Medieval Times I: Empires, Religions, Translations, and ...



Medieval Times I

From Empires to Universities

( Question: What accounts for the success of natural philosophy in Western Europe, especially after the 12th century?

( The cast of characters:

- Some Saints: St. Augustine (converted to Christianity, 354-430), St. Thomas Aquinas (1225-74)

- Some Spanish Arabs: Al-Ghazali (1058-1111), Avempace (died 1138), Averroes (1128-1198)

- Medieval Scholars: Jean Buridan (University of Paris, ca. 1300 – ca. 1359), Nicole Oresme (U of Paris, 1320-1382), Albert of Saxony (1316-1390).

* The Roman Empire *

( 6th century BC – 27 BC: founded as a Republic, and built an Empire via military conquest.

E.g.: Took over Athens by 3rd century BC.

E.g.: Appian Way by 300 BC

E.g.: Sacked Carthage in 146 BC

( Began to suffer internal strife . . .

E.g.: Spartacus slave rebellion, 80-71 BC

E.g.: How to control victorious generals?

( 27 BC: solution in Emperor Augustus (Republic to Monarchy)

( New stability = better taxation of provinces

( 212: franchise extended to all free men = more taxation!

( Emperor Diocletian (284-305): splits Empire (4 regional capitals)

( East (Greek), West (Latin)

( Eastern Emperors: From Constantine’s foundation of

Constantinople (330 AD = Byzantium Empire) to the fall of the city to the Turks in 1453 (renamed Istanbul)

( Theocratic State; Greek classical education complete

( Western Emperors: none after Romulus Augustulus deposed (476), just Germanic ‘Consuls’, until Charlemagne crowned ‘Emperor of the Romans’ by Pope Leo III (800, ‘Holy Roman Empire’))

( Brief re-unification: Emperor Theodosius (in 392 Christianity made the sole religion), until 395 (final split)

( Unitarian v. Trinitarian debates & political use of Christianity

* Christianity, a slow growth: 45 AD – 392 AD *

( Rome conquers Jerusalem, 63 BC

( Christianity as a break-away cult from Judaism

( Jesus: Jewish prophet proclaiming God would return to reward and punish

( Strict rules v. free spirit

( “The last shall be first” challenged both the temporal rule of

Jewish leaders and Roman flow of taxes

( St Paul reshapes infant Christian church (45 AD…)

( Christianity as one among a number of religious ‘cults’ replacing Homeric and Roman cults

( World as evil; world will pass away; sinful humans must turn

from the world; redeemer God as salvation

( Judaism v. Christianity

( Rome extends religious toleration, which is not returned

( The “one God or many” issue

( Ease of converting to Christianity

( Less restrictions on food, embraced all peoples,

numerous and competing versions until 150 AD (parables and reading aloud); no lengthy study required, just repent

( Constantinople’s 313 Edict of Milan (toleration)

( Theodosius makes Christianity the sole religion in 392

* Christianity and Pagan Learning *

( Pagan philosophy (Greek) v. “sublime philosophy” (Christian)

Shares in the imperfection of its subject matter (Plato)

“Handmaiden to Theology”

Use/Abuse approach

St. Augustine, De doctrina Christiana (pagan philosophy

assists scriptural exegesis; helps avoid ignorance)

( Jesus: “Render therefore unto Caesar the things which are Caesar’s;

and unto God the things that are God’s” (Matthew 22:21)

“Separation of Church and State”

( Accommodation of Greek philosophy and secular rule

|Slow dissemination of Christianity | |Lack of political power | |Incorporation of pagan learning |

| |+ | |= | |

*** Islam, a rapid growth: 622 AD – 712 AD … ***

( Mecca as birthplace of Islam

( Mohammed, 570-632

( Criticised pagans who came to Mecca to kiss the black stone

( Made enemies by threatening trade and ‘tourism’

( Koran speaks of one omnipotent God, of Mohammed as a

messenger & prophet. Holy day as Friday. No church or priest

needed. Islam means ‘surrender’ (to Allah)

( Rapid conquest ( Syria, Spain and Africa in 100 years

*** Islam and Pagan Learning ***

( Two traditions of learning (Kalam = study God’s works):

1. Islamic: based on the Koran and Islamic law

a. Theologian

b. Opposed to secondary causation; continuous re-creation

c. Knowledge in the service of a communal ethic

2. Foreign: pre-Islamic, appropriating Greek writings

a. Philosopher (falasifa) = an outcast

b. Believers in secondary causation

c. Philosophy = pursuit of knowledge for its own sake

d. Taught in private, not in Schools; Royal patronage

( A difference in social function of pagan learning

( Pagan learning not institutionalized

( Pagan learning directed toward the needs of Islam

|Al-Ghazali |Averroes |

|Studying nature is dangerous |A good Muslim studies nature |

|Nature subject to God, it cannot act of its own essence. God |Divine creation already complete and perfect = Secondary |

|intervenes directly. |causation |

|False beliefs: eternity of world; God knows universals not |Problems: God infleunced by prayer?; if God monitors creation, |

|particulars; bodies cannot be resurrected. |then God made errors first time around? |

|Believing falsities = blasphemies of ‘prophets made errors’ & |Conflicting accounts of God’s capacities = higher interpretative |

|‘the prophets misrepresented things to appeal to the masses’ |principles needed (philosophy) |

|Double Truth can’t win converts |Double Truth required |

* Charlemagne and the Age of Translations *

( 800: Charlemagne (768-814) made “Emperor of the Romans” by Pope Leo III

( “No Charlemagne without Mohammed”

( Cathedral Schools to teach liberal arts

( Did Athens conquer Rome?

