Philosophy 210 — Medieval Philosophy 9:00-10:00 MWF, MI 213

D. Vessey 363-2146 (Office) Office Hours: 210 MI

vesseyd@beloit.edu 368-9612 (Home) MW 10:00-11:00, 2:00-3:00

T 3:00-4:00

and by appointment

Required Texts:

Hyman and Walsh, Philosophy in the Middle Ages

Copleston, A History of Philosophy, Medieval Philosophy

A History of Philosophy: Late Medieval, Renaissance

Additional Photocopied Readings

Course Content

Around 374 St. Augustine wrote “That which we believe, we desire to know and understand” thereby inaugurating intense philosophical investigation into the nature of God and the creation; around 1324 William of Ockham wrote that God’s freedom and power are so absolute that “He can, if he wills, dispense with all order in awarding man final glory” thereby dispensing with the possibility of using reason to approach any matters divine. Between these figures lies the period of Western philosophy called “medieval” philosophy. Although issues of philosophy of religion dominate the period, tremendous advances were made in ethical theory, epistemology, and logic.

Course Method

This course has one and only one focus: understanding the philosophical views of Western, Medieval philosophy. Since reading and interpreting the texts will be the central focus of the course, the assignments will focus on facilitating an understanding of the reading. There are only three assignments: Motivated Questions, presentations, and ten page final paper. Every night before class by 9:00PM everyone must post a motivated question based on the reading on the phil210 listserv (phil210-l). Either the night before or the morning of the class everyone must read everyone else’s motivated questions. The class will use these questions as starting points for the discussion. The motivated questions can range from questions of interpretation to criticism but either way they must be more than mere questions (e.g. “What does Aquinas mean by “the first of all created things is being”?). Instead they must show a knowledge of the context and importance of the question. (e.g. How can Aquinas say both that being is created and that being is the proper name of God. It would seem that nothing created can serve to refer to something itself uncreated. ) In addition to the daily questions, everyone must sign up for one of the eight reoccurring themes of the course: Universals, Theories of Happiness, Natural Law Theory, Soul/Intellect, Predication of God, Epistemology, Faith and Reason, Proofs of God’s Existence. Each of these topics occurs four times during the semester and the student will prepare a presentation of the main ideas and arguments of the reading on the appropriate day. This presentation will include a two page handout containing a concise summary of the views presented in the reading. The presenter is also responsible for addressing the motivated questions on that day. The final paper will be a presentation and evaluation of the various positions taken on the selected theme. The typo policy (lose one grade for every four typos) applies to the presentation handouts and the paper. There will be no exams.

General Issues:

Universals: Class days 4, 19, 36, 30

Ethics—Happiness: Class days 7, 12, 27, 39

Ethics—Law: Class days 13, 17, 28, 34,

Soul/Intellect: Class days 5, 11, 14, 25

Predication of God: Class days 8, 16, 24, 31

Epistemology: Class days 3, 26, 33, 37

Faith and Reason: Class days 15, 21, 22, 38

Issues in Phil. Theology (Proofs of God, Creation): Class days 6, 18, 23, 32

Motivated Questions and Class Participation: 40%

Presentations: 30%

Final Paper: 30%

1. Wed, Jan. 14 Introductions, Augustine’s Life

2. Fri, Jan. 16 Augustine — Epistemology

Reading: H&W 26-33; Copleston 51-67

3. Mon, Jan. 19 Augustine — Epistemology

Reading: H&W 33-52

4. Wed, Jan. 21 Augustine — Free Will

Reading: H&W 52-68

5. Fri, Jan. 23 Augustine — The Soul

Reading: H&W 68-74; Copleston 74-80

6. Mon, Jan. 26 Augustine — God

Reading: H&W 75-79; Copleston 68-73

7. Wed, Jan. 28 Augustine — Ethics

Reading: H&W 89-111; Copleston 81-90

8. Fri, Jan. 30 Pseudo-Dionysius The Problem of Predication of God

Reading: “On the Divine Names” (Handout)

