Scholasticism is derived from the Latin word scholasticus (Greek: σχολαστικός), which means "that [which] belongs to the school", and was a method of learning taught by the academics (or school people) of medieval universities circa 1100–1500. Scholasticism originally started to reconcile the philosophy of the ancient classical philosophers with medieval Christian theology. Scholasticism is not a philosophy or theology in itself but a tool and method for learning which places emphasis on dialectical reasoning. The primary purpose of scholasticism is to find the answer to a question or to resolve a contradiction. It is most well-known for its application in medieval theology, but was eventually applied to classical philosophy and many other fields of study.
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Scholastic method
The scholastics would choose a book (say, the Bible) by a renowned scholar, auctor (author), as a subject for investigation. By reading it thoroughly and critically, the disciples learned to appreciate the theories of the auctor. Other documents related to the book would be referenced, such as Church councils, papal letters and anything else written on the subject, be it ancient or contemporary. The points of disagreement and contention between multiple sources would be written down in individual sentences or snippets of text, known as sententiae.
The Bible contains many apparent contradictions for Christians, such as laws which detail what foods are kosher. These contradictions have been examined by scholastics both ancient and contemporary. They would gather all arguments about the contradictions, looking at problems from all sides with open minds.
Once the sources and points of disagreement had been laid out through a series of dialectics, the two sides of an argument would be made whole so that they would be found to be in agreement and not contradictory. This was done in two ways.
The first was through philological analysis. Words were examined and argued to have multiple meanings. It was also considered that the auctor might have intended a certain word to mean something different. Ambiguity could be used to find common ground between two otherwise contradictory statements.
The second was through logical analysis, which relied on the rules of formal logic to show that contradictions did not exist but were subjective to the reader.
Scholastic genres
Scholastics developed two genres of literature:
The first was called quæstiones (questions). This was essentially as described above, except that, unconfined to a single scholar or auctor, the scholastic method was applied to a question: by way of example, "Is it permissible to kill for self-preservation?" From such a preface, any number of sources could be referenced to divine the pros and cons of a question.
The second genre was called a summa, a system of all questions, or a complete summary of what was possible to conceive on a subject. Any question could be found in the summa and would reference any other question that might arise. The most famous summa was by Thomas Aquinas, called Summa Theologica, whose goal was to cover the "sum" total of Christian theology at the time.
Scholastic school
Scholastic schools had two methods of teaching. The first was the lectio: a teacher would read a text, expounding on certain words and ideas, but no questions were permitted; it was a simple reading of a text: instructors explained, and students listened in silence.
The second was the disputatio, which goes right to the heart of scholasticism. There were two types of disputationes: the first was the "ordinary" type, whereby the question to be disputed was announced beforehand; the second was the quodlibetal, whereby the students proposed a question to the teacher without prior preparation. The teacher advanced a response, citing authoritative texts such as the Bible to prove his position. Students then rebutted the response, and the quodlibetal went back and forth. Someone took notes on what was said, so the teacher could summarise all arguments and present his final position the following day, riposting all rebuttals.
History
Scholastic philosophy usually combined logic, metaphysics and semantics into one discipline. It is generally recognised to have developed our understanding of logic significantly as compared with older sources.
Scholasticism was concurrent with movements in early Islamic philosophy (in the works of Alkindus, Alfarabi, Avicenna, Algazel and Averroes) and Jewish philosophy (especially in the case of Maimonides). From the Eighth Century, the Mutazilite school of Islam, compelled to defend their principles against the more orthodox Ash'ari school, looked for support in philosophy. They are among the first to pursue a rational theology, Ilm-al-Kalam, which can be seen as a form of scholasticism. Later, the philosophical schools of Avicennism and Averroism exerted great influence on Scholasticism (see Islamic contributions to Medieval Europe).
In the high scholastic period, from 1250 to 1350, scholasticism moved beyond theology into the philosophy of nature, psychology, epistemology and philosophy of science. In Spain, the scholastics made important contributions to economic theory, which influenced the later development of the Austrian school.
