Despite its innovative, accurate character, philosophers first rejected the philosophy developed by Aristotle (384-322 BC) on knowledge and learning. His empiricism fell into disregard, and his detailed causal analysis (material cause, formal cause, efficient cause, and final cause) was seldom taught to students.
For instance, Bernard of Clairvaux (1090-1153) was a fierce contender of Aristotle’s philosophy, and exerted great influence in medieval Europe.
Bernard of Clairvaux was born in Burgundy, France, into a noble family. His father, Tescelin le Saur, and his mother, Aleth de Montbard, possessed large parcels of land. Their wealth and social position enabled them to give Bernard the best education available.
By the time he became a teenager, Bernard was well-versed in arithmetic, Latin, rhetoric, philosophy and the Bible. He was an avid student and devoted countless hours to re-reading and memorizing key ideas.
Aristotle’s views on knowledge compared to Bernard of Clairvaux’
Despite his established social position, Bernard decided to renounce his wealth upon turning twenty-three and join the Church. Together with a small group of friends, he travelled to the monastery of Citeaux, and requested to become a monk.
Shortly after, Bernard was sent to set up a new monastery at Clairvaux, where he was elected abbot. Under his leadership, the Clairvaux monastery grew rapidly and led to establishing additional monasteries across Europe.
Bernard was very familiar with Aristotelian philosophy, but regarded it as irrelevant. His focus was on adopting a Christian monastic lifestyle, which he defined as an austere life devoted to prayer, manual labour, and contemplation.
Bernard wrote extensively on love, contemplation, modesty and austerity. His most famous works are “The Sermons on the Song of Songs,” “Humility and Pride,” and “On loving God.”
In contrast to Aristotle’s empiricism and logic, Bernard only cared for mystical inspiration. He regarded Biblical texts as the only source of true knowledge. For all practical purposes, he obliterated and extinguished Aristotelian philosophy.
When Bernard passed away in 1153, he was so famous and influential that a campaign was immediately set in motion to elevate him to sainthood. The process took two decades, and he was canonized as a saint in 1174 by Pope Alexander III.
Aristotle’s views on knowledge compared to Augustine’s
Bernard wasn’t alone in the efforts to wipe out all memories of Aristotelian philosophy. To a great extent, he had based his mysticism on the works of Augustine (454-430 AD).
In contrast to Aristotle’s focus on facts and logic, Augustine had argued that the Christian faith provides the foundation for reason. He believed that true knowledge comes from God (that is, from the Bible), and shows us the path to follow.
When it comes to learning, Augustine did not advocate facts gathering or logical analysis. He believed that true knowledge should come from a deep, personal relationship with God, who is the only source of wisdom and enlightenment. Knowledge, he said, is to be acquired spiritually, not intellectually.
The vast dissemination of works by Augustine and Bernard of Clairvaux led to removing Aristotelian philosophy from the educational curriculum.
Fortunately but unexpectedly, the tide turned a century after Bernard’s death. Thomas Aquinas (1125-1274) devoted large efforts to popularizing Aristotelian logic and making it roughly compatible with Christianity.
Aristotle’s views on knowledge compared to Thomas Aquinas’
Aquinas was born in Roccasecca (Italy) into a noble family. After studying philosophy and theology at Naples University, he travelled to Paris to attend the lectures by Albertus Magnus (1200-1280).
Aquinas studied Aristotle’s works in great detail and found their logic waterproof. In contrast to Bernard of Clairvaux, the conclusion drawn by Aquinas is that Aristotelian philosophy is fully correct.
Bernard of Clairvaux had opted for disregarding Aristotle’s ideas without contesting them; he had embraced mysticism and pretended that facts and logic do not play any role in learning.
Aquinas was more sophisticated than Bernard of Clairvaux. He realized that ignoring Aristotelian logic was unworkable. If Aristotle was right in his method of learning, the Bible should be interpreted accordingly.
Christianity should be rendered consistent with Aristotelian logic, thought Aquinas. If Aristotle and the Bible are right, they must be necessarily consistent with each other. There can be no gaps and no discrepancies.
As a result, Aquinas developed a theological system that is hundred per cent coherent with Aristotle at first sight. Aquinas outlined his integrative approach in his “Summa Theologiae,” which he wrote between 1266 and 1273.
Differences between Aristotle’s views on knowledge and Thomas Aquinas’
In contrast to Augustine and Bernard of Clairvaux, Aquinas maintained that reason (Aristotelian logic) and faith are fully compatible. He argued that God’s existence can be proven by using Aristotle’s logic, especially the theory of the four causes.
Thomas Aquinas carried on his shoulders the whole weight of bringing Aristotle back from the death. I’m not exaggerating when I say that Aristotelian logic might have been lost for an additional century if Aquinas hadn’t done such a thorough job.
Like Aristotle, Aquinas emphasized practising virtue, but he defined virtue in a different way. For Aristotle, the whole point of learning philosophy is to attain happiness. Aristotle’s virtues are habits that lead to happiness, not religious commandments.
For Aquinas, learning and practising virtue take a religious character. Their goal is not to achieve personal happiness, but to get closer to God and secure eternal life for one’s soul.
In his lifetime, Aquinas gained a vast influence on European culture. Five decades after his death, he was canonized as a saint by Pope John XXII. His remains are interred at the Saint-Sernin Basilica in Toulouse, France.
Although popularizing Aristotle was not Aquinas’ first goal, the fact is that he did a great job. Thanks to Aquinas, Aristotle’s empiricism and logic exerted strong influence in the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries, paving the way to the modern world.
If you are interested in applying Aristotelian philosophy to your daily life, I recommend you my book “Sequentiality: The amazing power of finding the right sequence of steps.”
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