This week, the course ‘An introduction to Medieval Philosophy’ has started. What could I expect? To be very honest, I had not really thought about it. And I did not in the least expect that I would be starting a blog today. However, here I am, more excited to write about todays lecture that I thought I would be. So let’s start. When I think about the Middle Ages, one of the first things that pops to my mind is religion. I think it is common knowledge that religion was a huge part of life back then. Whenever you go to a museum, when you are in the section of the Middle Ages, you will almost solely encounter religious art. However, the connection between religion and philosophy seemed a bit odd to me. I can even say that I thought religion and philosophy kind of contradicted each other. Today I learnt that nothing is less true.
Medieval Philosophy actually knows its origin in religion. Back in the Middle Ages, people had a God-centric worldview, meaning that almost their entire world was about God. Philosophy, or what we would now call philosophy, was seen as a tool to worship God correctly. Philosophy meant thinking, analyzing religious texts, finding the true meaning behind them. In that way, it actually looks a lot like what philosophy is today. Back then, it was about understanding religion and learning how to practice your religion at best, while nowadays it can be seen as a way to understand politics and ideology and practicing those at best.
Besides learning this, I made up my mind about what I think of religion. In my opinion, religion is nowadays used as an excuse for one’s action. Take, for instance, ISIS: they claim that they act in the name of their god, and for them, their actions can be excused because religion is for them the highest good. On the other hand, I see that people let their religion think for them, which I also disapprove of. Altogether, I had quite a negative view on religion, until the good things that came from religion were discussed. Many values we have nowadays are inherited from the Middle Ages. Back then, egalitarianism was an important value in religion. The idea that women were not inferior to men, but that they might be equal, have their origin in religions like Judaism, Christianity and Islam, just as many other present-day liberal values we have. Religion might not be such a bad thing after all.
Concluding, you might say that philosophy is the servant of a queen named Religion. Although I thought at first that this queen was more like an evil dictator, I now think she may as well be a benign leader and I am eager to learn about her relationship to her servant Philosophy.
Medieval Philosophy Blog 