CHAPTER XV--THE MIDDLE AGES
(How does art mime the culture? How is the painting nominalistic
and realistic?)
CHAPTER XV--THE MIDDLE AGES
(How does art mime the culture? How is the painting nominalistic
and realistic?)
I. ANOTHER POSTCARD TO HILDE C/O SOPHIE: THE P.S.'s ARE ESPECIALLY CRYPTIC. REMEMBER SOPHIE IS READING THAT SOPHIE DOES NOT UNDERSTAND, BUT HILDE MIGHT? MAKE SENSE YET?
A. CLUE: “A WEEK OR TWO FOR SOPHIE DOES NOT HAVE TO MEAN THAT LONG FOR US.” (P. 163)
B. RELIGIOUS WARS IN THE MIDDLE EAST HAVE WHAT CONNECTION OR LACK TO PHILOSOPHY?
C. WE MUST REPEATEDLY ASK,
(WHAT IS THE LESSON OF PHILOSOPHY???, P. 163)
II. HILDE KNOWS MORE ABOUT SOPHIE THAN SOPHIE KNOWS OF HILDE?: PAGE 163--HOW IS THIS POSSIBLE. ON PAGE 164 WE HAVE ANOTHER CLUE..WHAT DOES HILDE HAVING TO BE ON 'OUR SIDE' MEAN BEFORE HER FATHER GETS HOME MEAN?
A. A PHONE CALL ANNOUNCES THE TERMINATION OF ALBERTO'S LETTERS--WHY? CHRONOLOGICALLY, WHAT MAKES A FACE TO FACE MEETING NECESSARY.
B. A KEY FIGURE WILL BE BERKELEY.
C. ALBERTO AND SOPHIE FINALLY MEET AT THE CHURCH.
D. SOPHIE LIES TO HER MOM ABOUT MEETING KNOX AT THE CHURCH. WHY? IF YOU WERE SOPHIE'S MOTHER, WOULD YOU WANT YOUR DAUGHTER TO BE DOING THESE THINGS? ONE OF MY STUDENTS QUIPPED THAT SOPHIE'S MOTHER SHOULD CALL THE FBI. WHAT IS THE LESSON OF PHILOSOPHY?
E. HOW IS HILDE'S FATHER CLOSING IN?
III. THE MEETING AT THE CHURCH AND THE "PHILOSOPHICAL CLOCK”
A. MIDDLE AGES = 4:
1-- 5 TO 7 AND 8 TO 10 = NOTHING (DARK AGES--IS THE DESIGNATION FAIR?)
2--11 TO 13-- HIGH GOTHIC = (CATHEDRALS)
3--14 HOURS--TRANSITION TO THE RENAISSANCE
B. 529--THE CLOSING OF PLATO’S ACADEMY.
C. FEUDALISM-- “THE CANTERBURY TALES.”
IV. THE THREE DIVISIONS OF THE OLD ROMAN EMPIRE.
A. ROME---LATIN AND CHRISTIAN.
B. CONSTANTINOPLE---GREEK CHRISTIANITY.
C. ARABIA--MUSLIM CULTURE: DOES THE CHAPTER EXPLAIN WHY 9-11 WAS 'FATED' TO HAPPEN?
D. WOULD WE BE ENJOYING THE FRUITS OF THE SCIENTIFIC REVOLUTION WITHOUT ARABIC CONTRIBUTIONS?
V. THE ELEMENTS OF MEDIEVAL PHILOSOPHY:
A. NOMINALISM AND REALISM--THE PROBLEM OF UNIVERSALS.
B. FAITH AND REASON--WHAT IS THE PROCESS OF EPISTEMOLOGY?
C. PHILOSOPHERS:
1--AUGUSTINE - (430)- STOICISM - PLATO--IS THERE A CONTRADICTION?
a--HIS CITY OF GOD = CHURCH.
b--WHO CAN BE SAVED? HOW?
c--WILL THE DIVINE DIRECTS MAN’S SALVATION HISTORY?
2--AQUINAS - (1274) - ARISTOTLE:
a--TRANSLATIONS OF ARISTOTLE FROM GREEK AND ARABIC INTO LATIN.
b--FAITH AND REASON ARE NEEDED: THE LOGIC OF ARISTOTLE.
c--SCHOLASTICISM : THE SYLLOGISM: WILL ORDER CHURCH DOCTRINE.
1--GOD’S EXISTENCE CAN BE PROVED = LOGIC.
2--RECALL ARISTOTLE'S LAWS OF CAUSALITY.
D--WE CAN KNOW GOD BY WHAT HE CREATES--See my British Literature web site: Note especially Troilus and Cressida (Renaissance) and Essay on Man (Neo-classical by Pope). A good secondary source is The Elizabethan World Picture by Tillyard.
VI. PHILOSOPHICALLY AND HISTORICALLY, THE TWO MOST SIGNIFICANT MOMENTS IN THIS CHAPTER OCCUR ON PAGE 172 ("The question is whether we must simply believe...), AND PAGE 178 ("No, these so-called verities....). Why?
VII. APPLICATION OF THE ABOVE TO THE PROBLEM SOPHIE MUST FACE...THE EXISTENCE OF HILDE (p. 181 ff):
A. WHAT DOES HILDE HAVE TO DO WITH ALL OF THIS?
B. POSTCARDS? RED SCARFS? GREEN WALLET? STOCKING?
C. WHY DOES ALBERTO SAY THAT HILDE'S DAD SHOULD BE ASHAMED? ASHAMED OF WHAT, AND HOW CAN HE SAY THAT? (P. 182). "CAN" HAS MORE THAN ONE MEANING.
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MIDDLE AGES AS THE 'DARK AGES'? WHY IS THE MIDDLE AGES AN INTELLECTUAL TURNING POINT? |
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VIII. NOTICE THE INFLUENCE WORKING IN THE HISTORY OF PHILOSOPHY:
A. FROM PLATO TO AUGUSTINE--what is the metaphysics and epistemology?
B. FROM ARISTOTLE TO AQUINAS--what is the metaphysics and epistemology?
FOR ST. THOMAS...
IT WOULD BE WELL TO READ AQUINAS' SUMMA THEOLOGICA, THE SUPREME 'CATECHISM' OF THE CHURCH, AND ONE OF THE GREATEST INTELLECTUAL ACHIEVEMENTS IN WESTERN CIVILIZATION: THE FUSION OF CATHOLICISM WITH ARISTOTLE.