Philosophy in the Middle Ages. Stages of development of medieval philosophy

A feature of medieval philosophy is its close connection with theology (the doctrine of God), the pronounced religious nature of its problems and methods for solving them. The defining features of medieval philosophy are monotheism, theocentrism, creationism, providentialism and eschatologism.

In monotheism, God is understood not just as one, but as radically different from everything else, transcendent to the world (i.e., going beyond its limits, as if lying outside the world)
Creationism means the perception of the world as created by God, and created from nothing
Providentialism is the continuous implementation in history of the divine plan for the salvation of the world and man
Eschatologism - the doctrine of the end historical process, predetermined already at its very beginning

The Christian worldview is deeply anthropological. Man occupies a special place in the world as the image of God, and throughout his life he is called to become like him in sinlessness, holiness and love.

In the development of medieval philosophy, two main stages are usually distinguished: patristics And scholasticism. Patristics (from Latin patris - father) is the period of activity of the “Church Fathers” (II-VIII centuries), who laid the foundations of Christian theology and dogmatics. Scholasticism (from Latin scholastica - learned conversation, school) is a period of searching for rational ways in the knowledge of God and developing current philosophical problems within the framework of nominalism and realism (VII-XIV centuries).

The problem of the relationship between faith and reason

The main problem of medieval thought was the problem of the relationship between faith and reason. It can be formulated as a question about the ways of knowledge: must we have faith in order to know the world and the Creator with the help of reason? Or is it precisely the rational exploration of the world that leads us to faith?

The formulation of the problem is associated with the name of Clement of Alexandria. With all the diversity of views, it seems possible to identify several main approaches, shared to varying degrees by various thinkers:

1) Faith is self-sufficient and does not need justification (Tertullian)
2) Faith and reason complement each other; There is a fundamental agreement between natural and revealed knowledge, but if we do not believe, we will not understand (Clement of Alexandria, Augustine)
3) Faith and reason have their own truths (the theory of dual truth); the truths of science are higher than the truths of religion, but since few can understand the truths of science, then for everyone else, religious ideas have the right to exist, and they should not be publicly refuted (William of Ockham). In addition, Thomas Aquinas believed that the methods of knowledge in philosophy and theology are different

The problem of universals in medieval philosophy

Another important problem of scholasticism was the problem of universals, i.e. general concepts (from the Latin universalis - general). Do they have an independent existence or are they just names to designate individual things? In other words, in this dispute an attempt was made to clarify the ontological status of objects of general concepts.

The dispute about universals dates back to the dispute between Plato and Aristotle, and occurred mainly in the X-XIV centuries. This problem was related to the dogma of the Holy Trinity. If God is one in three persons, then does he really exist and in what form?

The first scholastics found it in the introduction of one of the greatest Neoplatonists, Porphyry, translated by Boethius. Here famous philosopher pointed out three difficult questions that he himself refuses to solve:

1. Do genera and species exist in reality or only in thought?
2. if we assume that they really exist, are they corporeal or incorporeal?
3. and do they exist separately from sensible things or in the things themselves?

There were three directions in the dispute: nominalism, realism and conceptualism.

Nominalism

Nominalism (from the Latin nomen - name) saw in general concepts only a “manner of speech,” names that are applied not to a class of things “as a whole,” but separately to each individual thing from any aggregate; in this sense, this or that class of things is nothing more than a mental image, an abstraction. Nominalists taught that in reality only individual things exist, and genera and species are nothing more than subjective generalizations of similar things, made through equal concepts and identical words. In this sense, horse is nothing more than a general name applied to both the Arabian horse and the Akhal-Teke horse.

Realism

In contrast, realism believed that universals exist really and independently of consciousness. Extreme realism attributed real existence to general concepts, independent, separate and prior to things. Moderate realism adhered to the Aristotelian view and argued that the general, although it has real existence, is contained in individual things. (The realistic point of view was more suitable to Christian dogma, and therefore was often welcomed Catholic Church).

Conceptualism

Conceptualism (from the Latin conceptus - thought, concept) interpreted universals as generalizations based on the similarity of objects. In this sense, it was something between realism and nominalism. Thus, according to Thomas Aquinas, universals exist before created nature in the divine mind as “thoughts” of God and prototypes of individual things; they also exist in individual things as their real similarity or their identity with the prototype; finally, universals exist after individual things in the mind of the knower as a result of the abstraction of similar properties in the form of concepts.

The representative of nominalism is William of Ockham; extreme realism - Anselm of Canterbury; moderate realism is represented by Thomas Aquinas; conceptualism ¬– Peter Abelard.

Until the 14th century. Realism dominated, and since the beginning of the century the preponderance has shifted to the side of nominalism. It was precisely in the dispute over universals in the 14th century that the disintegration of scholasticism manifested itself.

Thus, Medieval thought constitutes one of the important stages in the development of philosophy, where many of the issues that are still relevant today were raised.

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Medieval philosophy – the most important thing briefly. This is another topic from a series of articles on philosophy in summary.

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Medieval philosophy - the most important thing briefly

The Middle Ages is a period of European history lasting almost a millennium. Begins in the 5th century (the collapse of the Roman Empire), includes the era of feudalism and ends at the beginning of the 15th century with the advent of the Renaissance.

Medieval philosophy - main features

The philosophy of the Middle Ages is characterized by the idea of uniting all people of different classes, professions, nationalities with the help Christian faith

Philosophers of the Middle Ages said that all people, having been baptized, will gain in the future life those benefits that they are deprived of in this life. The idea of the immortality of the soul equalized everyone: the beggar and the king, the artisan and the publican, the woman and the man.

The philosophy of the Middle Ages, in a nutshell, is a Christian worldview introduced into the consciousness of the public, often in a light favorable to the feudal lords.

The main problems of medieval philosophy

The main problems considered by medieval philosophers were the following:

Attitude to nature. In the Middle Ages, a new perception of nature was formed, different from the ancient one. Nature, as a subject of Divine creation, was no longer considered an independent subject for study, as was customary in antiquity. Man was placed above nature, called the ruler and King of nature. This attitude towards nature contributed little to its scientific study.

Man is the likeness of God, the image of God. Man was viewed in two ways, on the one hand, as the likeness and image of God, on the other, like ancient Greek philosophers- as a “reasonable animal”. The question was, what nature is more in a person? The philosophers of antiquity also highly extolled man, but now he, as the likeness of God, completely goes beyond the boundaries of nature and stands above it.

The problem of soul and body. Jesus Christ is God who became incarnate in man and atoned for all the sins of mankind on the cross for its salvation. The idea of uniting the divine and the human was completely new, both from the point of view of pagan philosophy Ancient Greece, as well as the positions of Judaism and Islam.

The problem of self-awareness. God gave man free will. If in the philosophy of antiquity reason was in the first place, then in the philosophy of the Middle Ages the will is brought to the fore. Augustine said that all people are wills. They know good, but the will does not obey them and they do evil. The philosophy of the Middle Ages taught that man cannot overcome evil without the help of God.

History and memory. The sacredness of the history of existence. The early Middle Ages saw a keen interest in history. Although in antiquity the history of existence was more associated with space and nature than with the history of humanity itself.

Universals- these are general concepts (for example, Living being), rather than specific items. The problem of universals arose in the time of Plato. The question was: Do universals (general concepts) really exist on their own or are they manifested only in specific things? The question of universals gave rise to directions in medieval philosophy realism, nominalism And conceptualism.

The main task of medieval philosophers was God-seeking

The philosophy of the Middle Ages is, first of all, the search for God and confirmation that God exists. Medieval philosophers rejected the atomism of ancient philosophers and the consubstantiality of God in the interpretation of Aristotle. Platonism was accepted in the aspect of the trinity of God.

