13th & 14th Century Philosophy

Catalog description

Modern thinkers of the 13th and 14th centuries, including at least some of the following: Albertus Magnus, Thomas Aquinas, Dun Scotus, William of Ockham, Roger Bacon. This course will focus on Thomas Aquinas, John Duns Scotus, and William of Ockham. In doing so we will try to get a sense of how they carried out the practice of philosophy, especially given the fact that each of them was a theologian by profession. Thus, the main theme of the course will be the relation of philosophy to theology - more broadly, faith and reason - as it was understood in this period. We will also look at a range of other issues that were of concern to the scholastics-- chiefly questions of metaphysics and epistemology.