Chapter I Socrates and Plato
	Chapter II Corpus Aristotelicum
	Chapter III Weeping and Laughing Philosophers
	Chapter IV Stoicism and Skepticism
	Chapter V Scholastic Epistemology
	Chapter VI Roger and Francis Bacons
	Chapter VII Cosmology and Epistemology
	Chapter VIII Classic Protagonists of Epistemology
	Chapter IX The Sociologists
	Chapter X Galactic Stage of Cosmological Argument
	Chapter XI Logical Positivism and Beyond ...
	Chapter XII Visual Statistics in Search of Meaning

Scholastic epistemology

Epistemology has two broad philosophical traditions, scientific and religious. The scientific tradition asks how we know about the world, the religious how do we know about God. Throughout history the answers to this question were that God could be known by reason, by faith, or by experience. The proofs of God based on rational deliberations can be classified into cosmological, teleological, and ontological arguments, and are associated with Catholic theology. The rational arguments for the existence of God were elaborated throughout the Middle Ages.

Ontological Argument Ontology (from Greek on, to be) is the branch of metaphysics that studies the nature of existence. The ontological argument of God's existence was originated by Saint Anselm.

Saint Anselm (1033-1109)

Saint Anselm was born in Italy, educated in Normandy, and entered England during the Norman (1066) invasion of England. There he was installed as archbishop of Canterbury. Divisive and argumentative, he was twice expelled from England, but he always returned.

In De Libertate Arbitrii (On Free Will), De Casu Diaboli (The Fall of the Devil), and Cur Deus Homo (Why God became Man), Anselm emphasized the methodological priority of faith over reason, since truth is to be achieved only through "fides quaerens intellectum" ("faith seeking understanding"). In his Proslogion Saint Anselm presents an argument that is considered to be the classic ontological proof of the Gods existence. The logic of the arguments is as follows. God is understood as "aliquid quod maius non cogitari potest" ("that than which nothing greater can be conceived"). To exist both in the mind and in reality is greater than to exist only in the mind. If we define God as the greatest being, than such a notion cannot exist only in the mind, but must also exist in the reality.

Peter Abelard (1079-1142

Sic et Non  The central maxim of scholasticism was fides quaerens intellectum, (belief in search of reason). Primus inter pares of scholastics was Peter Abelard, best known for his book Sic et Non (Yes and No) about contradictory passages in the Scriptures and writings of the Church Fathers. These passages are discussed within the framework of Aristotle's dialectic method. Dialectic is a series of theses (propositions, arguments), antitheses (counter-propositions, counterarguments) which should result in synthesis, transcending the discussed issue. Dialectics is an important method of epistemology, enabling us to examine inherent contradictions in precepts others would like us to believe. The Sic et Non opens with the statement that 'There are contradictions and obscurities in the writings of the church fathers, but our respect for their authority should not discourage us from their critical evaluation.' Peter Abelard continues with unmistaken sarcasm that, however, 'the freedom of critical evaluation does not extend to the Old and New Testaments. There, if something strikes us as absurd, we should not say so, but must insist that the scribe made an error in copying the manuscript, or that there is an error in interpretation, or that the passage is only allegorical.' Predictably, the Sic et Non earned Peter Abelard hatred of the clerics, notably of Saint Bernard, who denounced him to the Pope Innocent II who had him condemned and his works listed in the Libri Prohibiti (index of forbidden books). Latin-English parallel text of Peter Abelard's Historia Calamitatum: Quomodo in amorem Heloyse lapsus vulnus inde tam mentis quam corporis traxit can be found on this website in Schola Latina Universalis.

William of Occam (c.1285-1349

Occam's Canon  The question of how we know certain things are true and how to explain them became prominent during the Middle Ages with the philosophy of William of Occam. Occam studied at Oxford where he was attracted to the philosophy of John Duns Scotus. Occam is best known by his canon

entia non sunt multiplicanda praeter necessitatem,
(a multiplicity of reasons should not be posited unless necessary).

This is better known as Occam's razor. In his Summa Logicae Occam rejects Saint Thomas' claims in Summa Theologiae that theology is a science and describes logical errors in his proofs of God's existence. This, predictably, earned Occam the accusation of heresy. The trial took place in Avignon and lasted several years. When Occam saw that he is going to be convicted, he escaped Avignon and took refuge in Munich with Louis IV, Emperor of the Holy Roman Empire. Occam offered his services to Louis in exchange for Louis promise to protect him. According to the chronicler Occam said to Louis: Defend me with your sword and I will defend you with my pen.

Thomas Aquinas' Summa Theologiae

Saint Thomas Aquinas in his Summa Theologiae (1273) presents five proofs of God's existence in intricate arguments with eloquence fitting the Angelic Doctor. Jacques Maritain in his Degrees of Knowledge (1932) restated Thomas' proofs of God's existence in modern terms. Maritain divides knowledge into the categories of quantity and being, subject matters of mathematics and metaphysics.