MEDIEVAL

PHILOSOPHY
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Characteristics?
Transition?
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St. Augustine
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St. Augustine’s philosophy
was greatly influenced by
Plato
 St. Augustine

Wisdom Divine
from Greek Truths
philosophy from Holy
Scriptures
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St. Augustine’s focused his
philosophy on the concept of
Happiness
end of man
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Like Plato’s Philosophy, Augustine
agreed that ‘true happiness’ could
not be found in the material world,
but in God
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God
(Absolute) (Immutable)

SUMMUM BONUM
(Ultimate Good)
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God
➢ has created everything ex nihilo – out of
nothing.
➢ man is the apex of His creation because
it is only man who was created through the
image and likenes of God
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➢ Man is connected to his creator through
love.
➢ Morality then, is rooted in love and
leads to man’s imitation of God
➢ Since every person is an imitation of
God, everyone should give due
respect and love to everyone
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Love
➢ Primary reason for one’s existence
and source of the meaning of life.
➢ Man always tend to love because of his
incompleteness
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If everything is created by
God (who is good), how can
there be evil in the world?
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Evil
➢ Nothing is evil in itself.
➢ Evil is non-existent; rather it is a
deprivation of goodness
something not in harmony
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What causes disorder in
man?

- FREE WILL
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It is with man’s free will that he turns
his back from God, assuming that he
is already self-sufficient
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Man will continuously search for
happiness that will satisfy his desires;
seeking it in earthly goods – money,
power, fame, beauty, etc.
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Doctrine of
Disordered Love
- The human person’s desire for earthly
yearnings
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CIVITAS CIVITAS
DEI MUNDI
- The society who - The society who
loves God loves the self and
the material
world
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St. Thomas
Aquinas
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Reason Faith
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Philosophy
Immediate objects / General
sense experience assumptions

GOD
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Theology
Faith in GOD

Interpretation of all created

things
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Although different in
approach, they do not
actually contradict each
other
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- Some truths can be known through
divine revelation; some, through
experience; and others through both
Philosophy and Theology
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Is man truly capable of
understanding the
nature of God?
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5ways
of proving God’s existence
 1st way

“ Omne autem quod

1
movetur, ab alio movetur ”
- Whatever is moved, is
moved by another
 “ ad infinitum ”
- Towards infinity

impossible
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God as the
unmoved mover -
Prime Mover
 2nd way

Efficient causes
2 - Nothing (in this world) is
‘self-caused’
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Can you cause
your own
existence?
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God as the
First cause
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Infinite regress
 3rd way

“ Omne ens habet rationem

sufficientem, sui essendi in

3 se aut in alio ”
- Every being has the
sufficient reason to exist,
either in itself or in another
 3rd way

Contingent being
- Created beings
- Depends its existence on
the necessary being
 3rd way

Necessary being
- Independent
- Self-caused
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God is the
Necessary Being
 4th way

4 Gradation of
perfection
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God is the
Highest goodness
- The most perfect Being
 5th way

“ Intelligent design

5 / teleological
argument “
Watchmaker analogy
P1. The Universe has order, purpose and
regularity;
P2. The complexity of the Universe shows
evidence of design;
P3. Such design implies a designer;
C. Therefore, this designer must be God.
 “
God is the
- Ultimate Designer
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Logico-Linguistic
analysis
 1
Univocal Terms
- A term that has only one meaning. That is, it
signifies only one thought, and therefore
corresponds to only one definition. Words mean
the same thing even when applied in different
contexts
 Univocal

EXAMPLES:
- Black cat; Black hair; Black panther
- Man is rational; “That man is a thief!”
- Coffee granules; Coffee beans;
hot coffee
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Equivocal Terms
- A term that has a variety of meanings. May
present different intentions once it’s used.
- Happens when the same word is used to name
two things which have nothing in common.
 Equivocal

EXAMPLES:
- “I dropped the pitcher and it broke
into many pieces” ; “the pitcher threw
the ball so fast”
- “I wrote a poem with my new pen;
The pen broke down and I had to
round up all the pigs that escaped”
 3
Analogical Terms
- A term that is supposed to convey one or
additional similar characteristics that exist
between two ideas
- Use of a particular word in order to mean
something else
 Analogical

EXAMPLES:
- “She sure has a sharp tongue!” ;
sharp sword
- Cold-hearted criminal

- Hard-headed fellow
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Evil
➢ Supported Augustine that:
Evil is a deprivation of goodness, (but also
added that) which is inherent and
unavoidable in creatures with varying degrees
of goodness
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If God is so powerful he could
just make a world without evil,
right?
 “
Yes, but God’s work and
creation is not something that
man should snoop around or
meddle with
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God’s relationship with His
creatures?

- NONE
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It is only the creatures who would
have a real relation to Him, due to
the fact that God is the reason for
their existence
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We do good things because we
yearn for it and is manifested
through:
Synderesis and Conscience
 Conscience

Conscience
Concrete particular judgment by
which, in any particular situation, a person
knows what s/he ought to do.
 Synderesis

Synderesis
The intellectual habit or dispo-sition
by which a person, in any situation, is in
possession of the fundamental principles of
morality.
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Doing evil (deeds) is not in
accordance with the real
nature of the human
person
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The real meaning of one’s
existence can only be obtained
when one does good deeds and
follow his/her nature as a good
being
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MORALITY
- One can know if s/he is doing
the right thing, is when s/he is
following the voice of his/her
conscience
 Morality

- Suitable for human nature

- Is not an arbitrary set or rules
or behavior
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Threefold Natural Inclination of
the Human Person:
• self preservation
• just dealings with others
• propagation of species
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• 1-5: any 5 concepts regarding

st. Augustine

• 6-10: any 5 concepts

regarding st Aquinas