Why Medieval Philosophy Matters

217 Pages·2019·7.771 MB·English

by  Stephen Boulter

Why Medieval
Philosophy
Matters
WHY PHILOSOPHY MATTERS
Series editor: Professor Constantine Sandis, University of
Hertfordshire, UK
Why Philosophy Matters focuses on why a particular philosopher,
school of thought, or area of philosophical study really matters.
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Books in this series
Why Iris Murdoch Matters, Gary Browning
Also available from Bloomsbury
Medieval Philosophy: A Multicultural Reader, Bruce Foltz
Technic and Magic, Federico Campagna
Why Medieval
Philosophy
Matters
STEPHEN BOULTER
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First published in Great Britain 2019
Copyright © Stephen Boulter, 2019
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CONTENTS
Preface vi
Introduction: Why philosophy matters 1
1 Scholasticism and common sense 25
2 Scholasticism and the sciences 45
3 The meta-philosophy of scholasticism 69
4 Scholasticism on the various kinds of distinction 89
5 The scholastics and arguments for the
existence of God 111
6 Scholasticism and Western ‘disenchantment’ 135
Notes 153
Epilogue 174
Some useful Latin terms and phrases for philosophers 177
Appendix I: When were the Middle Ages 183
Bibliography 191
Index 197
PREFACE
A new approach
Philosophers with a special interest in medieval thought have spent
much time and effort expounding the virtues of scholastic principles
to other professionals in the discipline. Indeed, it might appear that
specialists in medieval philosophy have been doing little else since
serious work began on the project of recovering the thought of
the scholastics well over a century and a half ago. Our collective
endeavours have continually been straining in the same direction –
making the case for medieval philosophy to the philosophical
mainstream. So why yet another work on why medieval philosophy
matters? Surely if there is a case to be made for medieval philosophy
it has been made by now.
There is a sense in which this is right, and another in which it is
wrong. It is right insofar as medieval specialists have been particularly
adept at showing how familiarity with scholastic thought can help
the contemporary philosopher address highly specialized issues
of ongoing concern in metaphysics, epistemology, philosophy of
mind and ethics. Moreover, a significant body of work has been
produced which shows that the roots of early modern philosophy –
a period with which the philosophical mainstream is familiar –
lie deep within scholasticism itself. This two-pronged approach,
philosophical and historical, has been popular amongst medieval
specialists seeking to establish a dialogue between scholastic and
contemporary philosophy.
Regrettably these efforts have had little impact on the
philosophical mainstream. It had been hoped that the landmark
publication in 1982 of The Cambridge History of Later Medieval
Philosophy would inaugurate a new period in which contemporary
philosophers would no longer work in ignorance of medieval
achievements. But as John Marenbon notes in his introduction to
P REFACE vii
The Oxford Handbook of Medieval Philosophy of 2012, these hopes
have largely failed to materialize. Medieval philosophy remains
a minority interest within the profession, with many philosophy
departments still having no specialist on staff.
In retrospect it is easy to see that our hopes were misplaced. It is
not just that philosophers entertain the usual suspicions of things
medieval, although this is a significant factor. Just as important is
the current state of the discipline. As with virtually all subjects,
philosophy has become increasingly specialized, and those working
in one domain rarely have anything to say to those working in
another. But more than this, the discipline as a whole has fragmented
into isolated camps with distinct self-images, agendas, projects
and methodologies. These very different understandings of the
philosophical enterprise compromise the prospects of meaningful
dialogue amongst contemporary philosophers themselves. In such
an environment it was always going to be difficult to win a ear for
an alien medieval voice.
There is therefore an important sense in which the case for
medieval philosophy has yet to be made, if we understand this to
mean finding a way to make the case resonate with non-specialists.
But the Why Philosophy Matters series provides the occasion for
considering a different way to champion medieval philosophy. This
series is a response to the growing impression abroad in society at
large that philosophy as a discipline is redundant. This series calls
on philosophers to push back against this redundancy thesis. Now
I maintain that it is in confronting this challenge that medieval and
contemporary philosophy can make common cause. The overarching
thesis of this book is that those familiar with scholastic thought
are uniquely well placed to make the case for philosophy within
the wider intellectual community precisely because the scholastic
understanding of the discipline, along with its fundamental principles
and methodologies, will resonate with those who entertain doubts
about the usefulness of philosophy. My hope, then, is to win a new
audience for medieval philosophy on the basis that it is uniquely well
positioned to show why philosophy itself is anything but redundant.