3 stages of medieval philosophy

Conventionally, there are 3 stages of medieval philosophy; their essence is briefly as follows.

1st stage Apologetics- a statement about the trinity of God, proof of His existence, a revision of early Christian symbols and rituals of service to new conditions.
2nd stage Patristics- establishment of Catholic supremacy christian church in all spheres of life of European countries.
3rd stage of Scholasticism- rethinking the dogmas legitimized in previous periods.

What is apologetics in philosophy?

The main representatives of apologetics - the 1st stage in the philosophy of the Middle Ages - Clement of Alexandria and Quintus Septimius Florent Tertullian.

Apologetics in philosophy, briefly, is the main section of theology, in which the truth of the existence of God and the main provisions of the Christian faith is proven using rational means.

Is this patristics in philosophy?

During the 2nd stage of medieval philosophy, there was no longer a need to prove the existence of God. The stage of spreading the Christian faith began.

Patristics (from the Greek " pater" — father) in philosophy briefly - this is the theology and philosophy of the Church Fathers who continued the work of the Apostles. John Chrysostom, Basil the Great, Gregory of Nyssa and others developed the doctrine that formed the basis of the Christian worldview.

Is this scholasticism in philosophy?

The 3rd stage of medieval philosophy is scholasticism. During the time of Scholasticism, schools and universities with a theological orientation appeared and philosophy began to turn into theology.

Scholasticism(from the Greek "school") in philosophy is medieval European philosophy, which was a synthesis of the philosophy of Aristotle and Christian theology. Scholasticism combines theology with a rationalistic approach to the questions and problems of philosophy.

Christian thinkers and philosophical quests

The outstanding thinkers of the 1st stage of medieval philosophy include apologetics Tatiana and Origen. Tatian collected the four Gospels into one (Mark, Matthew, Luke, John). They came to be called the New Testament. Origen became the author of a branch of philology, which was based on biblical stories. He introduced the concept of the God-man.

An outstanding thinker during the patristic period was Boethius. He generalized the philosophy of the Middle Ages for teaching at universities. Universals are the brainchild of Boethius. He divided 7 areas of knowledge into 2 types of disciplines - the humanities (grammar, dialectics, rhetoric) and natural science (arithmetic, geometry, astronomy, music). He translated and interpreted the main works of Euclid, Aristotle and Nicomachus.

To the outstanding thinkers of scholasticism include the monk Thomas Aquinas. He systematized the postulates of the church, indicated 5 indestructible proofs of the existence of God. He combined the philosophical ideas of Aristotle with Christian teaching. He proved that there is always a sequence of completion of reason by faith, nature by grace, philosophy by revelation.

Philosophers of the Catholic Church

Many medieval philosophers were canonized by the Catholic Church. This Blessed Augustine, Irenaeus of Lyons, Clement of Alexandria, Albert the Great, John Chrysostom, Thomas Aquinas, Maximus the Confessor, John of Damascus, Gregory of Nyssa, Dionysius the Areopagite, Basil the Great, Boethius, canonized as Saint Severinus and others.

Crusades - causes and consequences

You can often hear the question, why were the Crusades so cruel during the Middle Ages, if the reason for their organization was the preaching of faith in God? But God is love. This question often confuses both believers and non-believers.

If you are also interested in receiving a deep and confirmed historical facts The answer to this question is watch this video. The answer is given by the famous missionary, theologian, doctor of historical sciences Andrei Kuraev:

Books on the philosophy of the Middle Ages

Anthology of philosophy of the Middle Ages and the Renaissance. Perevezentsev Sergey.
Richard Southern. Scholastic humanism and the unification of Europe.
D. Reale, D. Antiseri. Western philosophy from its origins to the present day: the Middle Ages. .

VIDEO Philosophy of the Middle Ages in brief

I hope the article Medieval Philosophy in Brief, the Most Important Thing was useful to you. In the next article you can get acquainted with.

I wish everyone an unquenchable thirst for knowing yourself and the world around you, inspiration in all your affairs!

Middle Ages(V-XIV centuries), which replaced antiquity, are usually characterized as times of darkness and ignorance, barbarism and cruelty, apologetics religious worldview and the fight against dissent - the “dark ages” in human history. What has been said is only partly true. It must be taken into account that the Middle Ages -

the period of formation of the main European states, peoples and languages, numerous workshops and corporations of artisans;
birth period Romanesque style and Gothic, chivalric romance and troubadour poetry, heroic epic, Gregorian chant and icon painting;
the period of the emergence of monastic and cathedral schools, as well as the first universities in Europe.

In fact, it was a rather controversial time, which had a significant impact on the subsequent development of Western European civilization and culture.
The main feature of the culture of the Middle Ages is dominance of religious Christian worldview . Christianity is formed in the 1st century AD. in the eastern provinces of the Roman Empire and gradually spread to the Mediterranean, Western and Eastern Europe. Under his influence, spiritual culture acquires a pronounced religious character and is considered as a means of introducing a person to God and comprehending his essence.

A distinctive feature of medieval philosophy is theocentrism(from the Greek theos - god), according to which the reality that determines all things is not nature, the cosmos, as it was in ancient philosophy, but a supernatural principle - God. Ideas about the real existence of the supernatural lead to a new understanding of nature, man and the meaning of history. Philosophical thought, limited by religious views, merges with theology and comes down to the systematization of Christian doctrine and its rational and speculative justification. This leads to other features of medieval philosophical thought. First of all, - authoritarianism And dogmatism. Philosophical conclusions are based on dogmas prescribed by the Holy Scriptures (including the Bible), religious authorities, and partly the authorities of antiquity. Any innovations are considered as an “attack” on authority and are condemned. Anything that contradicts the teachings of the church is sharply criticized. Christian theologians focus their attention on the speculative analysis of concepts; their creative potential is realized in the sphere of formal logical proofs.
Medieval philosophy begins with the conscious subordination of knowledge to faith. Religious faith is interpreted as a universal way of human existence, a special ideological position of an individual. The human mind can express through concepts only what is already in faith; the truth is predetermined by Christian doctrine. Thus, in the Middle Ages, a new phenomenon emerged - philosophizing in faith, which marked the beginning of religious Christian philosophy.

The formation of medieval philosophy. Patristics

It should be taken into account that the foundations of Christian doctrine are set out in the Bible, the texts of which were compiled in three languages: Hebrew, Aramaic and Greek. Starting from the 2nd century. The Bible is translated into Latin, which becomes the universal language of medieval culture. But the spread of Christianity during the early Middle Ages occurred against the backdrop of a decline in intellectual culture and education. The texts of the Bible were considered complex, and for most ignorant people they were simply inaccessible. There is a need to interpret the Bible, explain the foundations of the Christian worldview and justify it.
To solve these problems it was aimed patristics(from Latin pater - father) - the teaching of the “church fathers”, which is formed within the framework of a new social institution - the church. And if early patristics (II-III centuries) came down to the defense of Christianity, that’s why it is called that - apologetics(from the Greek apologia - protection), then later, in the IV-VIII centuries. representatives of patristics turn to the development of Christian dogma and its systematization. In patristics, the basic tenets of Christian doctrine are substantiated and developed:

1. Pagan polytheism is being replaced monotheism(from Greek monos - one, only; theos - god). Christianity recognizes the existence of one God: “The Lord our God...is one” [Deuteronomy. 6:4]. God is conceived as something transcendent, existing outside the world and above the world. The Church Fathers emphasize the need for faith in one God. In this case, special attention is paid to the substantiation of the idea of the trinity of God (the problem of trinitarianism) and disputes about the divine and human nature of Jesus Christ (Christology).
2. Power Christian God is that he is the creator of the world - creationism(from Latin creatio - creation, creation), and constantly supports his creation: “I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end. First and last" [Rev. John the Theologian. 22:13]. This idea makes a significant difference Christian tradition from the Greek, in which the world (cosmos) was thought of as uncreated, eternal. The problem of the beginning of the world and its creation “out of nothing” (ex nihilo) is one of the main ones in patristics.

