EARLY MIDDLE AGES:ST. AUGUSTINE

12 T H CENTURY:ABELARDANSELM

LOMBARDMAIMONIDES

PHILOSOPHERS

Augustine of Hippo

b. c. 354 in Thagaste, Numidia (in modern-day Souk Ahras, Algeria)

d. 430 in Hippo Regius, Numidia (in modern-day Annaba,

Algeria).

An unjust law is no law at all.

On Free Choice of the Will, 387-9 CE

Augustine of HippoSaintAugustine of Hippo, also known as Saint Augustine or

Saint Austin, was an early Christian theologian whose writings were very influential in the development of Western Christianity and Western philosophy. 

Born: November 13, 354 AD, TagasteDied: August 28, 430 AD, Hippo Regius, AlgeriaFull name: Aurelius Augustinus HipponensisNationality: AlgerianParents: Saint Monica, Patricius Aurelius

He converted to Christianity at the age of 31 and spent his career developing the theology of his faith. With the theology, it provided a means to conduct one’s life. His biggest works were the autobiographical Confessions (c. 400) and City of God (c. 420), which attempted to place Christianity standing in history.

His philosophy was a component of his faith with expositions on free will and ethics. While he felt a universal good exists, free will could create evil. He emphasized the fall of man and the curse of original sin, lifting only through God’s grace. Calvinists used the idea of the elect recipients of grace as part of their belief in predestination. Ludwig Wittgenstein spoke of his admiration of Augustine. He died as the Vandals were at the gates of Hippo

Peter Abelard

b. c. 1079 near Nantes, Franced. 1142 near Chalon-sur-Saône, France

Constant and frequent questioning is the first key to wisdom….For

through doubting we are led to inquire, and by

inquiry we perceive the truth.

He lived as a monk in various monasteries in France and his work, always controversial, was condemned in 1121. Bernard of Clairvaux called him heretic for Abelard’s attempt to define Plato as a Christian. Abelard’s belief that logic and faith were not mutually exclusive was a direct attack on the mysticism of St. Bernard. He held that sin was not so much an act but a mindset towards contempt of God. He condemned the notions of universals and also pointed out some of the discrepancies between scripture and early Christian writings.

He also provided a means of correcting such quagmires with a logical, scholastic approach. He most influential work is Sic et non, consisting of his revelation and correction of those quagmires. Some of his students included John of Salisbury and Arnold of Brescia. After his condemnation, he retired to the protection of another former pupil, Peter the Venerable, the abbot of Cluny.

Peter Lombard

Maimonides

b. c. 1135 in Códoba, Almoravid Empire (in modern-day Spain)d. 1204 in Fostat or Cairo, Egypt

Accept the truth from whatever source it comes.

Shemonah Peraqim, 1158

He is considered the greatest Jewish philosopher of the medieval world. The majority of his writing focused on Jewish law but his biggest philosophical contribution was the Guide for the Perplexed, influenced by the teachings of Aristotle. He made distinction between existence and essence and went so far as to say that a positive essence is not the result of God’s work.

Furthermore, he established the notion of God’s existence, as well as his nature. His mixture of the realist and the spiritual was part of his attempt to bring more rationalism to Judaism. This component of his work influenced Christian philosophers. His death sent the Jewish community in Egypt in collective mourning and he was later taken to Galilee to be buried.

Famous philosophy about life