Neo Scholastism, Strenghts & Weaknesses Of Realism

Bukidnon State UniversityGraduate External StudiesSurigao City Study Center

NeoNeo--ScholastismScholastism

Talk PointsA. Scholastism� About and History of Scholastism� Scholastic Method and Instruction

B.Neo-Scholastism� The Status of Religion� The Argument for the Existence of God� The Nature of God� The Nature of Man

C.Strengths and Weaknesses of Philosophy of Realism

NeoNeo--ScholastismScholastismScholastismScholastism

�Scholasticism is derived from the Latin word scholasticus which means "that [which] belongs to the school", and was a method of learning taught by the academics (or school people) of medieval universities circa 1100–1500.

�Scholasticism originally started to reconcile the philosophy of the ancient classical philosophers with medieval Christian theology.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scholasticism


� Scolasticism gets its start with late ancient figures like (early church fathers) St.Ambrose and St. Augustine who attempt to use Philosophy and Philosophical reason to help explain the doctrine and mysteries of the church.

� Ambrose and Augustine were among the first Church fathers to marry Christian sensabilities to Greek philosophy.

� The synthesis of Greek Philosophy and Christian Doctrine is the heart of scholasticism. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scholasticism


� The main figures of scholasticism were Peter Abelard, Albertus Magnus, Duns Scotus, William of Ockham, Bonaventure and, above all, Thomas Aquinas, whose Summa Theologica is an ambitious synthesis of Greek philosophy and Christian doctrine which influence from Aristotle and Plato.



Early scholasticism (5th or 6th centuries)�Charlemagne, advised by Peter of Pisa and Alcuin of York, attracted the scholars of England and Ireland, and by decree in AD 787 established schools in every abbey in his empire. Schools, from which the name scholasticism is derived, became centres of medieval learning.

�Anselm of Laon systematised the production of the gloss on Scripture, followed by the rise to prominence of dialectic in the work of Abelard, and the production by Peter Lombard of a collection of Sentences or opinions of the Church Fathers and other authorities.



High scholasticism (13th and early 14th centuries )�The universities developed in the large cities of Europe during this period, and rival clerical orders within the church began to battle for political and intellectual control over these centers of educational life.

�The two main orders founded in this period were the Franciscans and the Dominicans. The Franciscans were founded by Francis of Assisi in 1209. The Dominican order, founded by St Dominic in 1215



Second scholasticism (16th century)�Second Scholasticism is a term applied to the revival of the scholastic system of philosophy in the 16th century. �It arose partly as a reaction to the Protestant reformation which emphasised a return to the language of the Bible, and the Fathers of the Church. �Second scholasticism was helped by the founding in 1540 of the Society of Jesus (the Jesuits) by Ignatius Loyola with the approval of Pope Paul III.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Second_scholasticism


Lutheran scholasticism (16th century)�Developed gradually during the era of Lutheran Orthodoxy, primarily in response to the rise of second scholasticism in Roman Catholicism.

�Lutheran scholasticism utilized the scholastic form of philosophic argumentation from the pre-Reformation Church in order to define the Lutheran faith and defend it against the polemics of opposing parties.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lutheran_scholasticism


� The scholastics would choose a book (say, the Bible) by a renowned scholar, auctor (author), as a subject for investigation. By reading it thoroughly and critically, the disciples learned to appreciate the theories of the author.

� Other documents related to the book would be referenced, such as Church councils, papal letters and anything else written on the subject, be it ancient or contemporary.



Once the sources and points of disagreement had been laid out through a series of dialectics, the two sides of an argument would be made whole so that they would be found to be in agreement and not contradictory.



Philological analysis. Words were examined and argued to have multiple meanings.

Logical analysis, which relied on the rules of formal logic to show that contradictions did not exist but were subjective to the reader.


2 Ways of argument analysis:



Two methods of teaching.

1. Lectio : a teacher would read a text, expounding on certain words and ideas, but no questions were permitted; it was a simple reading of a text: instructors explained, and students listened in silence.

2. Disputatio , which goes right to the heart of scholasticism.



Two types of Disputatio :1. Disputationes : the first was the "ordinary"

type, whereby the question to be disputed was announced beforehand;

2. Quodlibetal, whereby the students proposed a question to the teacher without prior preparation. Students then rebutted the response. Teacher will summarise all arguments and present his final position the following day, riposting all rebuttals.


http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Neo-scholasticism

� Neo-Scholasticism is the revival and development from the second half of the nineteenth century of medieval scholastic philosophy.

� It has some times been called neo-Thomism partly because Thomas Aquinas in the 13th century gave to scholasticism a final form, partly because the idea gained ground that only Thomism could infuse vitality into 12th-century scholasticism.


� Religion is the all-inclusive context of human life, the truths of which we posses by means of reason and revelation.

� Religion is somewhat similar to that of state with an authority of knowledge.

Butler, Donald J. Four Philosophies and Their Practices in Education and Religion


1. Natural Theology – reliance on the great philosophers like Aristotle.

Two Kinds of Theology


2. Supernatural Theology –comprise of the teachings of Roman Catholic Church – the only institution stemming directly from Christ and the Apostles, and who is the oracle of the revealed truth.


† Sacraments of the Roman Catholic Church.

† Priesthood which administers the sacraments.

† Rational approach of logical argument of existence of God.



Two ways of rational approach of logical argument of existence of God:

1. External physical world we see existence which is unyielding independent of us is actual, present, impersonal existence

2. Relations of cause and effect:




1. External physical world we see existence which is unyielding independent of us is actual, present, impersonal existence

� Different kinds of objects and entities which possess through cycle of generation and dissolution (change and decay)

� Animal and human are born, grow, reach their prime, decline, die, and decay

� All the variety of essence – there is commonness of existence



2. Relations of cause and effect:

� Common substratum of existence� There is ultimate efficient cause for all the

different varieties and stages of being which constitute the physical universe

� This ultimate cause is the Unmoved Mover, that existence which is the common foundation of all existing things.

� This argument considered adequate to demonstrate the existence or thatness of God.



1. God is not extended.

2. However, God is immanent in His creation.

3. God is absolutely subsistent.

4. In him, existence and essences are identical.

5. God is pure actuality; there is no potentiality in Him.



6. God is perfect, actually.

7. The goodness of God and the being of God are identical.

8. God is infinite in perfection, His goodness is unlimited.

9. The eternity of God transcends all the time limitations and measures.

10.God is one, of necessity, not two, nor many, all other individuals excluded from being what He is by virtue of what He is.


Essential character that constitute a man:

•Body is the material principle in man

•Soul is the rational-spiritual principle in man



Three specific things of man’s nature as moral being and his moral conditions:

1.The natural and normal end he has as his goal in life by virtue of his being a man, and the power this ends has over his action.

2.His possession of freedom of will.

3.The privations of his will which results in sinful acts.


NeoNeo--ScholastismScholastismStrengths & WeaknessStrengths & Weakness

1. Cardinal principle of Realism: “Whatever is real is independent of every finite individual who may come to know it”.

2. Realism demands and recognizes the importance of relation to that which is beyond ourselves.


NeoNeo--ScholastismScholastismStrengths & WeaknessStrengths & Weakness

1) Reality is capable of interpretation.

2) Embrace pluralism in preference to a more unified view of reality.

3) Dualism of the existence side and the value or essence side.

4) Conception of the pupil is not adequate.

5) Realism as educational philosophy places too much confidence in the transmission of content.

6) Too much stress upon the formation of the pupil.


Neo Scholastism, Strenghts & Weaknesses Of Realism

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