Monotheism and creationism underlie the religious and philosophical doctrine of existence.

3. Christian anthropology comes from the biblical understanding of man as the image and likeness of God: “And God created man in His own image...” [Being. 1:27]. Hence the interest in the problems of the relationship between soul and body, free will and mind, God and man.
4. “Can you find God by research? Can you completely comprehend the Almighty? He is above the heavens - what can you do? Deeper than the underworld, what can you find out? [Book of Job. 11:7-8]. The questions posed in the Bible involve identifying the relationship between faith and reason, the limits of human cognitive capabilities. This topic occupies an important place in medieval philosophical thought.
5. Christianity is characterized by a new understanding of the historical process, according to which God gives meaning and purpose to history - providentialism(from Latin providentia - foresight). Of particular importance is the doctrine of the end of the world - eschatology(from the Greek eschatos - last, final; logos - teaching). In patristics, a teleological (from the Greek telos - goal) understanding of history is formed. It represents a single, natural process that has direction and purpose, and not repeating cycles, as was the case in antiquity.

The Church Fathers rationalized Christian doctrine. To protect and substantiate the doctrine, they needed a theoretical basis, so they strive to bring the content of faith closer to ancient philosophy. The first in the history of patristics to attempt to transform Christianity into an orderly system were made by representatives of the Alexandrian theological school (Clement, Origen). Clement(year of birth unknown - 215) considers Greek philosophy as a positive preparation for Christianity, and Origen(185-253/54) believes that Christianity is the completion of Hellenistic philosophy and rationally interprets the Holy Scriptures based on the teachings of the Stoics and Neoplatonists.

One of the brightest representatives of Latin patristics Aurelius Augustine(354-430), whose views had a significant influence on the further development of religious philosophy, emphasizes that philosophy must present the teachings of the church in the form of a scientific system, substantiate and develop it: “About theology, which is called natural, one should conduct a conversation with not just any people..., and with philosophers, whose very name, if translated into Latin, indicates a love of wisdom; if wisdom is God, by whom all things were created, as divine authorities and truth affirm, then the true philosopher loves God.” He values the philosophy of Plato and the Neoplatonists above others: “If pagan philosophers, especially Platonists, accidentally dropped truths that are useful for our faith, then these truths not only should not be avoided, but it is necessary to take them away from their illegal owners and use them for our benefit” [Quoted . According to the book: 4. P. 107]. Based on ancient thought, Augustine tries to harmonize faith and reason, divine truths and accumulated knowledge. This approach indicates that Augustine sees only a religious meaning in philosophy and does not distinguish between theology and philosophy.

Augustine Aurelius, according to many modern medieval researchers, laid the foundations of Christian philosophy. At the center of his thoughts are the problems of God, the world and man, faith and reason, eternity and time, divine grace and personal freedom, good and evil, the meaning of history. In the famous work “Confessions”, using the example of his life, Augustine showed the inconsistency of the formation of personality. Revealing the spiritual foundations of human existence, he comes to the conclusion about the need for divine grace, which saves the “weak soul” of man. The theme of moral progress was developed in the treatise “On the City of God.” “Earthly city” and “heavenly city” are a symbolic expression of two types of love: “love for oneself to the point of contempt for God” and “love for God to the point of contempt for oneself.” The goal of history, according to Augustine, will be accomplished in the heavenly city, when man reaches moral perfection, the state of “impossibility of sinning.”
The perception of Greco-Roman philosophy by Christian theologians was quite contradictory. Without denying the idea of continuity, they, as a rule, turned only to late antique (Hellenistic) philosophy, which underwent significant changes under the influence of emerging Christianity. The mastery of the classical philosophical heritage of Plato and Aristotle was fragmentary. Often, familiarity with the views of the ancients was mediated by later teachings, which quoted and interpreted the classics. Thus, Plato was studied through the Neoplatonists, who significantly changed his doctrine of ideas and considered the One as the origin of all that exists. As for Aristotle, his main philosophical works became known in the West only in the 12th century, translated from Arabic and commentaries by Arab thinkers, and before that time only his logical treatises were translated into Latin. Under these conditions, not only a systematic distortion of the views of ancient Greek thinkers occurs, but - and this is the main thing - the ancient way and style of thinking changes. Understanding philosophy as a tool for explaining “divine truths”, as a “god-pleasing and honorable activity”, a representative of Greek patristics John of Damascus(673/76-777) emphasizes: “...Philosophy is the love of wisdom, but true wisdom is God. Therefore, love for God is true philosophy." For John of Damascus, like many other theologians of this period, “philosophy is the handmaiden of theology”: just as the queen uses the services of slaves, so theology uses philosophical teachings.
The affirmation of the idea “philosophy is the handmaiden of theology” leads to the fact that ancient thought is adapted to the needs of Christianity. The views of the Neoplatonists on the first principle (the One) as the principle of being, Plato’s teaching on the immortality of the soul, the dualistic understanding of man, according to which the body is opposed to the soul as the lower to the higher, formed the basis of the Christian understanding of God and man. These views also contributed to solving the problem of the relationship between the finite foundations of existence and its visible manifestations and to the establishment of the idea of the immortality of the soul. The teaching of the Stoics about the divine Logos helped explain the world-creating and world-ruling role of God the creator, and their moral and ethical views with the ideal of a spiritually free person, meekly enduring the blows of fate, restraining passions, capable of love and forgiveness, corresponded to the Christian understanding of man. In the Middle Ages, Greco-Roman philosophy became the basis of religious and philosophical reflection.

