Medieval Philosophy

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Medieval Philosophy

• A Preview

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Philosophy and Monotheism

• From the Hellenistic Period forward, Monotheistic
  Faith and Greek Philosophy engage in a complex
  interchange.
• Athens and Jerusalem
• Pagan thought evolves into monotheism.
• Monotheistic faith takes on the charge of
  reasoning out the truth.
• Christianity in particular comes about in the
  collision of monotheistic faith and Greek
  thought.

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Medieval Philosophy

• Consolidates the dialectic of Greek and Jew.
• Reasons out a philosophy in which faith is a
  constitutive element.
• A tension between faith and reason ensues what
  is the precise relationship between the two? How
  is one to live a life of faith, not betraying it
  but rather enriching it with Greek reason

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An Aporia between Faith and Reason?

• Is there a faith that is required for which no
  justification can be given?
• Is there an obedience we must pledge before we
  can know its meaning?
• Or
• Must all that we believe ultimately be justified
  in reason?

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Types of Faith

• EmmunahA confidence in ones undeniable
  commitment to a living G-d.
• PistisA certainty about particular truths,
  doctrinal assertions about the nature of G-d and
  the created world.
• ShariaA mode of living that is social in nature
  and expresses all aspects of ones submission to
  G-d.

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Jew, Christian, Muslim

• OrthopraxyJewish faith emphasizes a code of
  conduct, of practices in regard to ones fellow
  humans and G-d.
• OrthodoxyChristian faith emphasizes a code of
  belief, of doctrines in regard to ones soul and
  ones G-d.
• OrthosocialityIslamic faith flourishes as a mode
  of living, of law arrived at through social
  intercourse infused with the inspiration of Allah.

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Course Organization I

• Study of Religious Roots to Medieval
  ThoughtMoses and Jesus
• Late Ancient ThoughtThe pagan monotheism of
  Plotinus
• Biblical Hermeneuticshow does the bible become a
  text about which one can reason? Philo, the
  Rabbis, Paul, Justin Martyr.

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Course Organization II

• Contemporary Philosophical application of
  Biblical Hermeneutics by Emmanuel Levinas.
• AugustineTransitional figure between
  Neo-Platonism and Christian Philosophy
  Reformulating pagan questions in Christian terms.
• Early Christian Systematic Thinkersthe emergence
  of the problem of substantiality.

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Course Organization III

• Aristotles impact on Arabic Philosophythe
  rethinking of the souls substantiality.
• Maimonides response to Aristotlethe
  substantiality of G-d as transcending all earthly
  terms.
• Prophetic Imagination in Arabic and Jewish
  Philosophy

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Course Organization IV

• Aquinas on the substantiality of the human soul
  and analogical knowledge of G-d.
• Meister Eckhardt and Martin Heidegger.
  Rethinking the significance of G-ds
  transcendence. Releasement,

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Important Dates

• Alexandrine Conquest 335-323 BCE
• Birth of Philo 20 BCE
• Birth of Jesus 0 CE
• Fall of the Second Temple 70 CE
• Rabbinical Mishnah Written 70 CE-c. 200 CE
• Birth of Justin Martyr100 CE
• Talmud Written c. 200 CE-c. 500 CE
• Birth of Plotinus205 CE

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Important Dates

• Conversion of the Emperor Constatine-312 CE
• Birth of Augustine354 CE
• Sacks of Rome 387, 410, 455, 546 CE
• Birth of Mohammed 570 CE
• Loss of the Arab World to Christianity632-750 CE
• Andalusian Caliphate 711-1492 CE
• Battle of Tours 732 CE
• Aristotle introduced to Islamic World c. 800 CE
• Birth of Avicenna 980 CE
• Birth of Maimonides 1138 CE
• Birth of Aquinas 1225 CE
• Birth of Eckhardt 1260 CE