EDUC 201: Philosophical and Legal Foundations of Education

Francis T. Matay-eo, Jr., MAED, MA Philos

Module 3: Medieval Philosophy - Scholasticism

Module Objectives:
At the end of this module, the student should be able to:
 Explain the historical background of Medieval Philosophy
 Recognize the distinct terminology of Thomistic philosophy
 Explain the philosophical foundation Thomistic educational theory
 Draw out implications of Thomistic philosophy on today’s educational system
Introduction
The Medieval Period was the confluence of Philosophy and Theology. With the coming
and predominance of Christianity in Medieval Europe, Philosophy became the handmaid of
Theology. Reason was the companion of faith; its task was to make faith reasonable, if not
reconcilable with Aristotelian philosophy.
Man was understood as part of nature but nature now was God’s creation, and man is
created in the image and likeness of God. Philosophy became the search for the ultimate
explanation of things, eventually leading to the truth about God. What man needed to do was to
contemplate God and his creation; his actions were to conform to the natural moral law implanted
in his reason.

A. Scholasticism – A system of logic, philosophy and theology that was taught by the schoolmen
of the 6th-16th centuries based on Christian writings and Aristotelian logic
Scholasticism is derived from the Latin word scholasticus which means “that which
belongs to the school,” and was a method of learning taught by the academics (or school people)
of medieval universities. Scholasticism originally started to reconcile the philosophy of the
ancient classical philosophers with medieval Christian theology.
Scholasticism gets its start with late ancient figures like (early church fathers) St. Ambrose
and St. Augustine who attempted to use philosophy and philosophical reason to help explain the
doctrine and mysteries of the church. Ambrose and Augustine were among the first Church
fathers to marry Christian sensibilities to Greek philosophy. The synthesis of Greek Philosophy
and Christian Doctrine is the heart of scholasticism.
The main figures of scholasticism were Peter Abelard, Albertus Magnus, Duns Scotus,
William of Ockham, Bonaventure and, above all, Thomas Aquinas, whose Summa Theologica is
an ambitious synthesis of Greek philosophy and Christian doctrine with the influence from
Aristotle and Plato.
1. Early scholasticism (5th or 6th centuries)
Charlemagne, advised by Peter of Pisa and Alcuin of York, attracted the scholars of
England and Ireland, and by his decree in 787AD, schools in every abbey in his empire were
established. Schools, from which the name scholasticism is derived, became centers of medieval
learning.
Anselm of Laon systematized the production of the gloss on Scripture, followed by the
rise to prominence of dialectic 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.
2. High scholasticism (13th and early 14th centuries)
The universities developed in the large cities of Europe during this period, and rival
clerical orders within the church began to battle for political and intellectual control over these
centers of educational life.

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 The two main orders founded in this period were the Franciscans and the Dominicans. The
Franciscans were founded by Francis of Assisi in 1209. The Dominican order was founded by St
Dominic in 1215.
3. Second Scholasticism (16th century)
Second Scholasticism is a term applied to the revival of the scholastic system of
philosophy in the 16th century. It arose partly as a reaction to the Protestant reformation which
emphasized a return to the language of the Bible, and the Fathers of the Church. Second
Scholasticism was helped by the founding in 1540 of the Society of Jesus (the Jesuits) by Ignatius
Loyola with the approval of Pope Paul III.
4. Lutheran scholasticism (16th century)
This developed gradually during the era of Lutheran Orthodoxy, primarily in response to
the rise of second scholasticism in Roman Catholicism. Lutheran scholasticism utilized the
scholastic form of philosophic argumentation from the pre-Reformation Church in order to define
the Lutheran faith and defend it against the polemics of opposing parties.