The main problems of medieval scholasticism

Medieval philosophy of the 9th-14th centuries. received the name scholasticism (from the Greek scholastikos - school, scientist). Its formation and development was significantly influenced by the Arab world, thanks to which philosophical texts of ancient authors were transmitted to the West. Scholasticism was developed and studied in universities, it was adapted to teach people the basics of Christian doctrine. Most scholastics were representatives of the clergy, and developed their views, as a rule, from the position of the church. Their works were of an edifying and confessional nature; many works were structured in the form of a dialogue between an “all-knowing” teacher and a diligent student.
In disputes and debates, together with a reasoned reference to authorities, everything higher value acquires a formal and logical justification for religious truths, the means of achieving which becomes the scholastic method. In contrast to the dialectical method, which was developed in ancient philosophy, the scholastic method is based on a rational study of problems with clarification of the pros and cons (contra) and bringing them to resolution. At the same time, it acts not as a way of thinking aimed at searching for truth in itself, but as a tool for comprehending divine truths: conclusions should not contradict the foundations of faith and religious dogmas. During the Middle Ages, scholasticism played a positive role, as it formed a person’s confidence in the possibilities of rational comprehension of faith, strengthened him in the idea of the harmony of faith and reason.
The problem of universals, or general concepts, occupies an important place in religious and philosophical thought. Its roots go back to the philosophy of Plato and Aristotle, but in the Middle Ages it acquired specificity due to Christian views on being and knowledge.
According to Christian doctrine, God, as the creator of everything that exists, contains within himself the prototypes of all things. Every created thing reflects, copies a pattern eternally existing in the divine mind, and bears within itself the imprint of divine perfection. Universals as general generic concepts are carriers of semantic characteristics of a certain class of individual things. In scholasticism, the question is raised about their nature: how universals exist - “before a thing” (in the divine mind), “in things” or “after a thing” (in the human mind). For example, does the general concept of “humanity” exist objectively, apart from specific people, or does it exist in these individual people, or is it a name that a person uses to designate certain qualities inherent in things.
Representatives of realism (from the Latin realis - material, real) believed that universals express the essence of a thing and have real existence. Moreover, they precede the existence of individual things and have their highest realization in the divine mind. “...Everything that exists exists through a higher essence... The essence of everything that exists, except the highest essence itself, is created by the same highest essence and does not (consist) of any matter...” emphasizes one of the prominent representatives of realism, Anselm of Canterbury (1033-1109) . Universals exist eternally in the mind of God and are then found in created things as qualities (degrees). Essence and existence coincide only in God.
Opposite views on the nature of universals were held by nominalism (from the Latin nomina - names). According to John Roscelin (c. 1050-1123/25), only individual things really exist, and general concepts are words, or “names of things.” In the process of sensory perception, a person cognizes individual things and forms concepts that exist in the human mind as names, sounds, signs of things and their properties. This means that a person cannot simply imagine “color” or “wisdom”; he always correlates general concepts with individual things and thinks of something specific: there is no color outside a specific color, there is no wisdom outside a wise soul. These are the views on the nature of universals of John Roscelin, whose literary works have been lost, and whose position can be learned through the works of other scholastics.
Nominalism denies the existence of universals not only in things, but also in God. Divine ideas are nothing other than the individual things themselves produced by God. And if the early nominalists believed that the divine mind contains the prototypes of all things, then the later nominalists (William of Ockham - 1285-1349) refute this position, for its recognition means a limitation of the freedom of the divine will, since it turns out that God creates in accordance with the prototypes. According to William of Ockham, God creates exclusively individual and contingent things, not general and necessary ones. Distinguishing between intuitive knowledge (knowledge of really existing objects) and abstract (abstract) knowledge, the thinker believed that universal concepts appear at the level of the latter. Consequently, universals are general concepts formed by our minds, and no reality corresponds to them. The assumption of the reality of universals is not justified in any way, and the recognition of universal essences only interferes with knowledge. Hence the famous principle, called “Occam’s razor”: “Essences should not be multiplied unnecessarily,” since there is no real difference between essence and existence. By focusing on the reality of the individual, the concrete, William of Ockham, in fact, comes to deny the main premise of scholastic philosophy, according to which the world is rationalistic, that is, there is a certain initial harmony of word and being.
Ultimately, nominalism, which developed within medieval scholasticism, shook its foundations and contributed to the development scientific knowledge based on logical thinking and experiment.
The problem of the relationship between faith and reason is one of the main ones in medieval scholasticism. According to Christian views, the main form of unity between man and God is faith. But God created man as a rational being, therefore it is not enough to believe, you need to understand faith and be able to prove divine truths by means of reason. The mind understands the world not by virtue of its own capabilities, but with the help of “divine light” that enlightens human thinking. In contrast to the monastic-mystical tradition, which existed in the Middle Ages and relied on mystical intuition in comprehending
God, scholasticism considers the human mind not only as an ability necessary for the acquisition of knowledge useful to man in his earthly affairs, and as the knowledge of God. Christian theologians direct their efforts to substantiate the idea of harmony of faith and reason, their consistency.
Faith is the initial prerequisite for all knowledge, including the knowledge of God. “I... desire to understand to some extent Your truth, which my heart believes and loves. For I do not seek to understand in order to believe, but I believe in order to understand. I also believe that “if I do not believe, I will not understand”!” It was precisely these views on the relationship between faith and reason that Anselm of Canterbury adhered to: “I believe in order to understand.” Note that this position was also characteristic of Augustine Aurelius. Reason cannot always comprehend what is in faith, but it can justify the necessity of faith, reveal the sacred (secret) meaning of divine revelation through speculative and logical research. Anselm of Canterbury's faith in human reason found expression in the ontological proof of the existence of God, which is given in the work “Proslogion”.
Other scholastics believed that a person needs to develop a conscious perception of religious doctrine, which would be based not only on the authority of the Bible and the “fathers of the church,” but would be supported by reasonable arguments. “...We must attract to faith with the help of reasonable evidence those who seek wisdom,” says the French theologian, the most representative dialectician of the 12th century, Peter Abelard (1079-1142). With the help of the arguments of reason, faith can be made understandable, for the word strengthens faith: you cannot believe in what is incomprehensible (“I understand in order to believe”). The fact that some provisions of the Christian doctrine can be explained by reason does not detract from the authority of Holy Scripture, since faith limits reason. But if the truths of reason contradict the truths of faith, then they should be abandoned. P. Abelard explains this by the “superiority of canonical authority.”
Based on the idea of the unity of faith and reason, medieval scholastics solved the problem of their relationship in favor of faith.
An attempt to harmonize faith and reason, divine truths and accumulated knowledge is made by the philosopher and theologian Thomas Aquinas (1225/26-1274), who is rightfully considered the systematizer of medieval scholasticism. In his works “Summa Theology” and “Summa against the Pagans” he summed up the results of the theological-rationalistic searches of scholasticism. Being a follower of Aristotle, Thomas developed his teaching in the spirit of religious philosophy and laid the foundation for a new religious and philosophical direction - Thomism.
“...Faith and reason are different paths to truth: one and the same truth cannot be known and believed in at the same time,” emphasizes Thomas Aquinas. If reason proceeds from true principles and makes correct conclusions, then it cannot arrive at results that contradict faith. According to Aquinas, the path of reason is the path of unbelievers and pagans to gain faith, since above all they value knowledge and do not take the Holy Scriptures on faith. But one should not exaggerate the cognitive abilities of the mind, for not all “divine truths” are accessible to it. The following provisions of the Christian doctrine can be rationally substantiated: the existence of God, his unity and the immortality of the soul. Other “supernatural truths” are inaccessible to reason: the idea of the Trinitarian nature of God, the idea of the creation of the world “out of nothing,” the idea of the resurrection of man, and some others - one can only believe in them.
Thomas Aquinas develops the theory of dual truth, which transfers the problem of the relationship between faith and reason to the sphere of the relationship between theology and philosophy. In matters of interpretation of God, man and the world, philosophy and theology use different methods: philosophy is based on human reason, while theology is based on divine revelation. They do not contradict each other, but are subordinate in degree of perfection, and the role of philosophy is reduced to the interpretation and substantiation of religious positions. Revealing the autonomy of philosophy, Thomas Aquinas at the same time limits its cognitive capabilities and tries to use philosophy, in the truth of which he was convinced, for the systematic development of theology. Thus, in the 13th century, Aquinas confirms the idea formulated in the early Middle Ages: “philosophy is the handmaiden of theology.”
Problems of the relationship between theology and philosophy, faith and reason become the subject of heated scholastic discussions, lead to the creation of different directions within the framework of the religious worldview and are one of the significant reasons for the subsequent demarcation of the Catholic and Protestant churches. In the 14th century, the connection between philosophy and theology begins to disintegrate. The consistent distinction between theology and philosophy had a significant influence on the development of Western European rationalist philosophy.
The problem of man in the Middle Ages is considered in accordance with the biblical understanding of man as the image and likeness of God. According to Christian anthropology, man occupies a special position in the world: he is not just a part of the cosmos (microworld) and a “reasonable animal,” as was the case in ancient philosophy, but the crown of divine creation, the lord of everything that is created for him. But by his creation, man opposes the uncreatedness of God, therefore he will never be equal to God.
The problem of the relationship between soul and body is considered quite controversially. On the one hand, Christianity is characterized by the opposition of soul and body, which is expressed in the recognition of the superiority of the spiritual principle in man over the physical, the affirmation of the idea of the immortality of the soul and the frailty of the body. But, on the other hand, the appearance of Christ, his atoning sacrifice and resurrection shifts the emphasis from the immortality of the soul to the subsequent resurrection of man “in the flesh.” Therefore, if early scholasticism, focused on the teachings of Plato, is characterized by the recognition of the human soul as a spiritual substance independent of the body (this explains the idea of the immortality of the soul), then later the followers of Aristotle (for example, Thomas Aquinas) point to the inextricable connection between soul and body and define man as a mental-physical being. This understanding contributes to the establishment of the idea of the resurrection of man in the unity of soul and body.
Christian theologians take a special interest in the spiritual life of man, which determines his actions and actions. The divine qualities that express the spiritual greatness of a person and aimed at his moral and religious improvement are reason and will, thanks to which a person has judgments, distinguishes between good and evil, carries out free choice.
Back in the 5th century, a polemic arose between Augustine Aurelius and the Christian monk Pelagius on the question of whether his good will and actions are enough to save a person?
Pelagianism denied the hereditary power of original sin and proceeded from the fact that a person’s salvation depends on his own moral and ascetic efforts; the will of man is free. Augustine argued for the necessity of divine grace. Freedom is a property of the will, not the mind (as it was with Socrates): the mind understands, but the will rejects the good, therefore the volitional choice does not always agree with a reasonable explanation. Free will is the ability of a person to sin or not to sin. Due to the abuse of free will on the part of the first people, the general human nature has become so corrupted that man cannot help but sin. Original sin is considered by Augustine as a deviation of the will. It was he who made the will vulnerable, in need of divine grace (i.e., support coming from God), so man needs the help of God. Augustine, in fact, denies freedom of choice.
Scholasticism develops the dogma of divine grace and human freedom. Thus, Anselm of Canterbury believes that initially man had free will and was not a “slave of sin”: if there were no freedom, then there would be no sin. In particular, he notes: “...A person always has freedom of choice, but he is not always a slave of sin, but only when he does not have the right will.” Therefore, freedom is rooted in human nature as a result of divine grace. In turn, Thomas Aquinas believes that free choice does not precede reason and will, but follows them. He belongs simultaneously to the sphere of will and the sphere of reason. But reason itself is higher than will. Reason is the highest human ability, and will, as a spiritual motivating ability (force), is reason aimed at action. Man has free will (or, as medieval thinkers put it, “freedom of choice”), which is determined by reason. The will moves the mind, instructing it to make decisions, and the mind moves the will, providing it with the right goals. A person receives freedom of choice in order to regain “lost correctness.”
In late scholasticism, the idea that man is a free being is increasingly established. These ideas are further developed in the views of William Ockham, who believed that the human will acts predictably but freely. His student Jean Buridan believed that the will is under the determining influence of reason. If the mind recognizes one good as the highest and another as the lowest, then the will, under the same conditions, will rush to the highest. If the mind recognizes both goods as equivalent, then the will is “paralyzed”; it cannot act at all. This is where the famous parable about “ Buridan's donkey", who found himself between two identical armfuls of hay, could not make a choice between them and died of hunger.
The problem of the relationship between free will and reason is traditional for the medieval worldview and acquires an ethical orientation. Christian thinkers are trying to reconcile the presence of evil on earth with ideas about God as absolute perfection. If God is all-good and all-powerful, then where does evil come from in the world?
Answering this question, theologians believe that human freedom is a possible cause of sin and evil. As a result of the original sin committed by Adam and Eve, man violated his likeness to God and alienated himself from God. But the depravity of the flesh in itself is neither good nor evil. Since free will is the consent of the will to an action, and the mind is able to distinguish between the higher and the lower, then evil is born as a “wrong decision of the free spirit” and takes root in human nature. It follows that evil is an inevitable consequence of human existence, conditioned by the peculiarities of his existence. Evil is nothing more than the absence, the negation of good. It has no independent essence and expresses the imperfection of human existence.
A person is able to overcome evil by developing the divine principle within himself. Free will is only free when it does not allow evil. In this regard, Christian morality, the main provisions of which are set out in the Bible, acquires special significance. The Ten Commandments (Decalogue) were adopted by Christianity from Judaism [Exodus. 20:1-17], then they were developed in the Sermon on the Mount of Jesus Christ [Evangel. from Matt. 5-7]. Christian ethics is an ethics of love (agape), understood as a selfless divine gift. Based on the idea of love for God (“Love the Lord your God with all your heart.”), then love is preached here as creative, forgiving kindness in relationships between people. In accordance with this, the main ethical principle: “And in everything that you want people to do to you, do so to them.” [Evangel. from Matt. 7:12]. This principle is one of the variants of the “golden rule” of morality, which was previously justified in the views of Buddha, Confucius, and Socrates.
Christian morality is inherently authoritarian, as it preaches the idea of human humility before a higher divine principle. At the same time, it is humanistic, since love, understood as agape, is what makes a person human, gives meaning to his existence [Add. see 3. pp. 101-112].
Medieval philosophy is an integral part of the development of European thought. Acting as the successor of ancient philosophy, it changes the Greco-Roman way of thinking, becoming unique and original. Philosophical reflection in the Middle Ages was severely limited due to the fact that a characteristic feature of medieval thinking was the dominance of the Christian worldview, which largely determined the choice of topics for philosophical discussion. But at the same time, the confrontation of views could not but lead to the rationalization of thinking and the assertion of its independence.

