Aristotle's Children: How Christians, Muslims, and Jews Rediscovered Ancient Wisdom and Illuminated the Middle Ages

“The historical materials seemed to contradict much of what I had been taught to believe about the emergence of the modern world from medieval backwardness. I knew—or thought I knew—that the High Middle Ages in Europe was an era of passionate religious faith and the bloody Crusades, inquisitorial terror, and fierce doctrinal dogmatism. I knew—or thought I knew—that Aristotle was the Father of Science, a thinker who believed that human reason, not tradition, revelation, or sentiment, could uncover objective truths about the universe.’’Everyone knows this! So . . .“Naturally, in bringing these volatile extremes together, I expected an explosion. The Aristotelian Revolution would no doubt be a drama like Galileo versus the Inquisition or Charles Darwin versus the Creationists: an earlier version of the modern morality play in which brave Reason suffers at the hands of villainous Superstition before triumphing in the sunny dawn of Science.’’Religion and science are always, and always have been, irreconcilable, at war, and science has won!“Wrong!’’ What???“The story I found myself telling was far more complex and interesting than this stock scenario. . . . European Christians did not split into “rationalist” and “fundamentalist” camps, as I had expected. In a way that violated all of my modernist preconceptions, the leading force for transformative change in Western thinking turned out to be the leadership of the Catholic Church.’’Why did these churchmen choose this path? How was this done?“Rather than choose between the new learning and the old religion, the popes and scholars of the High Middle Ages tried to modernize the Church by reconciling faith and reason. This Herculean task generated one of the richest, most searching debates in Western history—a battle of innovative thinkers whose discussions ranged over a vast spectrum of disputed issues, from the nature of scientific knowledge and the basic structures of mind and matter to the hope of immortality, the problem of evil, the sources of moral value, and the basic criteria for living a good life.’’Does this have any connection to our present - technological, intellectual, age? Haven’t we passed those - ignorant, unscientific, religious nuts?“Meeting the great scholastics and reliving their stormy debates proved an unexpectedly moving and absorbing experience—so much so, that my friends and students claimed that I had “disappeared” into the Middle Ages. But it was not really an escape from the present, since the concerns of these medieval thinkers resonate so sonorously with ours.’’‘Resonates with us’! This does not. . .sound. . .right!“The civilization that we call modern, with its split between the cultures of the heart and the head, its sanctification of power, “privatization” of religion, and commodification of values, emerged out of a very different past, and is in the process of evolving toward a very different future.’’Rubenstein returns later to these ‘modern’ beliefs - ‘sanctification of power’, etc.. Amazing insight!“Late in the writing process, it dawned on me that this might account for the studied indifference that has all but erased the Aristotelian Revolution from our historical memory. Such blank spots are often the result of the semiconscious neglect reserved for stories that run counter to generally accepted notions of who we are as a people, and how we got that way. Even though they relate to events that happened long, long ago, these contrary tales still have an unsettling capacity to “rock the boat.’’’Yes, Rubenstein’s explanation can ‘rock our boat’.The Medieval Star-Gate“The Master of Those Who Know”The Murder of “Lady Philosophy”“His Books Have Wings”“He Who Strikes You Dead Will Earn a Blessing” “Hark, Hark, the Dogs Do Bark”“This Man Understands”“Ockham’s Razor”“God Does Not Have to Move These Circles Anymore”Conclusion . . .“Propaganda that bombards us unremittingly is the message that we live in the age of science—a time when the methods of inquiry, modes of argument, and standards of proof used by “hard” scientists have become virtually universal, and all objective knowledge (as opposed to merely subjective belief) rests on an appeal to reason.’’Who can deny it? Nevertheless, is ‘science’ really just a new religion?“The origin myth of modern science tells us that this era was born out of the scientists’ struggle against dogmatic, obscurantist religion, and that its result was the replacement of faith by reason, at least in the sphere of public discourse. As one commentator puts it, “Science replaced religion as preeminent intellectual authority, as definer, judge, and guardian of the cultural world view.”’‘Origin myth’?“But, in a way not generally recognized, modern science was also forced to redefine itself. Scientific rationalism emerged from the wreckage of scholasticism strengthened in technique but greatly impoverished in scope—unable to command the fields of metaphysics, ethics, and politics as Aristotle had done; unable to answer the “why” questions about the universe that his doctrine of “final causes” had supplied; and unable to encompass philosophical issues like the eternity and intelligibility of the universe. Certain of these fields—metaphysics and theology, in particular—were left to be dealt with privately by people in their individual capacities. But others, including ethics, politics, and social relations, fell into a no-man’s-land claimed by both sides. The result has been continued conflict of a sort unforeseen by the celebrants of scientific “preeminence.’’’Science is ‘unable to cope’, ‘unable to encompass’, the real questions humans need answered.Rubenstein writing for educated reader. Clear, flowing and warm. Additionally, presents a mountain of information, making the hike enjoyable and the view from the top fascinating!Over three hundred footnotes (links work great).Thirteen page bibliography. No photographs.Extensive index, with links. Wonderful!

This book covers an enormous amount of intellectual history and is worth reading for its summary of thinkers from Plato, Aristotle, Augustine, Boethius, Avicenna, Aquinas, Roger Bacon, Duns Scotus, to William of Ockham. The book sets out the theme that the intellectual turn that led to scientific understanding actually started, not with Copernicus and Galileo, but much earlier, at least by the 12th Century as Aristotelean works on natural phenomena began to flood the libraries of Europe's scholars. Aristotle's work on logic had been long known, thanks to Boethius' 6th Century translations. But this was all the West had until the Christian gradual retaking of the Iberian Peninsula made possible rediscovery of his other works. The libraries of the Muslims and Jewish scholars there had Aristotle's works, and Latin scholars eagerly translated them with help of the Jews and the Muslims. The impact of Aristotle's natural philosophy derived from his outlook that human reason, not tradition, revelation or sentiment, is the road to uncover objective truths about the universe. This outlook regularly leads to conflicts with a faith-based outlook. So what were the Muslims doing with these time-bombs? Rubenstein traces the route that preserved Aristotle's work. The Nestorians translated much of Greek philosophy, not only Aristotle, into Syriac, and these got further translated to Persian, and therefore they fell into the hands of the Arabs with their 7th Century conquest of Persia. These treasuries, at least initially they were seen this way, resulted in the arabic translations and Muslim philosophy flourished. However, by the 11th Century the Muslim religious establishment banished Aristotle from the universities concluding his outlook was inimical to their faith, just before Aristotle was rediscovered in the West. Many religious scholars, both Muslim and Christian, were so fascinated with Aristotle's knowledge of the natural world that they tried hard to spiritualize or "correct" Aristotle's outlook in the hope that then it would not endanger faith. Both Muslim and Christian religious authorities were wary of Aristotle's outlook and in the long run both concluded his outlook could not be papered over. The Muslims were both quicker and more vigilant, the Christians more dilatory and divided and at the same time enthralled by Aristotle's knowledge. Attempts to ban his thought in the West were made in the 13th Century, but it was too late. Modern secular thought was let out of the bottle in the West; even though it still struggles to emerge for many Muslims and well as Christians. In the West, there are still many who would like faith to dominate reason. Currently, only 23 percent of Americans, for example, believe biological evolution to be correct. The story is far from over. Another theme Rubenstein pursues is how Plato and Aristotle differ, even though they agree on many things. The Aristotelian Stance is one of "...unabashed admiration for the material and a distaste for mystical explanations of natural phenomenon..." plus an "optimism about human nature" (page 8). The Platonic attitude is that the "really real" are abstractions such as Beauty, Goodness, Justice -- Eternal Forms or Ideas. The sensate natural world Aristotle rejoiced in only reminded Plato "of a much better place" (page 29). Mystery was Plato's meat. Rubenstein feels some periods of history favor one stance over the other. In times of economic growth, political expansion, optimism and the like, the Aristotelian stance fits in. In times of discomfort and longing, where personal and social conflicts seen all but unresolvable, the Platonic stance kicks in. Plato, with mystery and supernaturalism, may be where many will cling to now. Rubenstein would like to go beyond these tendencies. He would like to restore a creative, rather than destructive, tension between reason and faith. They cannot be fused, but perhaps there can be a integration in which technology, using reason, is guided by a new, global morality based on a "mature and expanded" faith, a faith not threatened by reason. However he offers no road map for such startling developments, let alone any evidence that those of faith see any need to "mature." On the other hand we can see many road maps and much evidence for the outcome he fears, namely, that powerful elites will use both faith and reason for keeping and extending their power.

a wide ranging in-depth history of greek and medieval thought, uncovering the structure of the ground we stand on

A lot of history even a philosophy major as I was in my youth missed out on.How riots by students in Paris over tavern bills changed the course of history.That Thomas Aquinas was born in Italy and was originally considered to be a dumb ox.The fate of William of Ockham's Razor fame and his importance.If you are not religious the arguments by different so-called heretics may seem as irrelevant as how many angels dance on the head of a pin but their views caused Dominicans to see the need to study all of Aristotle to counter their views. We were very lucky - it was a very near thing for us to lose Aristotle once again.

The book retraces the fate of Aristotle's works and thought from classical Athenes to the end of the Middle Ages. As a former student of philosophy and a technological writer,I was fascinated by the relationships described between religion, philosophy and science, especially from late Roman era Ravenna and Alexandria to the Paris Sorbonne of Abelard and Aquinas. The last part, and the attempt to connect Aristotle with modern scientific thought, is somewhat less convincing to me, and I found the references to jewish esoteric thought (the Kabbal, etc.) somewhat thin compared to the treatment of Islam and Christianity -- thus the 4 stars instead of 5. But still, a worthwhile read.

Though clearly pre-owned, this volume is in excellent condition and is exactly as described.I was worried when I first received it because the packaging was torn in several places and not up to Amazon's standard of packaging at all - just a plastic sleeve which was in no way strong enough for the weight of the book - but the corners only needed a small amount of smoothing out, so all is well.

après "quand Jésus devint Dieu", une histoire de la chrétienté au moyen-âge, inspirée, ou révulsée par la philosophie d'Aristote. On découvre des débats dont l'auteur nous permet de saisir la teneur, à notre époque où tous ces thèmes nous semblent désuets et oubliés. J'ai ressenti un peu la même émotion qu'en lisant "le nom de la rose"' d'Umberto Eco, une plongée intellectuelle dans un monde englouti. Je ne sais pas si ce livre a été traduit en français, mais son auteur est un grand auteur.