Sources of Medieval Philosophy

Contrary to the birth of philosophy in Greece in the 4th c. B.C. (when a new form of knowledge arises, distinguished in its forms and contents from the wisdom of myth), in the Middle Ages the study and practice of philosophy is rooted in a preexisting philosophic tradition, which must both be conserved and critically rethought in tandem with a wisdom and textual tradition unknown to the Greek world: the Sacred Scriptures of the Jews, Christians, and later the Muslims. At the crossroads between the notions of conservation and critical use, we find a third notion, that of ‘authority’ or auctoritas (philosophers, ancient writers in general, and the Church Fathers) with its accompanying notion of an ‘authoritative’ text (their works): it was Bernard, a master at the School of Chartres, who coined in the 12th c. the significant even if ambiguous metaphor of the ‘dwarves on the shoulders of the giants,’ later quoted by many modern philosophers and scientists (such as Newton). Thus, at its inception, philosophical activity is understood as a development and interpretation of ‘authoritative’ ideas and texts, and only at the close of the Middle Ages does a new notion of ‘author’ appear, similar to our modern one. It is important, then, for our understanding of the contents and developments of medieval philosophy, to delineate both which ancient texts and ideas were preserved, and how and in what contexts they were read throughout the course of the Middle Ages.