The development of philosophy and philosophical thinking goes back to the distant past. Epochs, views, philosophers, rules and orders, people changed. In the understanding of society, religion and philosophy stand separately, but in no era were these concepts opposed to each other. They developed in parallel, intertwining and deviating from each other at different times. The Middle Ages is a time when philosophy became as closely related to religion as possible; these two concepts not only identified each other, but also complemented each other.

Medieval philosophy: features and characteristics

Medieval philosophy is a period when there was a change in ideological guidelines and philosophers. The norms, ideals of the world and human roles in it are changing. The periodization of this era has various options. The most established and accepted period in modern world– II-XIV centuries. Since it intersects with Christianity, it is logical to consider it the beginning of the period when the Bible appeared. Unlike ancient philosophy, which studied primordial origins and human nature during three stages of its development, medieval philosophy is associated with theology - the doctrine of God. The following features of medieval philosophy are distinguished:

Theocentrism is a reality that determines that everything that exists is God, who is presented as a person above the world.
Philosophical thinking during the Middle Ages acquired a religious character and was associated with the church.
Thinking about the supernatural changes a person’s worldview. A reassessment of history begins, a search for goals and meaning in life.
Retrospective thinking - “the more ancient, the more present, the more present, the truer.”
Traditionalism - the emphasis of medieval philosophy was on the denial of innovation, the use of which was considered pride and sin. The value was not creativity and individualism, but adherence to tradition.
Authoritarianism - turning to the Bible.
Commentary. The commentary genre prevailed over other genres in the Middle Ages.
Source philosophical knowledge (Holy Bible) – cannot be analyzed or criticized, only its interpretation is allowed.
Didictism is inherent in the philosophy of the Middle Ages. Therefore, philosophy takes on the character of teaching and preaching.

In addition to theocentrism, the following features are also characteristic of medieval philosophy:

Monotheism - God is not only one, but also different from all things.
Creationism is an understanding of the world as creation by God out of nothing.
Providentialism is the continuous implementation of the divine plan - the salvation of the world and man throughout history.
Eschatologism is the doctrine of the end of the historical process, and the presentation of man as a special being who is like God in sinlessness, holiness and love.