B. Scholastic Method
The scholastics would choose a book (say, the Bible) by a renowned scholar, author, as a
subject for investigation. By reading it thoroughly and critically, the disciples learned to
appreciate the theories of the author. 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.
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.
2 Ways of argument analysis:
1. Philological analysis: Words were examined and argued to have multiple meanings
2. Logical analysis: This relied on the rules of formal logic to show that contradictions did not
exist but were subjective to the reader.
Two methods of teaching
1. 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.
2. Disputatio: it goes right to the heart of scholasticism.
Two types of Disputatio:
1. Disputationes: the first was the “ordinary” type, whereby the question to be disputed was
announced beforehand;
2. Quodlibetal: whereby the students proposed a question to the teacher without prior preparation.
Students then rebutted the response. Teacher will summarize all arguments and present his
final position the following day, riposting all rebuttals.
C. Prominent Figures of Scholasticism
a.) Saint Augustine
Saint Augustine’s philosophy of man reconciles and brings together to an admirable
synthesis the wisdom of the Greek philosophy and the divine truths contained in the Scriptures.
What was perfectly perceived as god in Plato’s idea of the Absolute Good, is now seen by
Augustine with the aid of the light of divine revelation as the living and personal God, the creator
of all things and the supreme ruler of the universe. So, the idea of the Good of Plato is revealed, to
Augustine as the living reality, God. Man as created in the image and likeness of God is the result
of the overflowing love of God. The abilities of man such as intelligence, will, goodness,
freedom, power, etc, are indications of his limited participation of the nature of God who is
Absolute Spirit, Intelligence, Good, Will, Freedom, Power, Freedom and Holiness.

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 Man seeks happiness, ever longing for the type of happiness that will satisfy to the fullest
measure, his deep yearnings. Man longs for perfect and enduring happiness. Happiness comes
with the possession of some good. The goods of the body and the goods of the world are wealth,
beauty, honor, fame, power, women etc. but these are unstable, finite and ephemeral. Augustine
experienced all these earthly goods but was never satisfied especially when he was so much
influenced with the doctrine of Manichaeism. After being converted as a catholic through the
ever-ardent prayers of his mother, Saint Monica, Saint Augustine found what he had been
yearning for. That was why in one of his books, he wrote: “my heart is restless, oh God, until it
rests in thee.”
b.) Saint Thomas Aquinas
St. Thomas is generally acclaimed as the greatest theologian of mankind. His teachings are
mainly embodied in his two monumental works: the Summa Theologica and the Summa Contra
Gentiles.
In philosophy which employs the natural powers of human reason alone in its
investigations, Aquinas followed fundamentally the teachings of his great predecessor, Aristotle,
whom he honored with the exclusive title, “The Philosopher”. However, St. Thomas saw farther
and beyond the vision of Aristotle who relied only on the natural powers of human reason and
experience in his search for truth.
Like Aristotle, Aquinas proclaimed that supremacy of reason in man, and maintained that
man can know the truth with certainty by the use of his reason. Yet Aquinas stressed that there are
some truths which cannot be known by human reason alone which can be known only with the aid
of the light of divine revelation. Yet, the two truths, ie., those known through reason and divine
revelation can never contradict each other, because they emanate from the same source, God who
is TRUTH itself.
To illustrate, let us take up the concept of god by Aristotle. Man can know and validly
prove god’s existence by reasoning, as shown in the conclusions of Aristotle’s arguments to prove
the existence of god. For Aristotle, god is: Prime Mover, First Cause, Perfect Good, Final Cause
and Good of all Things. St. Thomas Aquinas upheld these arguments as valid and true, and in fact
adopted these proofs in his Quinque Viae (Five Ways) to prove God’s existence. Yet, he saw their
limitations: they do not reveal the nature of God as we know Him from the Bible and Christian
Teaching – as a Personal God, our loving Father, Redeemer and Benefactor to whom we pray.

The Five Cosmological Proofs of God’s Existence:

1. Proof from Motion
2. Proof from Efficient Cause
3. Proof from Necessary Being versus Possible Being
4. Proof from Degrees of Perfection
5. Proof from the Order of the Universe
D. Neo-Scholasticism
It is the revival and development from the second half of the nineteenth century of
medieval scholastic philosophy. It has sometimes been called neo-Thomism partly because
Thomas Aquinas in the 13th century gave to scholasticism a final form, partly because the idea
gained ground that only Thomism could infuse vitality into 12th-century scholasticism.
Status of Religion
Religion is the all-inclusive context of human life, the truths of which we posses by means
of reason and revelation. Religion is somewhat similar to that of state with an authority of
knowledge.
Two Kinds of Theology
1. Natural Theology – reliance on the great philosophers like Aristotle