( Latin in the West, Greek in the East, but Greek = language of

learning

( The 7 liberal arts

( The Trivium: grammar, rhetoric, logic (dialectic)

( The Quadrivium: arithmetic, geometry, astronomy, music

( The Age of Translations: 12th – 13th centuries

( 11th century: Muslims defeated in Spain and elsewhere (Toledo falls 1085, Sicily in 1091). Vikings repelled by 10th century.

(Greco-Arabic work transmitted to the Latin West via translations: 1125 – 1200, especially 1140-1160 in Spain.

E.g.: Ptolemy, Euclid, Galen, Plato, Aristotle, Commentaries

( As a source, Greek was preferred to Arabic

*** The Universities ***

( Greater stability in Europe = assistance to universities

( Feudal lords and governments; 3-field crop rotations; increasing population, immigration and new towns; commercial and manufacturing economies; cities as political forces.

( Commercial life creates competition and protective ‘guilds’

← Guilds = universitas (totality, whole) = rightful practitioners of

the craft or trade

( Master-Students with no rights in cities leads to association, modeled

on guilds = universitas as monopoly & political power

( By 1200: Bologna, Paris, Oxford. About 70 more by 1500.

( Curriculum ( BA/MA = liberal arts, followed by Medicine, Law or

Theology (the “Queen of the Sciences”)

( Influx of translations highlights the “secondary causation” problem:

( Does God act as a direct and immediate cause, or can natural

objects act on each other directly?

( Can natural philosophy be independent of theology?

*** The emergence of the theologian-natural philosopher ***

( One needed the Liberal Arts before a higher degree, thus a new class was born

( Do they endorse a secular liberal arts curriculum?

( Could natural philosophy illuminate theology?

( What happened at Paris in 1272 and 1277?

*** Medieval Natural Philosophy in Context ***

( NP as detection, admiration and appreciation of God’s existence and goodness

( NP created by Christians as a weapon in religious battles

( The Threat: the Cathars (early 1100’s onwards…)

( Southern France. Cathari = (Greek Katheroi or ‘pure ones’)

( Missionaries from Bulgaria brought dualistic faith, or belief in

two Gods (good God that created soul, spirit, heaven and angels, but which was not omnipotent; and an evil God that created matter)

( Dignity of labour, equality of women, vegetarianism (animals could imprison the soul via sexual reproduction), euthanasia, reincarnation, all procreative sex is bad

( Elites (perfecti, parfaits and parfaites, Perfects – chastity, poverty, non-violence) v. Ordinary believers (Credentes)

( Catholics as worshiping the wrong God (creator of material world), not all scripture authoritative, Catholic priests as indulgent

( Many followers, and most well educated (familiar with Old Testmanent)

( Catholics accused Cathars of all kinds of sins

( Propaganda (from Congregatio de propaganda fide, est. in 1622

by Pope Gregory XV (1554-1623))

( Bulgres, became French Bougre, English Bugger

( 1209-43 Holy Crusade initiated by Pope Innocent III

( The Critical Problem: Cathars arguing that Nature was created by an autonomous principle that stood between God and his Creation? This principle as evil, and a rival to God in power?

( 12th century Translations provide ‘raw intellectual resources’

( The Solution: Dominican Order (1217), Franciscan Order (1219)

( St. Dominic (1170-1221), St. Francis (1182-1226)

( Dominicans made reference to ‘the nature of things’ (secondary, or internal, causation), drawing upon Aristotle, thus meeting the threat of an autonomous evil principle

( Final Cause, Natural Place, Essence = God’s will &

divine purpose

( God is good, thus Nature is good

( E.g.: St. Thomas Aquinas

( God’s Absolute power + God’s ordained power

( Internal powers need external assistance

( Franciscans made reference to ‘the properties of things’, drawing upon Plato, and suggested the study of mathematics, geometry and light (study of pure Form, beyond sensible objects) as a way to understand God’s operations in the world

( God is good, thus Nature is good

( E.g.: Roger Bacon

Conclusions: What accounts for the emergence of Natural Philosophy in the Christian West during the 13th century?

1. Institutionalization in educational contexts is crucial

2. The political incapacity to enforce doctrinal consensus allows epistemic advantages?

3. Translations provide a university curriculum

4. A class of scholars arise versed in natural philosophy and theology

5. Religious function and content

Talking Point: Does the emergence of studies of nature have its origin,

not in a separation of the study of nature from religion,

but in the incorporation of the study of nature into

religion?