As the discipline continues to come under attack from without,
making the case for philosophy matters, and scholasticism can help.
A word of warning is in order. The focus on philosophy’s
external relations with other disciplines and society at large
makes for an unusual book on medieval thought. There are more
viii PREFACE
orthodox ways in which one might try to show that medieval
philosophy matters, and these are worth pointing out if only to
underline the fact that the case made in this book is only one
way to champion the period. Perhaps the most obvious way is to
assert that all periods of history matter, and so medieval history
matters as well. And since the period is standardly taken to span
a thousand years (from 500 to 1500), and to have marked the
transition from the ancient to the modern world, it would be
very odd if nothing of importance had happened in this period.
This is the route taken by some intellectual historians. Another
approach is to focus on showing how medieval thought can help
the contemporary philosopher deal with contemporary internal
problems. Here the idea is to establish that a contemporary
philosopher can treat medieval thinkers as worthy colleagues. The
contemporary school of analytical Thomism is an obvious example
of this approach. A third takes issue with the first two. There is a
school of thought popular with some medieval specialists which
insists that there is little point trying to recover medieval thought
for the benefit of contemporary philosophers. According to this
school medieval philosophy is so different from contemporary
philosophy that there can be no fruitful dialogue between the two.
It is not even clear if we can recover what the medieval figures
were saying: so different was their mode of thought. On this view
the best we can do is merely enjoy the difference of the ‘other’
in contemplating them. If medieval philosophy matters, it is only
because appreciating their ‘difference’ can bring our own, perhaps
unrecognized, assumptions into the light.
While all of these approaches have their merits, I have not
adopted them here. There are plenty of good histories available
already, and many highly professional works linking medieval and
contemporary thought. What is missing is a book which outlines a
case for the importance of medieval thought to matters of general
interest, and to the pressing matter of philosophy’s relation to
the wider intellectual world. This is why I have tried to connect
aspects of the medieval scholastic framework to issues of general
concern, to things that clearly do matter, or ought to matter, to the
general reader.
Needless to say, the results of this outward facing orientation
will not be to everyone’s taste. For in this context the interest of a
philosophical insight, method, theory or thinker is no longer judged
P REFACE ix
simply by criteria internal to the discipline, but also, and crucially,
by concerns arising from our being situated within a wider social
context. This means that much material that would normally be
included within a study of medieval philosophy will not find a
place here. And much standard fare will be recast in an unusual
light in order to bring out its relevance to a non-specialist audience.
Moreover, much material that would not normally figure in such a
work will be given pride of place. Therefore, this book should not
be seen as an introduction to medieval philosophy if introductions
are meant for readers who already have an interest in a given subject
and want to know more about it. This book is more of an apology
inasmuch as it is an attempt to explain why non-specialists should
take an interest in medieval philosophy in the first place. I will have
succeeded if a reader decides, upon finishing this book, to pick up
one of the many excellent introductions to medieval philosophy
patiently awaiting the readers they deserve.
I begin in Introduction by setting out a series of issues that are
likely to resonate with the general public, issues that have a distinctly
philosophical dimension. These include the redundancy thesis with
respect to philosophy as a discipline, the insufficiency thesis with
respect to the sciences and a series of aporia that emerge at the level
of the social order. These issues are likely to be of interest to an alert
reader of any academic background. Moreover, and crucially for
my purposes, the logical shape of these issues, that is, their aporetic
nature, means that they are amenable to the philosophical mindset
and methodology of scholasticism.
Chapters 1 and 2 drive home the point that scholastic thought
is very much at ease with both common sense and the sciences. For
all the unfamiliarity of this distant period, the metaphysics of the
scholastics is very much the implicit metaphysics of the intelligent
layperson as well as being the background against which scientific
study of the world makes sense. Again, this brings medieval thought
into contact with the intuitions and concerns of the general reader.
This preparatory work complete, Chapter 3 then sets out the
scholastic project of Faith seeking Understanding. Insofar as this
project takes on the task of reconciling individually compelling but
contradictory lines of thought, it mirrors the logic of the problems
set out in Introduction. If the problems of Introduction were
compelling, then the scholastic project itself will no longer appear
remote and alien.