9. Mon, Feb. 2 The Origins of Jewish and Islamic Philosophy

Reading: Koran

10. Wed, Feb. 4 The Origins of Jewish and Islamic Philosophy

Reading: Palestinian Gemara

11. Fri, Feb. 6 The Beginnings of Jewish and Islamic Philosophy:

AlFarabi on the Intellect

Reading: H&W, 211-221; Copleston 186-190

12. Mon, Feb. 9 The Beginnings of Jewish and Islamic Philosophy

AlFarabi on Philosophy and the Best Life

Reading: H&W, 222-233

13. Wed, Feb. 11 The Beginnings of Jewish and Islamic Philosophy

Saadia on Creation and Ethics

Reading: H&W, 341-355

14. Fri, Feb. 13 The Height of Jewish and Islamic Philosophy

Averroes on the Intellect

Reading: H&W, 324-334 ; Copel., 196-200

15. Mon, Feb. 16 The Height of Jewish and Islamic Philosophy

Averroes on Philosophy and Religion

Reading:  H&W, 293-316

16. Wed, Feb. 18 The Height of Jewish and Islamic Philosophy

Maimonides on Predication

Reading: H&W, 369-390

17. Fri, Feb. 20 The Height of Jewish and Islamic Philosophy

Maimonides on Ethics

Reading: H&W, 403-419; Copleston, 201-204

18. Mon, Feb. 23 Anselm — The Cosmological Argument

Reading: H&W,147-151; Copleston, 156-165

19. Wed, Feb. 25 Abailard — The Problem of Universals

Reading: Copleston, 136-155; H&W, 186-188

20. Fri, Feb. 27 The Recovery of Aristotle

********BREAK********BREAK********BREAK********BREAK********

21. Mon, Mar. 9 Aquinas — Philosophy and Theology

Reading: H&W, 516-517; Copleston, 302-323

22. Wed, Mar. 11 Aquinas — The Role of Revelation in Philosophy

Reading: H&W 517-522;

23. Fri, Mar. 13 Aquinas — Proofs for God’s Existence

Reading: H&W 523-527; Copleston 336-346

24. Mon, Mar. 16 Aquinas — Predication and Divine Foreknowledge Reading: H&W 527-537; Copleston 347-362

25. Wed, Mar. 18 Aquinas — The Soul

Reading: H&W 541-550, Copleston, 375-387

26. Fri, Mar. 20 Aquinas — Epistemology

Reading: H&W 550-558; Copleston, 388-397

27. Mon, Mar. 23 Aquinas — Ethics

Reading: H&W 558-571; Copleston 398-411

28. Wed, Mar. 25 Aquinas — Law

Reading: H&W 571-579; Copleston 412-422

29. Fri, Mar. 27 (No Class)

30. Mon, Mar. 30 Aquinas — Universals

Reading: H&W 508-515; Copleston 332-335

31. Wed, Apr. 1 Scotus — Predication of God

Reading: H&W, 602-606; Copleston 518-534

32. Fri, Apr. 3 Scotus — Proof of God’s Existence

Reading: H&W 607-624

33. Mon, Apr. 6 Scotus — Epistemology

Reading: H&W 631-643 ; Copleston 487-499

34. Wed, Apr. 8 Scotus — Ethics

Reading: H&W, 643-646; Copleston 545-551

35. Fri, Apr. 10 Condemnation of 1277

Reading: H&W, 582-591

36. Mon, Apr. 13 Ockham — Universals

Reading: H&W, 662-670; Copleston, 56-61

Wed, Apr. 15 No Class

37. Fri, Apr. 17 Ockham — Epistemology

Reading: H&W, 670-679; Copleston, 62-71

38. Mon, Apr. 20 Ockham — God and Voluntarism

Reading: Handout; Copleston, 80-95

39. Wed, Apr. 22 Ockham — Ethics

Reading: H&W, 693-700, Copleston 101-110

40. Fri., Apr. 24 Dante and Humanism

41. Mon, Apr. 27 Philosophical Influences on the Protestant Reformation

42. Wed, Apr. 29 Review and Evaluations

FINAL EXAM PAPER DUE