12191 - History of Medieval Philosophy (1)

Learning outcomes

The course introduces to a rich and remarkable period in the history of philosophy, conventionally known as medieval thought.Striking feature is the continous coverage (through the analysis of the notion of translatio studii) of Islamic, Jewish and Christian material and texts.Starting in the late eight century, with renewal of learning, a sequence of themes will takes the students until the end of twelve century through the development in many varied fields of medieval thought including logic and language, natural philosophy, rethorics, ethics and theology. Close attemption is payed to the context of medieval philosophy with discussion of the rise of this particular cultural and theological phaenomenon generally resumed under the name of monastic spirituality and monastic conversational community.

Course contents

 

Philosophy and interreligious dialogue in the medieval thought

The interreligious dialogue seems to be hampered by the fact that each religion claims to be the one and only Truth, regarding the others as either false or, at best, less true. In this context, a critical inquiry of contextual and historical philosophy can be given the task of ensuring communication between believers of different faiths by identifying formal and fundamental knowledge or rules that can be shared by all rational beings. Usually a typical (fake) judgement about thinking in the Middle Ages is associates to this dark ages of this ideological modes to answer to the religious beliefs. This course aim to answer to these overinterpretations discussing in a longue durée a lucid and well-documented accounts of the principal issues in the philosophical genre of dialogue between faith and reason in the middle ages, showing in this that times the adherence to a religious faith was a quite natural thing (lumen naturalis). Philosophers, like Peter Abailard, and theologians (islamic, jewish, christians) tried to accomplish this task, reasoning in a compatbilistic way and so, without affirm the primacy of their religion on others. The focus will be mainly centered on the medieval literature on interreligious dialogue originating from the XIII to XIV century, and includes magistri like Rupert of Deutz, Peter Abelard, Peter the Venerable, Frederic of Swabia, William of Ockham and Ramond Llull. Especial attention is also paid to Jews and Islamic philosophers who tried to engage a dialogue (or a controversy) with Christian theologians. To conclude, some short analysis will also be devoted to the search for universal concordia as it can be traced in Nicholas of Cusa’s De Pace fidei. 

Readings/Bibliography

1)
Primary sources:

Peter Abelard: Collationes a.k.a. Dialogus inter Philosophum, Iudaeum, et Christianum. Edited by Giovanni Orlandi, with introduction, translation, and notes by John Marenbon, in Peter Abelard: Collationes, Oxford University Press 2001.

 

b) Yehuda ha-Levi. Kuzari. Trad. N. Daniel Korobkin col titolo The Kuzari: In Defense of the Despised Faith. Northvale, N.J.: Jason Aronson , Feldheim Publishers, 2009.

 

2)
Secondary literature:

J. Marenbon, (1997) The Philosophy of Peter Abelard. Cambridge University Press.

ou

J. Jolivet, Medievalia et arabica, Vrin, Paris, 2012

 

3) History of Early Medieval Thought/Histoire de la philosophie médiévale

J. Marenbon, Early Medieval Philosophy, Routledge, 1998

ou

A. de Libera, La philosophie médiévale, PUF, Paris, 2014 (XIII e XIV siècles compris).

 

Teaching methods

Frontal lessons, partecipate lessons, workshops, charts, use of visual references both papery and multimedia.

Assessment methods

The skill of students' knowledge will be tested with oral (or an agreed paper of 15 pp.) exams about the texts - sources and secondary literature - listed in bibliography or agreed after an interwiev with the professor.

Teaching tools

Primary sources, secondary literature, multimedia sources, online instruments, charts, reference to digital Archives, lectures given by scholars of XII century thought and/or historian of medieval theology. 

Office hours

See the website of Riccardo Fedriga