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INTRODUCTION TO MEDIEVAL PHILOSOPHY IN VERSE
Contributed by
RAJNANDY
on
Saturday, 12th June 2010 @ 12:49:44 AM in AEST
Topic:
StoryPoetry
|
For all true lovers of Philosophy ! I will be submitting this serially , since it covers a thousand years of actual History ! I have tried to keep it simple & diluted , so that the readers can enjoy it, Even Without Having Read Philosophy !Sources for my work are books of Philosophy by Frank Thilly, Sir BertrandRussell & others . I also had been a student of Philosophy once ! Happy reading !
INTRODUCTION TO MEDIEVAL PHILOSOPHY THE HISTORY OF MEDIEVAL PHILOSOPHY IN VERSE BY RAJ NANDY
I HUMBLY INVOKE THE GODS THAT BE , AS I COMMENCE TO WRITE THE HISTORY OF MEDIEVAL PHILOSOPHY- AS A SEQUEL TO MY EARLIER HISTORY OF GREEK PHILOSOPHY, WITH ALL SINCERITY ! TO LEAVE BEHIND MY WORK FOR POSTERITY ! ALL COPY RIGTS ARE RESERVED BY - RAJ NANDY (65yrs) NEW DELHI 2010
INTRODUCTION
Background During the second half of 5th century CE , With the disintegration of the Roman civilization , There was also a decay of culture and of all shared institutions , - That had long sustained philosophic activity in late antiquity ! Thus Medieval Philosophy became deprived , - Of Greek language and classical texts and thoughts ; And only Latin had remained as a language , - For all intellectual discourse ! Latin provided access to Cicero , Seneca , and the Latin Church Fathers ; And to the works of St Augustine and those of Boethius ! Yet despite the demise of the Empires social structure , The Church had remained as the only institution , - Capable of supporting intellectual culture ! The Medieval philosopher mostly trained in ecclesiastical institutions , Were basically theologians , without any false pretension ! While Christianity provided a great stimulus , - for all philosophical speculations ! Thus Medieval Philosophy took roots in an intellectual environment , Permeated with religious texts and ideas , For its further advancement !
Time Frame : It becomes difficult to provide firm cut-off dates , Since Medieval Philosophy covers a wide and motley canvas , Which cannot be treated as unified or as homogeneous ! From the disintegration of the Roman Empire in the early 5th century AD , Till the fall of Constantinople to the Ottoman Turks in 1453 ; From the philosophy of St Augustine till the time of Descartes ; Covers a broad and sweeping canvas and a motley visage , Embodying a rich and most varied part of Western intellectual heritage !
Its Main Ingredients : Coming to the main ingredients of Medieval Philosophy ; - It contains classical and pagan elements of Greek philosophic speculations , Including those of later Neo-platonic version ; Mixed with the emerging influences of Christian religion ! It gets seasoned with flavouring from Jewish and Islamic intellectual heritage , Stirred and simmered for a period of about 1300 years or so , Resulting in a potent theological brew , - On which the Medieval Philosophy developed and grew !
Philosophys Quest : Philosophy in its eternal quest for wisdom and truth , When confronted with the question of good and evil , Now finds a newly emerging Christian faith , - Which was able to save mankind from the very devil ! And to recall what St Augustine had said , That one must begin to reason with faith , And believe in God to better human reason ; Since pursuit of knowledge without faith , - smacked of treason ! Philosophy now becomes a handmaiden of Theology ! Its logical contents and speculations were increasingly used , - To justify the new religion of Christianity ! Initially Medieval Philosophy began with the influence of Plato , But from 13th century onwards , the influence of Aristotle began to dominate the show ! Only to be later displaced by the inductive reasoning of the Renaissance , Ushering in a new era of scientific speculations and discourse !
Scope of Work : For better understanding I have divided my work into three sections ; Pre-Augustine , Augustine , and Post- Augustine ! Since St Augustine stands like a giant colossus , Whose shadow looms large over the entire Medieval canvas ; Thus providing a suitable reference point for easy demarcation for us ! So my work commences with Advent of Christianity and the Period of Evangelization ; With the pioneering work of Church Fathers , - Along with its many religious heresies and countless persecutions ! Section Two covers the philosophical work of great St. Augustine ; Finally , highlighting the work of those who spent their life-time , Justifying Gods existence with logical reasoning and faith , - Till it blossomed as Scholastic Philosophy and began to spread ; And their ceaseless efforts to synthesize Medieval faith and theology , - With Greek classical reasoning and philosophy ! .............................................................................. (Next portion will cover the "Advent of Christianty" -which forms the backbone of Medieval Philosophy !) Thanks for reading , -Raj NandY Bob Blackwell likes this poem ! "Raj, I have found your work most interesting to read. Thank you for all the research and writing!" ..............................................................................................................................................................................
Copyright ©
RAJNANDY
... [
2010-06-12 00:49:44] (Date/Time posted on
site)
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Re: INTRODUCTION TO MEDIEVAL PHILOSOPHY IN VERSE
(User Rating: 1 ) by iodinelove on
Monday, 14th June 2010 @ 12:00:06 AM AEST (User
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interesting. |
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