philosophy is also provides a introduction to medieval philosophy more generally exploring how this area of philosophy has been received, debated and, sometimes, dismissed in the history of philosophy. Title page Copyright page Contents Preface Introduction: Why philosophy matters Introduction Squaring up to the redundancy thesis What is a philosophical question? The human predicament and the social order Tensions in the social order of the West Medieval answers to modern questions Chapter 1 Scholasticism and common sense Introduction What counts as a common sense belief? The problem of universals Any solutions? The problem of change Aristotelian essentialism Chapter 2 Scholasticism and the sciences Introduction Medieval thought and the emergence of the modern sciences Do the sciences need metaphysics? The metaphysical background to the sciences The design of scientific experiments Conclusion Chapter 3 The meta-philosophy of scholasticism Introduction Who were the scholastics? Aristotle’s aporetic method Descartes on method Aristotle versus Descartes The condemnations of 1277 Chapter 4 Scholasticism on the various kinds of distinction Introduction How to resolve contradictions What philosophers used to know How does one ‘know’ if a real distinction obtains between A and B? Some modern cases Chapter 5 The scholastics and arguments for the existence of God Introduction Religion or metaphysics? What standards of evaluation should we employ? Two naturalisms The cosmological argument: Aquinas’s second way Scotus’s version of the ontological argument Chapter 6 Scholasticism and Western ‘disenchantment’ Introduction How did we get into this fine mess? A scholastic ethical theory A scholastic response to objections Notes Introduction Chapter one Chapter two Chapter three Chapter four Chapter five Chapter six Epilogue Some useful latin terms and phrases for philosophers Appendix 1 When were the Middle Ages? Bibliography Index