How can the Medieval Period of philosophy can be best described?

Answer 1

1st Answer:The Roman Catholic Church dominated philosophical views More (most recent addition)Through the process of elimination you will find the following:

• The Protestant Reformation dominated philosophical views (Modern Period p. 143 Ashford book)
• The Socratic Method dominated the philosophical views (The Classical Period p. 141-142)
• Hedonism dominated philosophical views (The Classical Period p. 142)

2nd AnswerMedieval philosophy is described as characteristically theological, and the majority of it was from a Christian point of view. (Please see link below on the character of medieval philosophy for more information.)

That having been said, however, one way to describe medieval philosophy might be as poorly understood by modern people.

The idea that the Roman Catholic Church dominated it is unfortunate and untrue, but it is clearly prevalent. It might actually be more accurate to say that by the end of the Middle Ages, most philosophy was influenced, at least, by Muslims and Jews, who were among the great medieval philosophers and also the translators of most of the works from ancient Greek that were available in Western Europe.

I went to online encyclopedias to find what I could on the subject. Specifically, I went looking for references to either Moses or Maimonides in three articles. The article on medieval philosophy had neither, the article on western philosophy had neither, but the general article on philosophy had the name Moses Maimonides among a list of 21 important medieval philosophers. The list included eight Muslims, two Jews, and eleven Christians. A brief look at articles about the ten who were not Christian revealed that most were cited as references in works by important medieval Christian philosophers, including Thomas Aquinas, Roger Bacon, and Albertus Magnus. Muslims and Jews wrote books on philosophy that were standard assigned reading in European Universities.

It is also interesting to note that of the Muslims and Jews, five lived in Europe, as four spent at least part of their lives in Spain, and one lived in France. And of the Christians, one was executed in Rome as a Byzantine spy, and another did not live in Europe. We should also bear in mind that the Roman Catholic Church really only had considerable power in Western Europe, as Eastern Europe was under the sway of the Patriarch of Constantinople.

A look at available texts also reveals that most of the philosophy taught in medieval universities was not concerned with theology, and much of it was quite practical, concerned with such things as science, logic, epistemology, and the practicalities of ethics.

There is a link below to the medieval section of the general article on philosophy.