A History of Philosophy, Vol. 3: Ockham to Suárez (Classic Reprint)

Excerpt from A History of Philosophy, Vol. 3: Ockham to Su rez The assertion that the most important philosophical event in mediaeval philosophy was the discovery by the Christian West of the more or less complete works of Aristotle is an assertion which could, I think, be defended. When the work of the translators of the twelfth century and of the early part of the thirteenth made the thought of Aristotle available to the Christian thinkers Of western Europe, they were faced for the first time with what seemed to them a complete and inclusive rational system of philosophy which owed nothing either to Jewish or to Christian revelation, since it was the work Of a Greek philosopher. They were forced, therefore, to adopt some attitude towards it: they could not simply ignore it. Some of the attitudes adopted, varying from hostility, greater or less, to enthusiastic and rather uncritical acclamation, we have seen in the preceding volume. St. Thomas Aquinas's attitude was one of critical acceptance: he attempted to reconcile Aristotelianism and Christianity, not simply, of course, in order to avert the dangerous in&#64258;uence of a pagan thinker or to render him innocuous by utilizing him for 'apologetic' purposes, but also because he Sincerely believed that the Aris totelian philosophy was, in the main, true. Had he not believed this, he would not have adopted philosophical positions which, in the eyes of many contemporaries, appeared novel and suspicious. But the point I want to make at the moment is this, that in adopting a definite attitude towards Aristotelianism a thirteenth century thinker was, to all intents and purposes, adopting an attitude towards philosophy. The Significance of this fact has not always been realized by historians. Looking on mediaeval philosophers, especially those of the thirteenth century, as slavish adherents of Aristotle, they have not seen that Aristotelianism really meant, at that time, philosophy itself. Distinctions had already been drawn, it is true, between theology and philosophy; but it was the full appearance Of Aristotelianism on the scene which Showed the mediaevals the power and scope, as it were. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.

Politics & Social Sciences

FREDERICK COPLESTON

Philosophy

Forgotten Books

A detailed study, designed for use in Catholic seminaries, of classical philosophy, stressing the theories of Socrates, Plato, Aristotle, and their followers

A History of Philosophy (Vol 6)

DOUBLEDAY

A history of modern philosophy compiled by Frederick Copleston.

A History of Philosophy, Vol. 9: Maine De Biran to Sartre, Part 1: The Revolution to Henry Bergson

Bantam Doubleday Dell Publishi

Presents a comprehensive survey of German philosophy.

History of Philosophy, Volume IX: Maine de Biran to Sartre

Newman Press

Conceived originally as a serious presentatin of the development of philosophy for Catholic seminary students, Frederick Copleston's  nine-volume A History Of Philosophy has journeyed far beyond the modest purpose of its author to universal acclaim as the best history of philosophy in English.Copleston, an Oxford Jesuit of immense erudition who once tangled with A.J. Ayer in a fabled debate about the existence of God and the possibility of metaphysics, knew that seminary students were fed a woefully inadequate diet of theses and proofs, and that their familiarity with most of history's great thinkers  was reduced to simplistic caricatures.  Copleston set out to redress the wrong by writing a complete history of Western Philosophy, one crackling with incident an intellectual excitement - and one that gives full place to each thinker, presenting his thought in a beautifully rounded manner and showing his links to those who went before and to those who came after him.

A HISTORY OF PHILOSOPHY. VOL.5. HOBBES TO HUME.

Burns and Oates

A comparative study exploring the history & idealism of Eastern & Western philosphies. with dustjacket, 1982, clean copy

Religion and the One

Religion & Spirituality

Christian Books & Bibles

Continuum International Publishing Group

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