The Middle Ages

1
The Middle Ages
2
Key Developments

• Return of ancient knowledge via Spain and Sicily
• Eastern Technological Innovations
• Independent Inventions in Europe
• Theology and the Unique Nature of Western
  Monotheism

3
Return of ancient knowledge via Spain and Sicily.

• Almagest of Ptolemy, 1100 via Spain.
• Gerard of Cremona (1114-1187). Seventy
  translations including Avicenna's medical
  encyclopedia.
• Arabic (actually Hindu) numerals.
• Astrolabe appeared in Moslem world ca. 800,
  Europe 1200.
• Six translations of Euclid by 1200.

4
Eastern Technological Innovations

• Paper from China to Europe by 1200.
• Trebuchet (counterweight catapult) from China ca.
  1100.
• Compass appears in Europe ca. 1200.
• Windmills from near East ca. 1100.
• Gunpowder via Mongols ca. 1240.
• Possibly the concept of clock escapement
  mechanisms.

5
Independent Inventions in Europe

• Mechanical clocks, 1300s.
• Linen
• Windmills
• Full exploitation of water power

6
Why Did Clocks Appear in Europe?

• In a world that never changes, time doesnt
  matter
• If time doesnt belong to you, there is no point
  in tracking it
• Autonomous people have agendas - places to go,
  people to see, things to do
• Clocks intimately connected to Western concepts
  of individuality

7
What is the Role of Religion in History?
8
What Role Did Religion Play In

• The U.S. Civil Rights movement?
• The Collapse of Communism?
• Ethnic Cleansing in the Balkans?

9
The Major Misconception About Religion

• No Major Religion considers its doctrines beliefs
• Every Major Religion considers its doctrines to
  be objective facts
• To a Christian fundamentalist, the Deluge is a
  documented historical fact
• No Muslim considers it a matter of opinion
  whether Mohammed received messages from God

10
What Religion Can and Cannot Do

• Individuals vary in commitment and priorities
• Religion can motivate people to high ideals
• Religion can serve to rationalize other motives
• Religion can provide a template for organizing
  thought
• Religion can serve as a symbol of group identity
• Religion has little power to erase
  deeply-ingrained cultural traits
• Religion has no power over biology
• Can make people feel guilty about sex
• Cannot stop people from having sex

11
The Unique Nature of Western Monotheism

• Judaeo-Christian god is the creator of the
  Universe, but still active in it
• Judaeo-Christian god is transcendent unlimited
  in scope or powers.

12
Active Creator

• Greco-Roman mythology Zeus (Jupiter) is the
  chief of the gods
• Zeus father is Cronos (Saturn)
• Cronos father was Uranus (Heaven), his mother
  Gaia (Earth)
• The Classical creator gods are not active
• The Judaeo-Christian god is creator, but also
  still active

13
Judgment of Paris, Rubens, 1632-35
14
Transcendent

• Classical gods are limited
• Can be deceived, tricked or caught unaware
• Can be bargained with
• Morally flawed (in no position to make moral
  demands)
• Judaeo-Christian god is unlimited
• Cannot be deceived, tricked or surprised
• Does not bargain
• Is morally perfect

15
Consequences of Western Monotheism

• Nature is not micromanaged by supernatural
  forces.
• There exist laws that are absolute and invariable
  
• There is one correct theology (philosophy,
  ideology, way to do things, etc.) Western culture
  tends to see things in black and white

16
Opposition to Magic

• From the work of the Swiss psychologist Jean
  Piaget, we know that human beings have a
  fundamentally egocentric conception of the world.
  Growing up in modern society means learning to
  accept the existence of an external world
  separate from oneself. It is hard. Most of
  humankind, for most of its history, never learned
  to distinguish the internal world of thoughts and
  feelings with the external world of objects and
  events. ... Cutting this connection, which is
  necessary before science can develop, goes
  against the grain of human nature.
• Alan Cromer in Uncommon sense the heretical
  nature of science (1993)

17
Bad Programming

• I Cry, Mom Feeds Me
• What really happens Cry triggers Moms nurturing
  instinct
• What gets programmed I want something and the
  universe supplies what I want
• We have a word for this Magic

18
The Magical Mind

• Religion asks How can I conform to God?
• Science asks How can I conform to the way the
  world works?
• Magic asks How can I get God and the world to
  conform to me?

19
Why Magic?

• Offers Hope Never Need to Take No for an Answer
• Its Easy
• Feeds Fantasies of Omnipotence
• Feeds Fantasies of Being in the Know

20
21st Century Magic

• Conspiracies
• The Magic Money Pot
• Free Stuff
• Because I deserve it
• Magical Religion
• Propitiation
• Consolation
• Permission
• Evidence Manipulation

21
The Fall

• The Fall Adam and Eve expelled from Eden for
  disobedience
• Good and evil are not equal forces. Evil is an
  aberration
• Evil can be combated and overcome
• Dark side of the force Evil has no legitimate
  place in the universe, therefore has no rights

22
Time and the Fall

• In many cultures there is no real concept of the
  future
• In some societies, time is cyclic
• In Judaeo-Christianity, the Fall is to be
  remedied by a Messiah
• Time has directionality and a very strong future
  orientation
• Probably at the root of many of our beliefs about
  progress

23
Rediscovery of Roman Law

• Justinian (c. 540) codifies Roman Law
• Gratian 1140 organizes canon law
• Bracton 1250 organizes English law
• God as Ruler (Basis of laws)
• De-Animization of nature
• Discovery of law as a form of logic
• Natural Law (Francis Bacon, 1260)

24
Pierre Abelard, Sic et Non, 1130

• Use systematic doubt and question everything
• Learn the difference between statements of
  rational proof and those merely of persuasion
• Be precise in use of words, and expect precision
  of others
• Watch for error, even in Holy Scripture

25
A Substantive Argument

• (Statement)
• Is
• (True/False)
• Because
• (Facts or Logical Propositions)

26
Abelard For Today

• No package deals
• Adjectives, Labels and Emotional Responses are
  not Substantive Arguments
• Labels may not be accurate or relevant
• Wishing doesnt make it so
• Conflicting with an ideology doesnt make it false

27
When New Collides With Old

• You can reject the new ideas. This is the choice
  the Islamic world eventually made.
• You can embrace the new and abandon the old. In
  extreme cases, culture shock can result.
• You can meld the two without regard for logical
  consistency syncretism or compartmentalization
• You can seek a consistent synthesis.

28
Syntheses in Western History

• Hellenistic Greek and indigenous cultures
• Greek ideas and Roman culture
• Judaism and Greek culture in early Christianity
• Augustines fusion of Platonism and Christianity
• Irish melding of Celtic culture, Christianity and
  European learning
• Fusion of languages to create English