Preliminary Remarks: Medieval Philosophy
The transition from the Patristic age to the Middle Ages and the plan of the Book.
Glenn recalls that although the philosophy of St. Augustine was discussed at the end of the last Book, Augustine was not the latest Father in point of time: Fathers of the later centuries, up to the eighth, continued the Patristic work. He marks the conditions under which philosophy passed into the medieval period — the collapse of the Empire in the West, the preservation of learning in the monasteries, and the slow recovery of the ancient texts. The Book is then divided into five Chapters covering the preparation for Scholastic Philosophy, its development, its perfection in the thirteenth century, its decline, and the transition to Modern Philosophy.
Preliminary Remarks
(8 to 17 century inclusive)
Although the philosophy of St. Augustine was discussed at the end of the last Book, it must be recalled that he was not the latest Father in point of time. Fathers of the later centuries—up to the 8—were mentioned in the Chapter preceding that on St. Augustine. It is true that these later Fathers did nothing great in the field of philosophy, but they kept tradition intact and thus served to bridge the long gap that stretches, in intellectual history, between the 4 and the 8 centuries.
Scholastic Philosophy was the outstanding system of the Medieval Period. Indeed, the history of Scholasticism is the history of philosophy of the Middle Ages. In tracing the progress of this great system, the historian must discuss incidentally all the other and minor philosophies of the age, for all of these have a more or less distinct bearing upon Scholastic Philosophy. The most important of such minor systems were certain Arabian and Jewish philosophies. Direct anti-Scholas-ticism among Europeans belongs integrally to the history of Scholastic Philosophy itself.
The present Book deals, therefore, with Scholastic Philosophy, that splendid and perfected system of speculation which alone, of all the systems formulated by men in the continuous course of philosophical endeavor, meets at all points the requirements of a complete rational inquiry into knowable things. This system had its earliest beginnings in the late 8 century; its proximate origin is assigned to the 9, 10, and early 11 centuries; it developed into proper form in the late 11 and the 12 centuries; and in the 13 century it appeared in full perfection in the marvellous synthesis of Aquinas. Afterwards it declined—in favor, that is to say, not in itself, for it is a system of principles perfected once and for all time. By the 17 century, Scholasticism had disappeared, and new philosophies, the first of the modern systems, had the field of philosophy to themselves. Scholasticism was regarded as an outworn system, and as a philosophy which had been cunningly, not to say craftily, devised to supplement and support Catholic Theology. This opinion has endured to our own day among most non-Catholic philosophers, many of whom feel free to offer this cheap criticism of Scholasticism without knowing anything about it. Catholic scholars, however, have recently undertaken—and are at the present moment bravely forwarding—the revival of Scholastic Philosophy. They are applying its unchanging principles to the scientific problems of our day. Scholasticism is slowly emerging as Neo~Scholasticism, and promises to recover its ancient splendor.
The present Book is divided into five Chapters, as follows: