View source for Medieval philosophy

{{Short description|Philosophy during the medieval period}}
[[Image:Septem-artes-liberales Herrad-von-Landsberg Hortus-deliciarum 1180.jpg|thumb|230px|Philosophy seated between the seven [[liberal arts]]; 1818 copy of picture from the ''[[Hortus deliciarum]]'' of [[Herrad von Landsberg]] (12th century).]]

'''Medieval philosophy''' is the [[philosophy]] that existed through the [[Middle Ages]], the period roughly extending from the [[fall of the Western Roman Empire]] in the 5th century until after the [[Renaissance]] in the 13th and 14th centuries.<ref name="stanford.edu">{{cite encyclopedia |last=Spade |first=Paul Vincent |url=https://plato.stanford.edu/archives/sum2018/entries/medieval-philosophy/ |title=Medieval Philosophy |encyclopedia=[[Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy]] |editor=Edward N. Zalta |editor-link=Edward N. Zalta |publisher=[[Center for the Study of Language and Information]] |date=2018}}</ref> Medieval philosophy, understood as a project of independent philosophical inquiry, began in [[Baghdad]], in the middle of the 8th century,<ref name="stanford.edu"/> and in [[France]] and [[Germany]], in the itinerant court of [[Charlemagne]] in [[Aachen]], in the last quarter of the 8th century.<ref name="stanford.edu"/><ref>{{cite book|last=Pasnau|first=Robert|title=The Cambridge History of Medieval Philosophy|url=https://archive.org/details/cambridgehistory01pasn|url-access=limited|year=2010|publisher=[[Cambridge University Press]]|location=[[Cambridge]]|isbn=978-0-521-76216-8|page=[https://archive.org/details/cambridgehistory01pasn/page/n14 1]|chapter=Introduction}}</ref> It is defined partly by the process of rediscovering the ancient culture developed in [[Ancient Greece|Greece]] and [[Ancient Rome|Rome]] during the [[Classical antiquity|Classical period]],<ref name="stanford.edu"/> and partly by the need to address [[Theology|theological problems]] and to integrate sacred [[doctrine]] with [[secular]] learning. This is one of the defining characteristics in this time period. Understanding God was the focal point of study of the Jewish, Christian and Muslim Philosophers and Theologians.

The history of medieval philosophy is traditionally divided into two main periods: the period in the [[Latin West]] following the [[Early Middle Ages]] until the 12th century, when the works of [[Aristotle]] and [[Plato]] were [[Recovery of Aristotle|rediscovered]], [[Latin translations of the 12th century|translated]], and [[Aristotelianism|studied upon]], and the "golden age" of the 12th, 13th and 14th centuries in the Latin West, which witnessed the culmination of the recovery of [[Ancient philosophy#Ancient Greek and Roman philosophy|ancient philosophy]], along with the reception of its [[Islamic philosophy|Arabic commentators]],<ref name="stanford.edu"/> and significant developments in the fields of [[philosophy of religion]], [[logic]], and [[metaphysics]].

The high medieval Scholastic period was disparagingly treated by the [[Renaissance humanists]], who saw it as a barbaric "middle period" between the Classical age of Greek and Roman culture, and the ''rebirth'' or ''renaissance'' of Classical culture.<ref name="stanford.edu"/> Modern historians consider the medieval era to be one of philosophical development, heavily influenced by [[Christian theology]]. One of the most notable thinkers of the era, [[Thomas of Aquinas]], never considered himself a philosopher, and criticized philosophers for always "falling short of the true and proper wisdom".<ref>{{cite book |title= Aquinas|last= Davies|first= Brian|year=2004 |publisher= Continuum International Publishing Group|page= 14}}</ref>

The problems discussed throughout this period are the relation of [[faith]] to [[reason]], the [[Existence of God|existence]] and [[Divine simplicity|simplicity]] of God, the purpose of [[theology]] and [[metaphysics]], and the [[epistemology|problems of knowledge]], of [[Problem of universals|universals]], and of [[Principle of individuation|individuation]].<ref name=Gracia2003>{{cite book |last1=Gracia |first1=Jorge J. E. |last2=Noone |first2=Timothy B. |title=A Companion to Philosophy in the Middle Ages|date=2003|publisher=Blackwell|location=Oxford|isbn=9780631216728}}</ref>{{rp|1}}{{histphil}}

== Characteristics ==
[[File:Avicenna Portrait on Silver Vase - Museum at BuAli Sina (Avicenna) Mausoleum - Hamadan - Western Iran (7423560860).jpg|thumb|left|200px|[[Avicenna]]]]
Medieval philosophy places heavy emphasis on the ''theological''.<ref>''Medieval Philosophy: Essential Readings with Commentary'', edited by Gyula Klima, Fritz Allhoff, Anand Jayprakash Vaidya, Wiley-Blackwell, 2007, p. 3.</ref> With the possible exceptions of [[Avicenna]] and [[Averroes]], medieval thinkers did not consider themselves philosophers at all: for them, the philosophers were the ancient [[pagan]] writers such as [[Plato]] and [[Aristotle]].<ref name=Gracia2003/>{{rp|1}} However, their theology used the methods and logical techniques of the ancient philosophers to address difficult theological questions and points of doctrine. [[Thomas Aquinas]], following [[Peter Damian]], argued that philosophy is the handmaiden of theology (''philosophia'' ''ancilla theologiae'').<ref name=Gracia2003/>{{rp|35}} Despite this view of philosophy as the servant of theology, this did not prevent the medievals from developing original and innovative philosophies against the backdrop of their theological projects. For instance, such thinkers as [[Augustine of Hippo]] and [[Thomas of Aquinas]] made monumental breakthroughs in the philosophy of temporality and metaphysics, respectively.

The principles that underlie all the medieval philosophers' work are:
* The use of logic, [[dialectic]], and analysis to discover the truth, known as ''ratio'';
* Respect for the insights of ancient philosophers, in particular Aristotle, and deference to their authority (''auctoritas'');
* The obligation to co-ordinate the insights of philosophy with theological teaching and revelation (''concordia'').<ref name="Gracia2003" />{{rp|3–5}}

One of the most heavily debated issues of the period was that of faith versus reason. [[Avicenna]] and [[Averroes]] both leaned more on the side of reason.{{dubious|date=March 2024}} [[Augustine of Hippo|Augustine]] stated that he would never allow his philosophical investigations to go beyond the authority of God.<ref name=Kretzmann2002>{{cite book |last1=Kretzmann |first1=Norman |author-link1=Norman Kretzmann |editor1-last=Stump |editor1-first=Eleonore |title=The Cambridge Companion to Augustine |date=2002 |publisher=Cambridge University Press |location=Cambridge, UK |isbn=9780521650182}}</ref>{{rp|27}} [[Anselm of Canterbury|Anselm]] attempted to defend against what he saw as partly an assault on faith, with an approach allowing for both faith and reason. The Augustinian solution to the faith/reason problem is to first believe, and then subsequently seek to understand (''fides quaerens intellectum''). This was the mantra of Christian thinkers, most especially the scholastic philosophers ([[Albertus Magnus|Albert the Great]], [[Bonaventure]], and Thomas Aquinas). 
{{clear}}

== History ==

=== Early medieval Christian philosophy ===
[[File:Saint Augustine by Philippe de Champaigne.jpg|thumb|left|Portrait by [[Philippe de Champaigne]], 17th century]]
The boundaries of the early medieval period are a matter of controversy.<ref name="Gracia2003" />{{rp|1}} It is generally agreed that it begins{{Citation needed|date=June 2022}} with [[Augustine of Hippo|Augustine]] (354–430) who strictly belongs to the classical period, and ends with the lasting revival of learning in the late eleventh century, at the beginning of the [[High Medieval|high medieval]] period.

After the revival of the [[Roman Empire]], Western Europe lapsed into the so-called [[Dark Ages (historiography)|Dark Ages]]<!--Who can make this claim: ", and there was little intellectual activity in this period"-->. [[Monasteries]] were among the limited number of focal points of formal academic learning, which might be presumed to be a result of a rule of [[St Benedict]]'s in 525, which required monks to read the Bible daily, and his suggestion that at the beginning of [[Lent]], a book be given to each monk. In later periods, monks were used for training administrators and churchmen.<ref name="Gracia2003" />{{rp|45}}

Early Christian thought, in particular in the [[Church Fathers|patristic]] period, tends to be intuitional and mystical, and is less reliant on reason and logical argument. It also places more emphasis on the sometimes-mystical doctrines of Plato, and less upon the systematic thinking of [[Aristotle]]. Much of the work of Aristotle was unknown in the West in this period. Scholars relied on translations by [[Boethius]] into Latin of Aristotle's ''[[Categories (Aristotle)|Categories]]'', the logical work ''[[On Interpretation]]'', and his Latin translation of Porphyry's ''[[Isagoge]]'', a commentary on Aristotle's ''Categories''.

Two Roman philosophers had a great influence on the development of medieval philosophy: [[Augustine of Hippo|Augustine]] and [[Boethius]]. Augustine is regarded as the greatest of the [[Church Fathers]]. He is primarily a theologian and a devotional writer, but much of his writing is philosophical. His thoughts revolve around on [[truth]], [[God]], the human soul, nature of [[sin]], and salvation. For over a thousand years, there was hardly a Latin work of theology or philosophy that did not quote his writing, or invoke his authority. Some of his writing had an influence on the development of [[early modern philosophy]], such as that of [[Descartes]];<ref name="Hyman1967">{{cite book |last1=Hyman |first1=J. |last2=Walsh |first2=J.J. |title=Philosophy in the Middle Ages: The Christian, Islamic, and Jewish Traditions |location=New York |publisher=Harper & Row |date=1967 |oclc=370638}}</ref>{{rp|15}} Augustine stated that if I err therefore I exist (Si fallor, sum), which is identical to the ''cogito'' of Descartes. [[Anicius Manlius Severinus Boethius]] (480 c.–524) was a Christian philosopher born in Rome to an ancient and influential family. He became consul in 510 in the kingdom of the [[Ostrogoths]]. His influence on the early medieval period was also marked (so much so that it is sometimes called the ''Boethian period'').<ref>[[Catarina Dutilh Novaes]] & Stephen Read, ''The Cambridge Companion to Medieval Logic'', Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2016, ''Introduction''</ref> He intended to translate all the works of Aristotle and Plato from the original [[Ancient Greek|Greek]] into [[Latin]], and translated many of Aristotle's logical works, such as ''On Interpretation'', and the ''Categories''. He wrote commentaries on these works, and on the ''Isagoge'' by [[Porphyry (philosopher)|Porphyry]] (a commentary on the Categories). This introduced the [[problem of universals]] to the medieval world.<ref name="Hyman1967" />{{rp|114–117}}

The first significant renewal of learning in the West came when [[Charlemagne]], advised by [[Candidus (floruit 793–802)|Candidus]], [[Peter of Pisa]] and [[Alcuin of York]], attracted the scholars of England and Ireland, and by imperial decree in 787 AD established schools in every abbey in his empire. These schools, from which the name [[Scholasticism]] is derived, became centres of medieval learning. [[File:Tract by Abbo of Fleury.jpg|thumb|right|200px|[[Abbo of Fleury]]]][[Johannes Scotus Eriugena]] (c. 815 – 877), successor of Alcuin of York as head of the Palace School, was an [[Ireland|Irish]] [[theologian]] and [[Neoplatonism|Neoplatonic]] [[philosopher]]. He is notable for having translated and made commentaries upon the work of [[Pseudo-Dionysius]], initially thought to be from the [[apostolic age]]. Around this period several doctrinal controversies emerged, such as the question of whether God had predestined some for salvation and some for damnation. Eriugena was called in to settle this dispute. At the same time, [[Paschasius Radbertus]] raised an important question about the [[real presence]] of [[Christ]] at the [[Eucharist]]. Is the [[Sacramental bread|host]] the same as Christ's historical body? How can it be present at many places and many times? Radbertus argued that Christ's real body is present, veiled by the appearance of bread and wine, and is present at all places and all times, by means of God's incomprehensible power.<ref name="Gracia2003" />{{rp|397–406}}

This period also witnessed a revival of scholarship. At [[Abbey of Fleury|Fleury]], [[Theodulphus]], [[bishop of Orléans]], established a school for young noblemen recommended there by [[Charlemagne]]. By the mid-ninth century, its library was one of the most comprehensive ever assembled in the West, and scholars such as [[Lupus of Ferrières]] (d. 862) traveled there to consult its texts. Later, under St. [[Abbo of Fleury]] (abbot 988–1004), head of the reformed abbey school, Fleury enjoyed a second golden age.<ref name=Schulman2002>{{cite book |editor1-last=Schulman |editor1-first=Jana K. |title=The Rise of the Medieval World: 500–1300: A Biographical Dictionary |date=2002 |publisher=Greenwood Press |location=Westport, CT |isbn=9780313308178}}</ref>{{rp|1}}

[[Remigius of Auxerre]], at the beginning of the tenth century, produced glosses or commentaries on the classical texts of [[Aelius Donatus|Donatus]], [[Priscian]], [[Boethius]], and [[Martianus Capella]]. The Carolingian period was followed by a small dark age that was followed by a lasting revival of learning in the eleventh century, which owed much to the rediscovery of Greek thought from [[Arabic]] translations and [[Islamic Golden Age|Muslim contributions]] such as [[Avicenna]]'s ''On the soul''.<ref>
{{cite book|title=The House of Wisdom|author=Jonathan Lyons|year=2007|publisher=Bloomsbury}}</ref>

=== High Middle Ages ===
The period from the middle of the eleventh century to the middle of the fourteenth century is known as the 'High medieval' or 'scholastic' period. It is generally agreed to begin with Saint [[Anselm of Canterbury]] (1033–1109) an [[Italy|Italian]] [[philosopher]], [[theology|theologian]], and church official who is famous as the originator of the [[Anselm's argument|ontological argument]] for the existence of [[God]].
[[Image:Plato Seneca Aristotle medieval.jpg|thumb|left|175px|Plato, Seneca, and Aristotle from ''Devotional and Philosophical Writings'', c. 1330]]
The 13th and early 14th centuries are generally regarded as the high period of [[scholasticism]]. The early 13th century witnessed the culmination of the recovery of Greek philosophy. Schools of translation grew up in Italy and Sicily, and eventually in the rest of Europe. Scholars such as [[Adelard of Bath]] travelled to Sicily and the Arab world, translating works on astronomy and mathematics, including the first complete translation of Euclid's Elements.<ref>Marshall Clagett, "Medieval Latin Translations from the Arabic of the Elements of Euclid, with Special Emphasis on the Versions of Adelard of Bath," ''Isis'' 44: 16–42 (1982).</ref> Powerful Norman kings gathered men of knowledge from Italy and other areas into their courts as a sign of their prestige.<ref>David C. Lindberg (ed.), ''Science in the Middle Ages'',  Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1978, p. 70-72.</ref> [[William of Moerbeke]]'s translations and editions of Greek philosophical texts in the middle half of the thirteenth century helped in forming a clearer picture of Greek philosophy, and in particular of Aristotle, than was given by the Arabic versions they had previously relied on, which had distorted or obscured the relation between Platonic and Aristotelian systems of philosophy.<ref name="Fryde2000">{{cite book |last1=Fryde |first1=Edmund |title=The Early Palaeologan Renaissance (1261-c.1360) |date=2000 |publisher=Brill |location=Leiden |isbn=9789004117143}}</ref> Moerbeke's work formed the basis of the major commentaries that followed.

{{multiple image| align = right | direction = horizontal | header_align = left/right/center | footer = Left: [[Albert Magnus]]. Right: [[Thomas Aquinas]]| footer_align = left | image1 = Vicente salvador gomez-san alberto.jpg | width1 = 132 | caption1 = | image2 = St-thomas-aquinas.jpg| width2 = 117 | caption2  = }}
The [[university|universities]] developed in the large cities of Europe during this period, and rival religious orders within the Church began to battle for political and intellectual control over these centers of educational life. The two main orders founded in this period were the [[Franciscans]] and the [[Dominican Order|Dominicans]]. The Franciscans were founded by [[Francis of Assisi]] in 1209. Their leader in the middle of the century was [[Bonaventure]], a traditionalist who defended the theology of [[Augustine of Hippo|Augustine]] and the philosophy of [[Plato]], incorporating only a little of Aristotle in with the more neoplatonist elements.<ref name="Hyman1967" />{{rp|454}} Following Anselm, Bonaventure supposed that reason can discover truth only when philosophy is illuminated by religious faith. Other important Franciscan writers were [[Duns Scotus]], [[Peter Auriol]], and [[William of Ockham]]. By contrast, the Dominican order, founded by [[St Dominic]] in 1215 placed more emphasis on the use of reason and made extensive use of the new Aristotelian sources derived from the East, and Moorish Spain. The great representatives of Dominican thinking in this period were [[Albertus Magnus]] and (especially) [[Thomas Aquinas]], whose artful synthesis of Greek rationalism and Christian doctrine eventually came to define Catholic philosophy. Aquinas placed more emphasis on reason and argumentation, and was one of the first to use the new translation of Aristotle's metaphysical and epistemological writing. This was a significant departure from the [[Neoplatonism|Neoplatonic]] and Augustinian thinking that had dominated much of early Scholasticism. Aquinas showed how it was possible to incorporate much of the philosophy of Aristotle without falling into the "errors" of the Commentator [[Averroes]], though Averroes was influential in the development of Aquinas' philosophy, particularly on [[metaphysics]].

At the start of the 20th century, historian and philosopher [[Martin Grabmann]] was the first scholar to work out the outlines of the ongoing development of thought in scholasticism and to see in Thomas Aquinas a response and development of thought rather than a single, coherently emerged and organic whole. Although Grabmann's works in German are numerous, only ''Thomas Aquinas'' (1928) is available in English. However, Grabmann's thought was instrumental in the whole modern understanding of scholasticism and the pivotal role of Aquinas.

== Topics ==
All the main branches of philosophy today were once a part of Medieval philosophy. Medieval philosophy also included most of the areas originally established by the pagan philosophers of antiquity, in particular Aristotle. However, the discipline now called [[Philosophy of religion]] was, it is presumed, a unique development of the Medieval era, and many of the problems that define the subject first took shape in the Middle Ages, in forms that are still recognisable today.

=== Theology ===
Medieval philosophy is characteristically theological. Subjects discussed in this period include:

* The problem of the compatibility of the divine attributes: How are the attributes traditionally ascribed to the Supreme Being, such as unlimited power, knowledge of all things, infinite goodness, existence outside time, immateriality, and so on, logically consistent with one another?
* The [[problem of evil]]: The classical philosophers had speculated on the nature of evil, but the problem of how an all-powerful, all-knowing, loving God could create a system of things in which evil exists first arose in the medieval period.
* The [[problem of free will]]: A similar problem was to explain how 'divine foreknowledge' – God's knowledge of what will happen in the future – is compatible with our belief in our own [[free will]].
*Questions regarding the immortality of the intellect, the unity or non-unity between the soul and the intellect, and the consequent intellectual basis for believing in the immortality of the soul.
*The question of whether there can be substances which are non-material, for example, angels.

=== Metaphysics ===
[[Image:Meta-moerbeke jpeg031-part.jpg|right|thumb|200px| [[Metaphysics (Aristotle)#The Middle Books (Zeta, Eta, Theta)|Book 7]] of the Metaphysics: ''Ens dicitur multipliciter'' – the word 'being' is predicated in many ways ]]
After the 'rediscovery' of Aristotle's [[Metaphysics (Aristotle)|Metaphysics]] in the mid-twelfth century, many scholastics wrote commentaries on this work (in particular [[Aquinas]] and [[Duns Scotus|Scotus]]). The [[problem of universals]] was one of the main problems engaged during that period. Other subjects included:

* [[Hylomorphism]] – development of the Aristotelian doctrine that individual things are a compound of material and form (the statue is a compound of granite, and the form sculpted into it)
* [[Existence]] – being qua being
* [[Causality]] – Discussion of causality consisted mostly of commentaries on Aristotle, mainly the [[Physics (Aristotle)|Physics]], [[On the Heavens]], [[On Generation and Corruption]]. The approach to this subject area was uniquely medieval, the rational investigation of the universe being viewed as a way of approaching God. Duns Scotus' proof of the existence of God is based on the notion of causality.
* [[Principle of individuation|Individuation]]. The problem of individuation is to explain how we individuate or numerically distinguish the members of any kind for which it is given. The problem arose when it was required to explain how individual [[angel]]s of the same species differ from one another. Angels are immaterial, and their numerical difference cannot be explained by the different matter they are made of. The main contributors to this discussion were [[Aquinas]] and [[Duns Scotus|Scotus]].

=== Natural philosophy ===
In [[natural philosophy]] and the [[philosophy of science]], medieval philosophers were mainly influenced by Aristotle. However, from the fourteenth century onward, the increasing use of mathematical reasoning in natural philosophy prepared the way for the rise of science in the [[early modern]] period. The more mathematical reasoning techniques of William Heytesbury and William of Ockham are indicative of this trend. Other contributors to natural philosophy are [[Albert of Saxony (philosopher)|Albert of Saxony]], [[John Buridan]], and [[Nicholas of Autrecourt]]. See also the article on the [[Continuity thesis]], the hypothesis that there was no radical discontinuity between the intellectual development of the Middle Ages and the developments in the Renaissance and early modern period.

=== Logic ===
The historian of logic [[Józef Maria Bocheński|I. M. Bochenski]]<ref>I. M. Bochenski, ''A History of Formal Logic'', Notre dame University Press, 1961, pp. 10–18</ref> regarded the Middle Ages as one of the three great periods in the [[history of logic]]. From the time of [[Abelard]] until the middle of the fourteenth century, scholastic writers refined and developed [[Aristotelian logic]] to a remarkable degree. In the earlier period, writers such as [[Peter Abelard]] wrote commentaries on the works of the [[Old logic]] (Aristotle's [[Categories (Aristotle)|Categories]], [[De Interpretatione|On interpretation]], and the [[Isagoge]] of [[Porphyry (philosopher)|Porphyry]]). Later, new departments of logical enquiry arose, and new logical and semantic notions were developed. For logical developments in the Middle Ages, see the articles on [[insolubilia]], [[obligations]], [[properties of terms]], [[syllogism]], and [[sophismata]]. Other great contributors to medieval logic include [[Albert of Saxony (philosopher)|Albert of Saxony]], [[John Buridan]], [[John Wyclif]], [[Paul of Venice]], [[Peter of Spain (author)|Peter of Spain]], [[Richard Kilvington]], [[Walter Burley]], [[William Heytesbury]], and [[William of Ockham]].

=== Philosophy of mind ===
Medieval philosophy of mind is based on Aristotle's [[De Anima]], another work discovered in the Latin West in the twelfth century. It was regarded as a branch of the philosophy of nature. Some of the topics discussed in this area include:

* [[Divine illumination]] – The doctrine of Divine illumination was an alternative to [[Naturalism (philosophy)|naturalism]]. It holds that humans need a special assistance from God in their ordinary thinking. The doctrine is most closely associated with [[Augustine]] and his scholastic followers. It reappeared in a different form in the [[early modern]] era.
* theories of demonstration
* mental representation – The idea that mental states have 'intentionality'; i.e., ''despite being a state of the mind, they are able to represent things outside the mind'' is intrinsic to the modern philosophy of mind. It has its origins in medieval philosophy. (The word 'intentionality' was revived by [[Franz Brentano]], who was intending to reflect medieval usage<ref>''Psychology from an Empirical Standpoint'', transl. by A.C. Rancurello, D.B. Terrell, and L. McAlister, London: Routledge, 1973. (2nd ed., intr. by Peter Simons, 1995), p. 88.</ref>). Ockham is well known for his theory that language signifies mental states primarily by convention, real things secondarily, whereas the corresponding mental states signify real things of themselves and necessarily.<ref>That is, our idea of a rabbit necessarily represents a rabbit.  A mental state 'is a true similitude of the external thing, on account of which it represents (''repraesentat'') the external thing itself, and stands for it from its nature, just as an utterance denotes things by institution'.</ref>

Writers in this area include [[Saint Augustine]], [[Duns Scotus]], [[Nicholas of Autrecourt]], [[Thomas Aquinas]], and [[William of Ockham]].

=== Ethics ===
Abu Nasr al-Farabi:<ref>{{cite journal | url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/40017707 | jstor=40017707 | title=Ethics in Medieval Islamic Philosophy | last1=Butterworth | first1=Charles E. | journal=The Journal of Religious Ethics | year=1983 | volume=11 | issue=2 | pages=224–239 }}</ref>

[[Al-Farabi|Abu Nasr al-Farabi]] is well known in the world of medieval Islamic philosophy and ethics for his distinct approach to writing. Deviating from the traditional path of philosophical documentation, al-Farabi wrote in a simplistic manner. There is little immediate intricacy to be observed in his work. In addition to this, al-Farabi wrote in a narrative style. As opposed to listing theories, he told a story with subtle and implicit themes of original ethical concepts. 

Contributions:

In his narrative pieces, al-Farabi discussed ethical and philosophical theories with reference to politics, leadership, morals, faith, and civics. Notable works of his include The Attainment of Happiness, in which al-Farabi reasons that conceptions of political science and religion must be built on a foundational understanding of the universe. He advocates that one must first construct notions in relation to universal matters to form just opinions in regard to political philosophy and religion. These two subjects are significant focal points in his work. Much of his writing is deliberated on his perceived conceptions of the juxtaposition and interaction of the aforementioned topics such as his claim that both political and religious figures rest in the same classification as adjacent to a fundamental comprehension of the universe. 

Writers in this area include [[Anselm of Canterbury|Anselm]], [[Augustine]], [[Peter Abelard]], [[Duns Scotus|Scotus]], [[Peter of Spain (author)|Peter of Spain]], [[Aquinas]], and [[William of Ockham|Ockham]]. Writers on political theory include [[Dante]], [[John Wyclif]], and [[William of Ockham]]. {{Citation needed|date=April 2021}}

== See also ==
*[[Christian philosophy]]
*[[Early Muslim philosophy]]
*[[Jewish philosophy]]
*[[Nominalism]]
*[[Renaissance of the 12th century]]
*[[Scholastic philosophy]]
*[[Supposition theory]]

== References ==
{{Reflist}}

== Further reading ==
* {{cite journal |editor1-last=Guerizoli |editor1-first=Rodrigo |editor2-last=Hamelin |editor2-first=Guy |title=Preface: Medieval Logic |journal=Logica Universalis |date=3 June 2015 |volume=9 |issue=2 |pages=129–131 |doi=10.1007/s11787-015-0124-x |issn=1661-8300|doi-access=free }}
* {{cite book |last1=Thomson |first1=Garrett |last2=Kolak |first2=Daniel |title=The Longman Standard History of Philosophy |date=2006 |publisher=Pearson, Longman |location=New York |isbn=9780321235114}}
* {{cite book |editor1-last=Lagerlund |editor1-first=Henrik |title=Encyclopedia of Medieval Philosophy: Philosophy Between 500 and 1500 |date=2011 |publisher=Springer |location=Dordrecht |isbn=9781402097287}}
* {{cite book|last1=Marenbon|first1=John|title=Medieval Philosophy: An Historical and Philosophical Introduction|date=2007|publisher=Routledge|location=London|isbn=9780203968765}}
* {{cite book |last=Maurer |first=Armand A. |title=Medieval Philosophy |url=https://archive.org/details/medievalphilosop0000maur |url-access=registration |edition=2nd |location=Toronto |publisher=[[Pontifical Institute of Mediaeval Studies]] |date=1982|isbn=9780888447043 }}
* {{cite book |editor1-last=Pasnau |editor1-first=Robert |editor2-last=Van Dyke |editor2-first=Christina |title=The Cambridge History of Medieval Philosophy |date=2010 |publisher=Cambridge University Press |location=Cambridge, UK |isbn=9780521762168}}
* {{cite book |last1=Pasnau |first1=Robert |title=Metaphysical Themes, 1274-1689 |date=2011 |publisher=Clarendon Press |location=Oxford, England |isbn=9780191501791}}
* {{cite book |editor1-last=Schoedinger |editor1-first=Andrew B. |title=Readings in Medieval Philosophy |date=1996 |publisher=Oxford University Press |location=New York |isbn=9780195092929}}

== External links ==
*The [https://web.archive.org/web/20051125090153/http://www.ucl.ac.uk/philosophy/LPSG/ London Philosophy Study Guide] offers many suggestions on what to read, depending on the student's familiarity with the subject: [http://www.ucl.ac.uk/philosophy/LPSG/Medieval.htm Medieval Philosophy]{{dead link|date=August 2022}}
*{{cite SEP |url-id=medieval-philosophy/ |title=Medieval philosophy}}
*{{cite SEP |url-id=medieval-literary/ |title=Literary forms of Medieval Philosophy}}

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