Development of medieval philosophy

The philosophy of the Middle Ages was devoid of skepticism and the previous period - antiquity. The world no longer seemed understandable and comprehensible; its knowledge occurred through faith. There are three known stages in the development of medieval philosophy:

Patristics is literature left by the church fathers. These were considered spiritual mentors with a certain teaching authority. Over time, this concept expanded its meaning and began to consist of 4 main characteristics: holiness of life, antiquity, orthodoxy of teaching, official acceptance of the church. The foundations of Christian dogmas were laid in patristics. True philosophy was equated with theology. According to their role in society, patristics are divided into apologetic and systematic, according to linguistic criteria - into Greek and Latin, or Eastern and Western. The most important issues patristics was a question of the relationship between faith and knowledge, religion and philosophy. Religion is based on faith, and philosophy is based on knowledge. Since this was the time of the dominance of Christianity, the primacy of religion was undeniable, but it was necessary to come to the conclusion of what to do with philosophy: leave it as a support for religion, and further weave it into a tight thread, or reject it as an ungodly activity that harms religion and faith.
Scholasticism is the maximum subordination of theology, the unification of dogmatic premises and rationalistic methodology, interest in formal logical problems. The goal of scholasticism is to make dogma accessible to ordinary people. Early scholasticism revived interest in knowledge. The main problems of the development of early scholasticism were: the relationship of faith and knowledge, the problem of universals, the coordination of Aristotelian logic and other forms of knowledge, the coordination of mysticism and religious experience. The heyday of scholasticism is the time of the emergence of universities and the widespread dissemination of the works of Aristotle. Late scholasticism is the time of decline of medieval philosophy. The old school systems are subject to criticism, new ideas are not introduced.
Mysticism is the understanding of the religious practice of the unity of man with God. Mystical teachings are filled with irrational and intuitive features, often with deliberate paradoxicality.

Worldview during the period of medieval philosophy

Since Christianity was the basis of the spiritual life of the Middle Ages, life itself during this period acquired character traits. The life of a medieval person is perceived as a path to the atonement of sins, an opportunity to restore harmony between God and man. This is due to the sin of Adam and Eve, which Jesus began to atone for. Man is Godlike, and Jesus shares redemption with man.

The very concept of “man” is divided into “soul” and “body”. The “soul” is man himself, since the soul was breathed into man by God, and the “body” is despicable and sinful. A person in this world must atone for sins, receive justification for Last Judgment and unquestioningly obey the Church.

The picture of the world for medieval people consisted of images and interpretations of the Bible.

Attitude to a person’s appearance, compared to the period of antiquity, when they glorified beautiful bodies and muscular figures have changed. During the Middle Ages, human beauty was the triumph of the spirit over the body.

The explanation of the world rests on the division into two poles: soul and body, heaven and earth, God and nature.

Any human activity was regarded in line with religious ideas. Everything that contradicted religious dogmas was prohibited at the legal level. Any conclusions and opinions were subject to biblical censorship.

Such features of ideological views in the Middle Ages led to the fact that science did not just stand still, but moved backward. Any innovations and ideas were suppressed. Limitation and containment of the development of science soon became persistent.

Problems of medieval philosophy

The time frame of medieval philosophy defines it as a continuation of antiquity, but this is a new system of understanding God, the World and man. The main idea of medieval philosophy was theocentrism. The main problems considered in the era of medieval philosophy are:

Attitude to nature. Nature is no longer considered as something independent, since God is above everything, who is subject to the creation of nature and miracles. Ancient knowledge of nature is a thing of the past, now attention is focused on the study and knowledge of God, human soul. This situation of understanding nature changed somewhat in the late Middle Ages, but even then nature was perceived only as symbolic images. The world was given to man not only for good, but also for instruction.
Man is the image and likeness of God. The definition of the concept of “man” has been varied at all times, and the Middle Ages were no exception. The main definition was that man is the image and likeness of God. Plato and Aristotle came to the idea that man is a rational animal. In connection with this interpretation, the question arose - what is more in a person - the rational principle or the animal? Which properties in a person are essential and which are secondary? Equally, the biblical understanding of man also raised questions - if man is the likeness of God, then what properties of God can be attributed to him? After all, man is not omnipotent and not infinite.
The problem of soul and body. Christian doctrine says that God became incarnate in man to atone for the sins of man and save the world. Pre-Christian teachings considered the difference and incompatibility of divine and human natures.
The problem of self-knowledge (mind and will). God gave man free will. The will, in the era of medieval philosophy, is brought to the fore, in contrast to antiquity, when reason was the basis. Will and God help a person to do good and not evil. The status of a person during this period is not determined. He is torn out of the cosmocentrism of antiquity and placed above it, however, due to his sinful nature, he is down to earth and dependent, because he depends on the will of God.
History and memory. The sacredness of history. Interest in the history of mankind arises, which led to the analysis of memory - an anthropological ability that forms the basis of historical knowledge. Time is no longer viewed through the prism of the life of the cosmos and the movement of heavenly bodies. Time is the property of the human soul itself. The structure of the human soul creates the condition of possibility of time - expectation, aspiration to the future, attention, chained to the present, memory directed towards the past.
Universals are something general, not a specific subject. The question was whether universals exist in themselves, or whether they arise only in concrete things. This gave rise to a dispute between (the study of materiality, reality) and nominalism (the study of names).

Representatives of medieval philosophy

The philosophy of the Middle Ages found its vivid expression in the teachings of Augustine, nicknamed the Blessed. Augustine is from North Africa, his father is an atheist, and his mother is a believing Christian. Thanks to his mother, Augustine absorbed Christian knowledge from childhood. Meditation and the search for truth are the main features of the teachings of St. Augustine. The philosopher was inclined to abandon his views that he had previously held. Admitting his own mistakes and delusions is his path to perfection. The most famous works of the philosopher: “Confession”, “On the City of God”, “On the Trinity”.

Thomas Aquinas is a philosopher, theologian, Dominican monk, systematizer of scholasticism and the teachings of Aristotle. He received a good education in the field of theology, which the philosopher’s family opposed. Despite this, throughout his development as a philosopher, he achieved goal after goal and got what he wanted. Thomas Aquinas is famous for the fact that in his teachings he managed to combine the dogmas of the church and the knowledge of Aristotle. He drew a clear boundary between faith and knowledge, created a hierarchy of laws, placing the Law of God at the head. Famous works: “Summa of Philosophy”, “Summa of Theology”, “On the Government of Sovereigns”.

Al-Farbi - there is information that before philosophical teachings, Al-Farbi held the position of judge. What prompted him to philosophize was the teachings of Aristotle, which he became interested in while studying the enormous literary works of his time. Being a native of Eastern culture, Al-Farbi spent a lot of time in thought, self-knowledge and contemplation. He was also known in the fields of mathematics, philology, natural sciences and astronomy. After himself, he left a huge literary heritage and students who continued his teaching.

The bright and famous philosophers of the Middle Ages, on whom the philosophy of that period was based, were:

Albert the Great, thanks to whose work, society adopted the ideas and methods of Aristotelianism;
Tertullian, who studied and interpreted practical topics: the attitude of Christians to paganism, Christian morality;
Duns Scotus, who influenced church and secular life;
Meister Eckhart, who claims that there is a “divine spark” in every person.

Medieval philosophy - the dominance of religious consciousness, the period of serving faith with philosophy. This period gave the world a unique in content and form spiritual world. Philosophy influenced the formation of universities and scientific disciplines.

Philosophy itself is not calledwisdom, but the love of wisdom.

The most important historical type philosophy - philosophical thought of the Middle Ages, rooted not in pagan polytheism (polytheism), but in the religion of monotheism (monotheism) - Judaism, Christianity, Islam.

