Scholastic Philosophy: Key Figures and Concepts
The Ontological Argument of St. Anselm
The theme of St. Anselm’s philosophy is essentially theological. He was one of the initiators of natural theology, seeking to find necessary reasons for the truths accepted by faith. His philosophy focuses less on nature as a divine creation and more on the rational explanation of faith. The most fertile and original part of Anselm’s thought lies in his demonstrations of God’s existence, primarily found in his two most important works: Monologium and Proslogion.
Read MoreThe Specificity of Human Beings: Exploring the Essence of Humanity
The Specificity of Human Beings
Differences with Animal Ancestors
Biochemistry, Genetics, and Anatomical Differences
From a biochemical point of view, there are no major genetic differences between humans and apes. Humans have 23 pairs of chromosomes, while great apes have 24 pairs.
However, the anatomical differences are significant and must have been favored by natural selection. The most important ones are:
- Reduction of the size of teeth and jaws
- The shape of the hand and its ability
- The upright position
Metaphysics: Exploring the Nature of Reality
Introduction
The human mind, understanding, consciousness, the essence, the soul, and their psychic products are all ultimately related to the physical world. Idealists and spiritualists claim that the true spirit is the explanatory element of reality. Which of the two is the defining element of reality? What is their relationship? What are their features?
Fundamental Characteristics of Reality
Unit or Multiple
Monism: Reality is constituted by a single fundamental element. This element could be material
Read MoreNietzsche’s Philosophy: Beyond Good and Evil, Towards the Superman
1. The Death of God and the Last Man
The “Madman” and the Void
In the second section of Thus Spoke Zarathustra, Zarathustra encounters a “madman” who proclaims the death of God. This event, according to Nietzsche, signifies a profound shift in human understanding. God’s death leaves a void, a sense of disorder and a lack of grounding for morality. The madman, acutely aware of this void, is the first to recognize the implications of God’s absence.
Humanity After God
Nietzsche predicts that after the
Read MorePresocratic Philosophers and the Arche
The Pre-Socratics
The Presocratics sought the arche—the essence of reality, the unchanging principle of permanence.
Thales of Miletus (7th-6th Century BC)
We know this author through the writings of later philosophers like Aristotle. For Thales, the arche is water (physically). This has two meanings:
- A mythological sense (the gods of the sea)
- A metaphysical sense where water is the source of being, an indispensable source of life present in every object and animal.
For him, reason was not a concept
Read MoreThe Philosophy of St. Thomas Aquinas: Faith, Reason, and the Existence of God
The Epistemological Question of Knowing God
Can We Know God?
St. Thomas Aquinas addresses the question of whether it is possible to know God. He argues that the existence of contingent things in nature, things that may or may not be, points to a necessary being. Since something cannot come from nothing, these contingent things must originate from a pre-existing necessary being, which is what we call God. Aquinas views this as evidence for God’s existence. He defines contingent as that which exists
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