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What philosopher connected early Christian and Greek philosophy?
Wiki User
∙ 12y ago
After the fall of Ancient Greece, most of the works of the Ancient Greek philosophers were lost in fires. For instance, Aristotle's Poetics was made up of two parts: Tragedy and Comedy. The Comedy part, however, was destroyed, so we are left only with the Tragedy portion of Poetics. His other works like Nicomachean Ethics are often considered only to be his lecture notes from the Lyceum (the "University" at which he taught). Likewise with Plato, only (a few) of his dialogues survived. These dialogues (Republic, Phaedo, Phaedrus, etc.) were only shorter, summary-like versions of his actual works. Again, we were only left with minimal writings from Ancient Greece.
Into the Medieval period, the Roman Empire expanded its empire and certain works in literature and thought were also expanded. Among these were Aristotle's notes/writings, which were also being translated by the Muslims. The Muslims saw the importance of these notes and salvaged as much as they could, but the Roman empire (and much of Europe) was dominated by religion at this time. Aristotle's teachings weren't necessarily understood in terms of these religious ideals, so they were rejected by the religious institutions of the time. A few people stood up against this, however.
One of them was (Saint) Thomas Aquinas. He was a Catholic theologian who attempted to make the religious institutions accept the teachings of Aristotle by slanting them toward a pro-religion perspective. For instance, St. Thomas Aquinas built upon Aristotle's Nicomachean Ethics by adding Faith, Hope and Love to Aristotle's list of virtues. These virtues are known as the religious virtues as they involve one's relationship with god and his or her Christian brothers and sisters (according to Aquinas). Aquinas also attempted to prove the existence of god through philosophical reasoning, so he was able to "sanctify" Aristotle's philosophies by presenting them in a certain way.
Thus, St. Thomas Aquinas was paramount in un-obstructing Ancient Greek philosophy from Medieval (Christian) thought.
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∙ 12y ago
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What philosophy became a bridge that connected early Christian philosophy and Greek philosophy?
Neoplatonism became a bridge that connected early Christian philosophy and Greek philosophy. Neoplatonism's emphasis on mystical experiences, the quest for unity with the divine, and the hierarchical structure of reality influenced early Christian thinkers like Augustine and Dionysius the Areopagite. This philosophical system helped reconcile aspects of Greek thought with Christian theology.
What is the Greek word for philosopher?
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Aristotle
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A famous greek philosopher from Athenswho taught King Alexander the Great to love Greek ways and philosophy?
who he is? Aristotle
A famous Greek philosopher from Athens who taught king Alexander the great to love Greek ways and philosophy?
Aristotle
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Aristotle
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He was a Greek philosopher. He was born in the year of 624 BC and died in the year of 546 BC.
What was the chief task of scholasticism?
The chief task of scholasticism was to reconcile the teachings of ancient philosophers with Christian theology, particularly focusing on the works of Aristotle. Scholastic philosophers sought to use reason and logic to better understand and explain religious doctrines and truths.
What effect did ancient Greek philosophy have on Aquinas?
In general, western medieval philosophy was heavily dependent upon ancient Greek philosophy. The doctrines of the ancient Greek philosophers from the pre-Socratics through Plotinus were extremely influential in setting the agenda for medieval philosophy. The first great Christian thinker was Augustine, whose own original thinking was heavily influenced by, on the one hand, Plato and Plotinus, and, on the other, by Paul's Christian writings. Augustine tried to use the categories of Greek philosophy to render Christian doctrine intelligible. By the time of Aquinas, many of the works of Aristotle, which had been preserved by Islamic scholars, had been recovered (whereas not many of Plato's dialogues were available). Aquinas was so heavily influenced by Aristotle that he simply refers to him as "the philosopher" in his writings. Like Augustine, Aquinas tried to make sense of Christian writings, but he also used Aristotelean categories to try to make Christian thinking consistent with what else was understood about the world. In so doing, he developed the greatest medieval synthesis. Aquinas remains the official philosopher of the Roman Catholic Church. In other words, Greek philosophy in general, and Aristotle's writings in particular, had a powerful effect on Aquinas's thinking.