The Middle Ages is a chronologically large and heterogeneous period, spanning the V-XV centuries, and medieval philosophy is a complex formation associated, on the one hand, with the main ideas of emerging Christianity, and on the other, with antiquity.

The prerequisites for the formation and development of philosophy in the Middle Ages are associated with the socio-economic, political, and ideological conditions of the era of the fall of the Roman Empire: the depersonalization of the slave mass, the decline in its productivity, slave uprisings, the emergence of such social groups and strata as freedmen, free lumpen, colons, professional soldiers etc.

2) scholastic period (V-XIII centuries).

3) period of decline (XIII-XY centuries)

Main difference medieval thinking is that the movement of philosophical thought was riddled with problems religion. Philosophy consciously puts itself at the service of religion. “Philosophy is the handmaiden of theology”, “the threshold of the Christian faith” - this is how the place and role of philosophy in the public consciousness of that period were defined. We must not forget that most scientists were representatives of the clergy, and monasteries were centers of culture and science. The Church monopolized all processes of development of education and scientific knowledge. In such conditions, philosophy could develop only from the position of the church.

Main features of medieval philosophy:

And God is not just the subject and goal of knowledge, but he himself gives the opportunity to know himself to those who believe in him. As Ortega and Gasset spoke about this era: “It is not man who strives to master the truth, but on the contrary, the truth strives to take possession of man, absorb him, penetrate him.” Augustine wrote: “Only some divine power can show a person what the truth is.” Man sought to comprehend the highest reality not for his own sake, but for the sake of this reality itself.

The second feature of medieval philosophy is creationism(idealistic doctrine of the creation of the world, living and inanimate nature in a single creative divine act). The main principle of ontology.

Christian monotheism (monotheism) is based on two most important principles, alien to the religious-mythological consciousness and, accordingly, to the philosophical thinking of the pagan world: the idea of creation and the idea of revelation. Both of them are closely related to each other, for they presuppose one personal God.

The idea of creation underlies medieval ontology, and the idea of revelation forms the foundation of the doctrine of knowledge. Hence the comprehensive dependence of medieval philosophy on theology, and all medieval institutions on the church.

According to the dogma of creation:

God created the world around us out of nothing;

The creation of the world is the result of an act of Divine will;

The world was created thanks to the omnipotence of God;

The only creative principle in the Universe is God;

God is eternal, constant and all-pervading;

Only God has true existence;

The world created by God is not a true being, it is secondary in relation to God;

Since the world does not have self-sufficiency and arose at the will of another (God), it is impermanent, changeable and temporary;

There is no clear boundary between God and his creation.

Following apologetics appears - religious patristics(from lat. pater- father) - philosophical doctrine"Church Fathers" - edifying and obsessive involvement in the “school” and theological teachings of the fathers of the Christian church.

The writings of the “Church Fathers” set out the main provisions of Christian philosophy, theology, and doctrine of the church. This period is characterized by the development of integral religious-speculative systems. There are Western and Eastern patristics. The most prominent figure in the West is considered Augustine the Blessed, in the East - Gregory the Theologian, John Chrysostom, Maximus the Confessor. A distinctive feature of Byzantine (Eastern) philosophy is that it uses Greek language and thus more organically connected with ancient culture than the Latin West.

Patristics reaches its culmination after the recognition of Christianity state religion Roman Empire (in 325 the first Ecumenical Council of the Christian Church in Nicaea of Christian doctrine).

The main problems of patristics:

The problem of the essence of God and his trinity (Trinitarian problem);

The relationship of faith and reason, the revelation of Christians and the wisdom of the pagans (Greeks and Romans);

Understanding history as a movement towards a certain final goal and defining this goal - the City of God";

Free will of a person and the possibility of saving his soul;

The problem of the origin of evil in the world, the reasons, but by which God tolerates it and other problems.

The pinnacle of patristics - Augustine the Blessed(354-430), the ideas of which determined the development of European philosophy. Augustine the Blessed was born in the African city of Tagaste, the family of a small property owner. His father only converted to Christianity at the end of his life, while his mother Monica was a zealous Christian who managed to exert a religious influence on her son. Augustine received a fairly solid education for those times based on the Latin language. He taught rhetoric in Tagaste, Carthage, and Milan.

For some time he became interested in the religious teachings of the Manichaeans, but already in 386. accepts Christianity. Returning to his hometown, Augustine sells off his inheritance, gives up teaching and founds a religious brotherhood. In 391 in Hippo (Africa) he was appointed priest, and in 395 he became bishop of Hippo. Augustine died; 430 during the siege of the city by the Vandals.

His literary heritage is enormous. It contains works directed against critics of Christianity, philosophical and theological works, apologetic writings, and exegetical works. Augustine's main philosophical and theological works are “On the Trinity” (399-419), “Confession” (397), “On the City of God” (413 - 427). In his philosophy he relied on the legacy of Plato.

The main philosophical works are devoted to the problems of being and time, the movement of history and historical progress, as well as the personality of man, his will and reason in the face of the Creator. In solving the problem of God, Augustine proceeded from the ideas Old Testament, according to which God created everything “out of nothing” in a few days , natural-human world. God himself was interpreted by him as a kind of extranatural principle, to which, in accordance with the Bible, he attributed the properties of a supernatural personality.

Human soul, according to Augustine, has nothing to do with matter, since it was created by God. The soul is immortal, it is the only bearer of knowledge that comes from God. Any human thought is the result of God’s illumination of the soul. Augustine saw the essence of the soul not so much in its rational-mental activity as in its volitional activity. In other words, human activity manifests itself, according to Augustine, in the irrational factor of personality - will.

God, according to Augustine, is outside of time, being in eternity. Man is inextricably linked with time. Time itself for Augustine is a purely human concept, for our mind has the ability to distinguish a chain of events into “before”, “now” and “after”. Thus, according to the philosopher, time exists only in the human head; before God created the world there was no time. This idea had a significant influence on the subsequent development of European philosophy, in particular on the teachings of Descartes, Kant and other thinkers.

Based on the ideas of Neoplatonism, Augustine developed Christian theology philosophical problem theodicy (from the Greek theos - god and dike justice) - in other words, the problem of the existence of evil in the world created by God. He argued that good is the manifestation of God on earth, evil is the lack of good. Evil on earth arises due to the distance of material existence from its ideal image. Embodying the divine image of objects, phenomena, people, matter, due to its inertia, distorts the ideal, turning it into an imperfect likeness.

In the theory of knowledge, Augustine proclaimed the formula: “I believe in order to understand.” This formula does not mean a rejection of rational knowledge in general, but asserts the unconditional priority of faith. The main idea of Augustine’s teaching is the development of man from the “old” to the “new”, overcoming selfishness in the love of God. Augustine believed that human salvation lies primarily in belonging to the Christian church, which is “the city of God on earth.” According to Augustine, God is the highest good, and the human soul is close to God and immortal; it requires that a person care first of all about the soul, suppressing sensual pleasures.

In the teachings of Augustine, the problem of society and history occupies a large place. Essentially, Augustine was the founder of European Christian philosophy of history. Mystically comprehending the dialectics of the historical process, Augustine distinguished two opposing types of human community: “earthly city,” i.e. statehood based on “self-love brought to the point of contempt for God,” and “city of God” - a spiritual community based on “love of God brought to self-contempt.” Divine providence, directing the course of history, inexorably leads humanity to the victory of the “divine state” over the secular. The most important stage on the way to this goal was the emergence of Christianity in the Roman Empire, which was collapsing before Augustine’s eyes.

The works of Augustine the Blessed were the basis for the development of scholastic philosophy and for a long time served as one of the sources for the study of ancient philosophy, mainly the works of Plato, Aristotle and the Neoplatonists - Plotinus, Porphyry, Proclus, Iamblichus.

