Page:Encyclopædia Britannica, Ninth Edition, v. 21.djvu/449

Rh SCHOLASTICISM 427 Vlexandev )f Hales. Mendi- jant friars. John of Kochelle. which the church accommodated itself to, and as it were took possession of, the Aristotelian philosophy. Growing knowledge of Aristotle's works and the multiplication of translations enabled students to distinguish the genuine Aristotle from the questionable accompaniments with which he had made his first appearance in Western Europe. Fresh translations of Aristotle and Averroes had already been made from the Arabic by Michael Scot and Hermannus Alemannus, at the instance of the emperor Frederick II.; so that the whole body of Aristotle's works was at hand in Latin translations from about 1210 to 1225. Soon afterwards efforts began to be made to secure more literal translations direct from the Greek. Eobert Grosseteste (ob. 1253) was one of the first to stir in this matter, and he was followed by Albertus Magnus and Thomas Aquinas. Half a century thus sufficed to remove the ban of the church, and soon Aristotle was recognized on all hands as "the philosopher" par excellence, the master of those that know. It even became customary to draw a parallel between him as the praecursor Christi in naturalibus and John the Baptist, the praecursor Christi in gratuitis. This unquestioned supremacy was not yielded, however, at the very beginning of the period. The earlier doctors who avail themselves of Aristotle's works, while bowing to his authority implicitly in matters of logic, are generally found defending a Christianized Platonism against the doctrine of the Metaphysics. So it is with Alexander of Hales (ob. 1245), the first Scholastic who was acquainted with the whole of the Aristotelian works and the Arabian commentaries upon them. He was more of a theologian than a philosopher; and in his chief work, Summa Uni- versae Theologiae, he simply employs his increased philo- sophical knowledge in the demonstration of theological doctrines. So great, however, did his achievement seem that he was honoured with the titles of Doctor Irrefraga- bilis and Theologorum Monarcha. Alexander of Hales be- longed to the Franciscan order, and it is worth remarking that it was the mendicant orders which now came forward as the protagonists of Christian learning and faith and, as it were, reconquered Aristotle for the church. During the first half of the 13th century, when the university of Paris was plunged in angry feuds with the municipality, feuds which even led at one time (1229) to the flight of the students in a body, the friars established teachers in their convents in Paris. After the university had settled its quarrels these continued to teach, and soon became formidable rivals of the secular lecturers. After a severe struggle for academical recognition they were finally admitted to all the privileges of the university by a bull of Alexander IV. in 1253. The Franciscans took the lead in this intellectual movement with Alexander of Hales and Bonaventura, but the Dominicans were soon able to boast of two greater names in Albert the Great and Thomas Aquinas. Still later Duns Scotus and Occam were both Franciscans. Alexander of Hales was succeeded in his chair of instruction by his pupil John of Rochelle, who died in 1271 but taught only till 1253. His treatise De Anima, on which Haureau lays particular stress, is interesting as showing the greater scope now given to psychological discussions. This was a natural result of acquaintance with Aristotle's De Anima and the numerous Greek and Arabian commentaries upon it, and it is observable in most of the writers that have still to be mentioned. Even the nature of the universals is no longer discussed from a purely logical or metaphysical point of view, but becomes connected with psychological questions. And, on the whole, the widening of intellectual interests is the chief feature by which the second period of Scholasti- cism may be distinguished from the first. In some respects there is more freshness and interest in the speculations General which burst forth so ardently in the end of the llth and character- the first half of the 12th century. Albert and Aquinas isticsof no doubt stood on a higher level than Anselrn and Abelard, p^d. not merely by their wider range of knowledge but also by the intellectual massiveness of their achievements ; but it may be questioned whether the earlier writers did not possess a greater force of originality and a keener talent. Originality was at no time the strong point of the Middle Ages, but in the later period it was almost of necessity buried under the mass of material suddenly thrust upon the age, to be assimilated. On the other hand, the influence of this new material is everywhere evident in the wider range of questions which are discussed by the doctors of the period. Interest is no longer to the same extent concentrated on the one question of the universals. Other questions, says Haureau, are " placed on the order of the day, the question of the elements of substance, that of the principle of individuation, that of the origin of the ideas, of the manner of their existence in the human understanding and in the divine thought, as well as various others of equal interest " (i. 420). Some of these, it may be said, are simply the old Scholastic problem in a different garb ; but the extended horizon of which Haureau speaks is amply proved by mere reference to the treatises of Albert and St Thomas. They there seek to reproduce for their own time all the departments of the Aristotelian system. John of Rochelle was succeeded in 1253 by John Bona- Fidanza, better known as Bonaventura (1221-74), who Centura, had also been a pupil of Alexander of Hales. But the fame of " the Seraphic Doctor " is connected more closely with the history of mysticism (see MYSTICISM) than with the main stream of Scholastic thought. Like his master, he defended Plato or what he considered to be the Platonic theory against the attacks of Aristotle. Thus he de- fended the universalia ante rem as exemplars existent in the divine intelligence, and censured Aristotle's doctrine of the eternity of the world. Among the earlier teachers and writers of this century we have also to name William William 01 of Auvergne (ob. 1249), whose treatises De Universo and Auvergne, De Anima make extensive use of Aristotle and the Arabians, but display a similar Platonic leaning. The existence of intellections in our minds is, he maintains, a sufficient demonstration of the existence of an intelligible world, just as the ideas of sense are sufficient evidence of a sensible world. This archetypal world is the Son of God and true God. Robert Grosseteste, important in the sphere Grosse- of ecclesiastical politics, has been already mentioned as teste. active in procuring translations of Aristotle from the Greek. He also wrote commentaries on logical and physical works of Aristotle. Michael Scot, the renowned wizard of popular Michael tradition, earned his reputation by numerous works on ^ cott astrology and alchemy. His connexion with philosophy was chiefly in the capacity of a translator. Vincent of Vincent of Beauvais (ob. 1264) was the author of an encyclopaedic work Beauvais. called Speculum Majus, in which, without much independent ability, he collected the opinions of ancient and mediaeval writers on the most diverse points, transcribing the fragments of their works which he deemed most interesting. Albertus Magnus introduces us at once to the great age Albert of Scholasticism. Born in Swabia in 1193, he lived to the ncl. great age of eighty-seven, dying at Cologne in 1280. The A( l uinas ' limits of his life thus include that of his still greater pupil Thomas Aquinas, who was born in 1227 and died while still comparatively young in 1274. For this reason, and because the system of Thomas is simply that of Albert rounded to a greater completeness and elaborated in parts by the subtle intellect of the younger man, it will be con- venient not to separate the views of master and scholar,