Philosophy and Civilization in the Middle Ages

PHILOSOPHY AND CIVILIZATION IN THE MIDDLE AGES LOUIS CLARK VANUXEM FOUNDATION PHILOSOPHY AND CIVILIZATION IN THE MIDDLE AGES BY MAURICE DsWULF PROFESSOR OF PHILOSOPHY IN THE UNIVERSITY OF LOUVAIN AND IN HARVARD UNIVERSITY MEMBER OF ACADEMIES OF BRUSSELS AND OF MADRID PRINCETON Princeton University Press 1922 PREFACE THE material of these lectures, which I had the honor of delivering at Princeton University, on the Vanuxem Foundation, was prepared, during the War, at the Universities of Harvard, Poitiers, and Toronto. Certain portions of the work, relatively few, have already appeared in the form of articles, viz. part of Chapter I in the Revue de Mttaphys ique et de Morale, July, 1918 Chapter IV, ii, in the Philosophical Review, July, 1918 Chapter V, iii, in the International Journal of Ethics, January, 1919 Chapter III, ii, and Chapter VII, i-v, in the Harvard Theological Review, October, 1918. These now take their place as integral parts of what may be regarded as a supplement to my His tory of Mediaeval Philosophy. The purpose of the study as here presented is to approach the Middle Ages from a new point of view, by showing how the thought of the period, metaphysics included, is intimately connected with the whole round of Western civilization to which it belongs. My work represents simply an attempt to open the way it makes no pretense to exhaustive treatment of any of the innumerable problems in volved in so vast a subject. I desire to express my cordial thanks to the friends who have aided me in translating these lee Vi PREFACE tures, in particular to Mr, Daniel Sargent, of Har vard University. And it is a special duty and pleasure to acknowledge my obligations to Profes sor Horace C. Longwell, of Princeton University, who has offered many valuable suggestions while assisting in the revision of the manuscript and in the task of seeing the work through the press. Harvard University January, 1022 ANALYTICAL TABLE OF CONTENTS CHAPTER ONE INTRODUCTION i. Relational aspects of philosophy in the Middle Ages. ii. Methods, iii. The importance of the twelfth century and of the thirteenth century in mediaeval civilization iv. Sur vey of these centuries. CHAPTER TWO SURVEY OP CIVILIZATION IN THE TWELFTH CENTURY i. Feudal Europe, ii. Catholic influences Cluny, Citeaux, the bishops, the Pope. iii. A new spirit the value and dignity of the individual man. iv. New forms of art. v. The twelfth century one of French influences. CHAPTER THREE THE CIVILIZATION AS REFLECTED IN PHILOSOPHY i. Location of philosophical schools invasion of French schools by foreigners, ii. Delimitation of the several sci ences philosophy distinct from the seven liberal arts and from theology, iii. Harmony of the feudal sense of personal worth with the philosophical doctrine that the individual alone exists, iv. The feudal civilization and the anti-realistic solution of the problem of universals. CHAPTER FOUR THE GREAT AWAKENING OF PHILOSOPHY IN THE THIRTEENTH CENTURY i. The causes The acquired momentum, ii. The rise of the Universities Paris and Oxford, iii. The establishment of the mendicant orders Dominicans and Franciscans, iv. The acquaintance with new philosophical works translations, v. General result among the numerous systems the schol astic philosophy issues as dominant, vi. The comprehensive classification of knowledge. Viii CONTENTS CHAPTER FIVE UNIFYING AND COSMOPOLITAN TENDENCIES i. Need of universality the law of parsimony. ii. Excess resulting from the felt need of simplifying without limit the geocentric system and the anthropocentric conception, iii. The society of mankind f university humana in its theoretical and practical forms, iv. Cosmopolitan tenden cies. CHAPTER SIX OPTIMISM AND IMPEBSONALITT i. Optimism in philosophy, in art, in religion, ii. Imperson ality, iii. History of philosophy and literary attribution. iv. Perenniality. CHAPTER SEVEN SCHOLASTIC PHILOSOPHY AND THE RELIGIOUS SPIRIT i...