Medieval Times II

Aristotle and the Christians

( Initial Context: 1260-70’s debates in Paris

( How compatible is Aristotelianism with Christianity?

( Does Aristotelianism (and Averroism) drift towards an acceptance of nature as independent of God?

( How is God related to the world and its physical operations?

( Franciscans and Dominicans battling for control of the

University curriculm

( Pope John Paul XXI orders investigation of unrest, after the debates: what if Aristotle conflicts with Church teachings?

( 1270: 13 articles condemned

( The 1277 Condemnation.

( Bishop Etienne Tempier, Paris (219 articles condemned)

( Intended to subvert philosophical necessitarianism and determinism of the Aristotle corpus, plus the Aristotelian idea of nature as autonomous (recall the Cathar threat)

( Re-affirm the absolute power of God.

( Did an explicit act of the Church (theology v. natural philosophy & a reaction against the view of nature as autonomous) encourage thought that would replace Church teachings?

( Case in point: the leading Averroist, Signer of Brabant (1235-1284), fled to northern Italy, and his followers would train the Italian Renaissance thinkers, like Galileo

1. Is the world eternal?

( Aristotle (yes) v. Christians (no ( faith and reason say God created the world in time and out of nothing (ex nihilo))

( Can rational demonstration decide the matter?

( 27 of 219 articles condemned the idea of an eternal world

2. Are there a Plurality of Worlds?

( In actuality, are there multiple worlds?

( Pre-1277: not much concern with plurality question

( Post-1277: Article 34 (offence to hold “that the first cause

could not make several worlds”) makes plurality acceptable

3. Do we live in an infinite cosmos?

( Article 49 meant the extra-cosmic void became a locale for

‘thought experiments’ (what is in God’s immensitas?)

( E.g.: Aristotle avoids an infinite regress by defining ‘place’ as

‘innermost motionless boundary of what contains’ (Empyrean

orb containing SFS) = absolute points of reference

( E.g.: Albert of Saxony obtains reference point by

positing a rotating Earth, and Earth as a geometric point

4. Does the Sun govern the motion of the planets?

( How does the sun ‘govern’ the planets, if they do not orbit it?

( The “angular distance” criterion

5. Does Aristotetelian cosmology & physics fit Ptolemaic astronomy?

( Agreement regarding contiguous, material spheres, but…

6. How and why are celestial objects moved?

7. Does the celestial region influence the terrestrial?

Medieval Impetus Theory

( Why does an object keep moving once it has lost its connection to its projector?

( Aristotle on Natural v. Violent Motion

( Natural: the actualization of a tendency toward a

natural place; preponderant element strives for its natural place

( Violent: element is moved in a direction opposite its natural tendency; moves proportionate to force upon it and inversely proportional to the resisting medium

( ‘Everything in motion is moved by something else’

1. Natural: intrinsic to the mobile

2. Violent: extrinsic principle of motion operating

through contact, and contrary to its natural inclination

( 1 + 2 = internal causation

( Aristotle: the ‘mutual replacement’ argument

( Impetus theory: object set in violent motion by efficient

agent, but an additional internal something – ‘impetus’ – is given to the projectile

( Aquinas: rejected impetus theory

( Internal causation is characteristic of natural motion,

not violent motion

( Buridan’s Impetus Theory

( Projector impresses an impetus (permanent),

maintaining motion until resistance met

( Impetus analogous to the resident powers placed in

objects by God

( Origin of theory: explanation of the sacraments

( Does the power to produce grace reside in the

sacraments themselves?

( ‘Impetus’ supports a particular view of how God acts in

the World, and re-affirms internal causation

-----------------------

Averroists

Yes, it’s eternal

Aquinas

Can’t be known

Augustinians

Yes, origin point in time

Aristotle

No, it is impossible. Problem of multiple centers

Christians

No. One world as stage for Christianity.

BUT: Principle of potentia Dei absoluta

Nicolas of Cusa (1440). Other worlds exist

Vorilong (1464). Other worlds exist; inhabitants experienced the Fall?

Oresme (1360). Co-equal world centers plausible, but not actual

Aristotle

No. Nothing beyond SFS

Christians

Yes. Infinite God-filled void space beyond SFS

Averroes

Nobility = SFS to Earth

Oresme

Sun as most noble (Plato) = Copernican inspiration?

Aristotle

- Concentric circles

- Common Centre

- No planetary distance variation

Ptolemy

- Epicycles and Eccentrics

- No common center

- Planets vary their distance

Aristotle

Prime Mover & Unmoved Movers, each made of body and soul (internal principles)

Christians

Only one God. Celestial bodies have no soul or internal power. Angels

Oresme

Angels + ‘corporeal quality’ in Orbs

Buridan

Angels, but possibly God’s initial impetus

Aristotle

Yes. Motion by contact. Aspiration and unrolling

Christians

Astrology (formal v. virtual); unrolling effects

Light: orbs as mediums of transmission

Influentia: magnets, metals, tides

“A wise man will dominate the stars”

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