Western European scholasticism.

This word became common, and there is probably someone who would not hear of it.Scholastica ... What is it, however, will tell you exactly not everyone.Now we have the opportunity to understand all this in detail.The word itself was born in the era of feudal relations and the establishment of so-called "Carolingian Renaissance."In those days, he dominated the patristic and scholastic philosophy.The first dealt with the validity of the discipline of Christian dogma.However, it is almost exhausted, since the Roman Catholic Church established itself as dominant.A scholasticism?What is it described in the era?Then the so-called comments on these tenets, and work on their classification.

This trend in the history of Christian thought became dominant in the medieval era.The word itself comes from the Greek word "cleave" ("school").Initially, comment and organize art developed in the monastery school and then at university.Its history can be divided into three periods.First - this time originated scholasticism.This period usually begins with Boethius and complete Thomas Aquinas.The second stage - the philosophy of the "angelic doctor" and his followers.And finally, the later period - the fourteenth-fifteenth century - when scholasticism began outlive itself as a major discipline, particularly in relation to the natural sciences.That's when she called the fire of criticism towards themselves.

If we ask ourselves: "Scholastica - what is it?What are the problems it raised? "- The answer is as follows.Philosophers at the time was not engaged in counting the number of strokes on the tip of the needle as it is often joking and interested in questions of the relationship of knowledge and faith, reason and faith, as well as the nature and existence.In addition, one of the hottest topics for discussion at that time was really a problem of so-called universal categories.Representatives of different views on this issue were called realists and nominalists.

One of the first great scholastics considered Johannes Scotus Eriugena, who was well known at the court of Charlemagne.He even dared to answer the famous ruler and risky witty joke.When he asked the philosopher, what's the difference between livestock and Scot (a play on words based on the Latin script origin thinker), he replied that it is the length of the table.The fact that Erigena and Carl sat opposite.The emperor realized his indignity hint and did not continue.John Scott put forward the idea that between this religion and philosophy, there is no contradiction, as the criterion of truth is the mind.

In the XII century - in the era of the Crusades and the establishment of universities - the most outstanding scholastics were John Rostsellin and Anselm of Canterbury.The latter was to express the idea that thinking must be subordinated to the faith.The era of prosperity scholastics accounts for a very turbulent period in the life of Western Europe.Then Christian philosophers through the Arabic translations from Greek Aristotle discovered and began to organize comments to the sacred texts on the basis of the system and the logic of the latter.Thomas Aquinas and Albert the Great are considered the thinkers who have created the most consistent and complete theory of this kind.They subjected the philosophy of theology.

Do not forget that in those days the opponents of the dominant trends in Christian theology - especially the so-called Cathars - also wrote many treatises and commentaries.They, in turn, have the same scholastic arguments categories and logical reasoning, using the Neo-Platonic and Aristotelian.But the destruction of this trend in theology as a result of fierce ideological struggle has left us the opportunity to fully appreciate the level of philosophical opponents of Catholicism.

In the XIV century scholasticism discovered the so-called "Via Nouveau" - a new way.We owe this to the Oxford School (Occam, Duns Scotus), which chose to make the object of knowledge only really existing things, what opened the way to modern methods of natural and mathematical sciences.However, all previous philosophy has formed the basic principles of the scientific approach, characteristic of university education, including concepts such as links and scientific apparatus.So the question: "Scholastica - what is it?" - We may answer that.This is a very important period in the history of philosophy, without which there would be neither modern science nor the main approaches to its methodology.