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2. Supernatural Theology – comprise of the teachings of Roman Catholic Church – the only
institution stemming directly from Christ and the Apostles, and who is the oracle of the
revealed truth.
The Argument for the Existence of God
1. External physical world we see existence which is unyielding independent of us is actual,
present, impersonal existence.
- Different kinds of objects and entities which possess through cycle of generation and dissolution
(change and decay).
- Animal and human are born, grow, reach their prime, decline, die, and decay
- All the variety of essence – there is commonness of existence
2. Relations of cause and effect
- Common substratum of existence
- There is ultimate efficient cause for all the different varieties and stages of being which
constitute the physical universe
- This ultimate cause is the Unmoved Mover, that existence which is the common foundation of
all existing things.
- This argument considered adequate to demonstrate the existence or essence of God.
The Nature of God
1. God is perfect
2. God is immanent in His creation
3. God is absolutely subsistent
4. Existence and essence are identical
5. God is pure actuality; there is no potentiality in Him
6. The goodness of God and the being of God are identical
7. The eternity of God transcends all the time limitations and measures
8. God is a necessity being and all other individuals excluded from being what He is by virtue of
what He is
The Nature of Man
Essential character that constitute a man:
1. Body - is the material principle in man
2. Soul - is the rational-spiritual principle in man
Three specific things of man’s nature as moral being and his moral conditions:
1. The natural and normal end he has as his goal in life by virtue of his being a man, and the
power this ends has over his action
2. His possession of freedom of will
3. The privations of his will which results in sinful acts
Strengths of Realism
1. Principle: “Whatever is real is independent of every finite individual who may come to know
it”.
2. Realism demands and recognizes the importance of relation to that which is beyond us.
Weaknesses of Realism
1) Reality is capable of interpretation
2) Embrace pluralism in preference to a more unified view of reality
3) Dualism of the existence side and the value or essence side
4) Conception of the pupil is not adequate
5) Realism as educational philosophy places too much confidence in the transmission of content
6) Too much stress upon the formation of the pupil

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 The Interplay of Reason and Faith
Francis Matay-eo

Where does reason end and faith begin? At first blush, it seems that we are going back to
the century old controversy between faith and reason in that they are always competing for
primacy, monopoly of truth, and more so independence. One argument is that reason and faith
cannot go hand in hand because they are of different language game. Another claim is that reason
stops when one can no longer find answers to his/her questions and one opts to bank on faith.
Further, faith loses its face value if it is blinded or has an irrational basis. One of the issues where
the two make a great impact is regarding the proof of existence of a supreme
being/intelligence/designer because it will lay down the framework of all justifications. Reason
tries to exhaust all possible explanations but faith simply claims on belief especially on divine
revelation.
The scholastic Thomas Aquinas maintains that the truth of faith is compatible with the
truths of reason. Still, he regards faith with a higher level than that of reason; hence, it should be
at the service of faith; philosophy is the handmaid of theology: philosophiae ancilla theologiae.
Yet, that is very understandable to a personality who comes from a theological and religious
background and whose purpose is to reconcile the difference by suiting the ‘natural revelation’ of
reason to serve divine revelation as claimed by the Catholic Church. Kierkegaard would say
otherwise that it is inappropriate to base belief on reason so he would rather talk about the
irrationality of the leap of faith. Atheists, agnostics and skeptics would come forward and lay also
their own claim on the matter.
Is the question a misplaced query when related to human experience? A Jesuit writer
James Martin was once asked by a young woman who lost touch with her church about how to
find God, but James could hardly provide a convincing answer for her. The woman was skeptical
of his answers. She is intelligent, well-educated and lives in a secular culture. But, she is
searching for meaning. We share the same dilemma with this woman. We live in a world where
we are taught that life is a double tension of generation and corruption, of love and indifference,
of sociality and individuality, of certainty and surprises, of tragedy and romance, and of joys and
tears.
At the heart of human experience is a gray area where we no longer distinguish which is
reason and which is faith, which is black and which is white. The fragility of human experience
leads us to intellectus querens fidem: an understanding in search of faith and credemus sic ut
possumus intellego: we believe so that we can understand. Through human experience, we realize
that life reaches beyond worldly adventures, common sense, rationality and faith. It is no longer a
question of what ends and what begins but a lingering between faith and reason as the search
continues…
At the end of the day, the challenge is to see the interplay of faith and reason: it should be
a faith that seeks understanding and a reason that is enlightened by faith. Every person of reason
and faith is confronted to keep an open mind on both no matter how difficult the encounter may
seem to be.
John Paul II in his Encyclical Fides et Ratio puts it beautifully that…Faith and reason are
like two wings on which the human spirit rises to the contemplation of truth…so that men and
women may also come to the fullness of truth about themselves…

Assessment:
1. Make a one page written reaction and/or critique from the above philosophical reflection
showing higher order thinking appropriate for a graduate student. Use a long yellow paper and
please make your handwriting readable.

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Reference:

Butler, Donald J. Four Philosophies and Their Practices in Education and Religion