Thomas Aquinas and Medieval Scholasticism: A Synthesis of Reason and Faith
Thomas Aquinas and Medieval Scholasticism
The Context of Scholasticism
The works of St. Thomas Aquinas showcase the relationship between cultural phenomena, philosophers, and theologians within medieval Christian scholasticism. This wasn’t the only scholasticism; Jewish and Arab scholasticism developed around the same time, or perhaps slightly earlier, with key figures like Ibn Gabirol and Maimonides in Jewish thought, and Avicenna and Averroes (the prominent commentator on Aristotle) in Arab thought.
Read MoreKant’s Moral Philosophy: Key Concepts and Formalism
1. Terms and Relationships
Duty: The necessity of acting out of respect for the law. Duty is always a priori, meaning it cannot be argued based on any phenomenon.
Soul: Kant considers the immortality of the soul, arguing that the soul is not a phenomenon but a noumenon. A noumenon is the union of all psychic phenomena. The soul is a postulate of practical reason, something that is not provable but must be assumed as a condition of morality. From pure reason, it is a transcendental ideal.
Reason: The
Read MoreMarxist Anthropology: Key Concepts and Social Impact
Anthropology of Marx
Karl Marx was born in 1818 in Trier, Rhineland, Prussia, and died in 1883. He was a 19th-century philosopher influential in social, economic, and political fields. His main influences include:
- The Left Hegelians, including Ludwig Feuerbach, whose materialistic turn influenced Marx’s philosophy and introduced the concept of alienation in the religious sphere.
- Utopian socialist ideas, in opposition to conservative thinkers, sensitive to the economic and social situation, advocating
St. Thomas Aquinas: His Philosophical and Historical Context
Historico-Philosophical Context of St. Thomas Aquinas
Thomas Aquinas was born north of Naples. He attended college in Roccasecca and entered the Dominican Order. He held a chair in Paris and returned to Italy to engage in teaching. He returned to Paris after Orvieto to reorganize the School of Philosophy and reread the works of Aristotle. He died in 1274 while traveling to the Council of Lyons. His most outstanding works include Summa Theologica, earning him the title of Angelic Doctor.
Socio-Economic
Read MoreMarx’s Intellectual Sources and Critique of Hegel
Marx’s thought draws from several sources, including Hegel’s German idealist philosophy, Feuerbach, French utopian socialism, and English economists like Adam Smith and David Ricardo. Before Marx, these thinkers, including Feuerbach, approached reality contemplatively and metaphysically. Marx’s materialism critiques previous materialism, emphasizing the transformation of reality rather than mere interpretation. This is evident in the historical and dialectical materialism proposed by Marx and Engels,
Read MoreKant’s Theory of Knowledge: A Priori Structures & Reality
Kant: Knowledge, Experience, and A Priori Structures
Experience and A Priori Forms of Sensibility
Knowledge begins with experience; however, experience is not given to the subject in advance. In fact, what is initially given to the subject is a chaotic mass of impressions. We can only speak of ‘experience’ from the moment that this sensory matter is organized by the a priori forms of sensibility inherent in the subject.
Thus, knowledge is a combination of two elements: one element comes from outside
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