Scholasticism(from Greek school- school), i.e. “school philosophy”, which dominated in medieval universities, combining Christian dogma with logical reasoning. The main task of scholasticism was to substantiate, defend and systematize religious dogmas in a logical way. Dogma (from Greek. dogma - opinion) is a position that is unconditionally taken on faith and is not subject to doubt or criticism. Scholasticism created a system of logical arguments to confirm the tenets of faith. Scholastic knowledge is knowledge that is divorced from life, based not on experienced, sensory knowledge, but on reasoning based on dogma.

Scholasticism did not deny rational knowledge in general, although it reduced it to the logical knowledge of God. In this, scholasticism opposed mysticism (from Greek. mystika- sacrament) - the doctrine of the possibility of knowing God exclusively through supernatural contemplation - through revelations, insights and other irrational means. For nine centuries, scholasticism dominated the public consciousness. It played a positive role in the development of logic and other purely theoretical disciplines, but significantly slowed down the development of natural, experimental sciences.

Hence the formalism and impersonal nature of the philosophy of the Middle Ages, when the personal, human retreats before the abstract and general. Hence - great attention to the development of the formal-logical side of philosophical knowledge.

Boethius is considered the “father of scholasticism”, who was perceived not so much as the first scholasticism, but as the “last Roman”, a follower of Cicero, Seneca, and the Platonists of the Roman era. Boethius's main work, the treatise "The Consolation of Philosophy", is the result of his philosophical and logical research.

Scholasticism in the Middle Ages went through three stages of development:

Early scholasticism (XI-XII centuries);

Mature scholasticism (XII - XIII centuries);

Late scholasticism (XIII - XIV centuries).

For scholastics as a philosophical school it was characteristic:

The focus of thinkers on what seemed to them to be religious orthodoxy in order to justify what is right;

Using for this purpose the works of Aristotle as the most authoritative ancient author;

Revealing the fact that Aristotle and Plato held different views on the issue of universals (general concepts), and raising this issue as one of the main philosophical problems;

The transition from religious mysticism to “dialectics” and the syllogistic method of reasoning in philosophical discussions.

The pinnacle of medieval scholasticism - Thomas Aquinas(1225-1274) , one of the greatest philosophers of all post-ancient philosophy.

Thomas of Aquia entered the history of world philosophy as a systematizer of orthodox scholasticism of the Middle Ages and the founder of the religious and philosophical system of Catholicism, called Thomism (Latin Thomas - Thomas). Since then, this theory has been consistently recognized and supported by the Catholic Church, and since the end of the 19th century. it became the official philosophy of the modern Vatican, called neo-Thomism. And now all Catholics educational institutions Where there are philosophy courses, it is this theory that is taught as the only true philosophy.

Thomas Aquinas was born into a noble family in southern Italy near the town of Aquino (hence his nickname Aquinas) and received a monastic education from childhood. This was followed by the adoption of monasticism, years of study at the Universities of Naples and Paris, after which he devoted himself to teaching and research work, becoming by the end of his life the author of numerous works and receiving (after his death) the title of “angelic doctor.” In 1323 was canonized, and in 1567. recognized as the fifth "teacher of the church".

The main works of Thomas Aquinas. "Summa Theologica" (1266-1274), "Summa against the pagans" (1259-1264). In them he relies mainly on the writings of Aristotle , whom I met while on a crusade in the East.

In the ontology of Thomas Aquinas, being is considered both as possible and as actual. Being is the existence of individual things, which is substance. Along with such categories as possibility and reality, Thomas Aquinas introduces the categories matter and form. In this case, matter is considered as a possibility, and form as reality.

In the teachings of Aquinas, the line between faith and knowledge, religion and science is clearly drawn. Religion, according to his teaching, acquires knowledge through revelation. Science is capable of logically proving the truth of revelations. This is the purpose of science. Therefore, in this era, scholasticism allowed the existence of only theoretical sciences. Experienced, sensory (natural-scientific) knowledge was considered sinful.

According to Thomas Aquinas, only theology is knowledge of general causes. Moreover, knowledge about God is knowledge of two orders: 1) accessible to everyone; 2) inaccessible to the simple human mind. From this flowed the basic principle of theology - the principle of the preference of faith over reason. The main thesis: “I believe because it is absurd.” Thomas Aquinas substantiated the inconsistency of dual truth, One Truth is God. F. Aquinas proposed five proof of the existence of God: as the primary cause of movement, as the primary cause of things, as the primordially necessary essence of things, as the primary cause of good and perfection and as the highest rational expediency in the world.

Using Aristotle's basic ideas about form and matter, Thomas Aquinas subordinates the doctrine of religion to them. Nothing material exists without form, and form depends on the highest form or “form of all forms” - God. God is a purely spiritual being. Only for the corporeal world is the connection of form with matter necessary. In addition, matter (as in Aristotle) is passive. The form gives her activity.

Thomas Aquinas notes that the “existence of God,” since it is not self-evident, must be proven through consequences accessible to our knowledge. He offers his evidence for the existence of God, which is also used by the modern Catholic Church.

The socio-philosophical views of Thomas Aquinas are worthy of attention. He argued that personality is “the noblest phenomenon in all rational nature.” It is characterized by intellect, feelings and will. The intellect has superiority over the will. However, he places knowledge of God lower than love for him, i.e. feelings can surpass reason if they relate not to ordinary things, but to God.

In his essay “On the Rule of Sovereigns,” he considers man, first of all, as a social being, and the state as an organization that cares about the welfare of the people. He connects the essence of power with morality, in particular with goodness and justice, and even (albeit with some reservations) speaks of the right of the people to oppose tyrants who deny people justice.

Thomas Aquinas also offers for consideration the problem of two laws: the “natural law” that God put into the minds and hearts of people, and the “divine law” that determines the superiority of the church over the state and civil society, for earthly life- this is only preparation for the future spiritual life. The power of the sovereign must be subordinated to a higher - spiritual power. It is headed in heaven by Christ, and on Earth by the Pope. Considering the same forms of political power as Aristotle, Thomas Aquinas gave preference to the monarchy. All types of authority ultimately come from God.

The philosophy of Thomas Aquinas dates back to the 14th century. the banner of the Dominican scholastics, and from the 16th century, it was intensively propagated by the Jesuits, whose ideologists commented on and modernized the philosophical system of Thomas Aquinas. From the second half of the 19th century V. his teaching becomes the basis of neo-Thomism, which is one of the powerful currents in modern philosophical thought.

Thus, medieval philosophy is an extremely important, meaningful and long-lasting stage in the history of philosophy, associated primarily with Christianity.

Conclusions:

1. The philosophy of the Middle Ages became the connecting link between ancient philosophy and the philosophy of the Renaissance and Modern times. She preserved and developed a number of ancient philosophical ideas, since it arose on the basis of the ancient philosophy of Christian teaching;

2. Medieval philosophy contributed to the division of philosophy into new spheres (in addition to ontology - the doctrine of being, which completely merged with ancient philosophy, epistemology - an independent doctrine of knowledge) emerged, as well as the division of idealism into objective and subjective.

3. The philosophy of this era laid the foundation for the emergence in the future of empirical (Bacon, Hobbes, Locke) and rationalistic (Descartes) directions of philosophy as a result of the practice of nominalists, respectively, to rely on experience (empiricism) and increased interest in the problem of self-consciousness (Self-concept, rationalism) .

4. Despite the unambiguous interpretation social problems The philosophy of the Middle Ages aroused interest in understanding the historical process and put forward the idea of optimism, expressed in the belief in the victory of good over evil and in the resurrection.