During the humanism of the Fifteenth and Sixteenth Centuries, scholastics were backgrounded and somewhat forgotten (although revived in Spain in the School of Salamanca). This is the source of the view that scholasticism is a rigid, formalistic, outdated and improper way of conducting philosophy. During the catholic scholastic revival of the late 1800s and early 1900s, the scholastics were repopularized, but with a somewhat narrow focus on certain scholastics and their respective schools of thought, most notably with Thomas Aquinas. In this context, scholasticism is often used with theology and metaphysics, but not many other areas of inquiry.
The following authors and works were commonly used as auctores:
- Plato, specifically the Timaeus
- Aristotle ("The Philosopher")
- The Bible
- Saint Augustine
- Boethius and his Consolation of Philosophy
- Avicenna, especially The Book of Healing
- Peter Lombard, specifically his Sentences
- Averroes ("The Commentator")
Early Scholasticism and its contemporaries
Anselm of Canterbury is sometimes misleadingly called the "Father of Scholasticism", owing to the prominence accorded to reason in his theology. Rather than establish points by appeal to authority, his arguments demonstrated why what he believed on authority must be so. His approach was not especially influential in his time, as he kept his distance from the Cathedral Schools.
We should look instead to the production of the gloss on Scripture associated with Anselm of Laon, the rise to prominence of dialectic (middle subject of the medieval trivium) in the work of Abelard, and the production by Peter Lombard of a collection of Sentences or opinions of the Church Fathers and other authorities. Scholasticism proper can be thought of as the kind of theology that emerges when, in the Cathedral schools and their successors, the tools of dialectic are pressed into use to comment upon, explain and develop the gloss and the sentences.
Notable authors include:
- Anselm of Canterbury (1033/1034-1109)
- Anselm of Laon (died 1117)
- Hugh of St Victor (1078-1151)
- Peter Abelard (1079-1142)
- Bernard of Clairvaux (1090-1153)
- Hildegard of Bingen (1098-1179)
- Peter Lombard (c. 1100-1160)
- Alain de Lille (c. 1128-1202)
- Joachim of Fiore (c. 1135-1202)
High Scholasticism and its contemporaries
The Thirteenth Century saw the attempted suppression of various groups perceived as heterodox, like the Cathars and Waldensians, and the associated rise of the mendicant orders (most notably the Franciscans and Dominicans). This was intended in part as an orthodox alternative to the heretical groups.
The two orders quickly became contexts for some of the most intense scholastic theologising, producing such "high-scholastic" theologians as Alexander of Hales (Franciscan) and Thomas Aquinas (Dominican), and the less-obviously-scholastic Bonaventure (Franciscan).
The century also saw a flourishing of mystical theology, whereby women such as Mechthild of Magdeburg played prominent roles. In addition, it is seen as the earliest period in which the study of natural philosophy which could (anachronistically) be termed "science" began, in the hands of such men as Robert Grosseteste and Roger Bacon, to flourish again in theological soil.
Notable authors include:
- Saint Dominic (1170-1221)
- Robert Grosseteste (c. 1175-1253)
- Francis of Assisi (1182-1226)
- Alexander of Hales (died 1245)
- Mechthild of Magdeburg (1210-1285)
- Roger Bacon (1214-1294)
- Bonaventure (1221-1274)
- Thomas Aquinas (1225-1274)
- Angela of Foligno (1248-1309)
Late Scholasticism and its contemporaries
Scholastic theology continued to develop as the Thirteenth Century gave way to the Fourteenth, becoming all the more complex and subtle in its distinctions and arguments. The Fourteenth Century saw particularly the rise to dominance of the nominalist or voluntarist theologies of men like William of Ockham. The Fourteenth Century was also a time in which movements of widely varying character worked for the reform of the institutional church. These included conciliarism, Lollardy and the Hussites. Spiritual movements such as the Devotio Moderna also flourished.
Notable authors include:
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