현대 대학들은 시장 경제의 원리에 따라 연구결과물의 양산과 취업률의 제고에만 온 정신을 집중하고 있다. 이러한 현상을 비판적 지성인들은 ‘폐허의 대학’ 또는 ‘대학의 기업화’라고 부르며 강력히 반발하고 있다. 그렇다면 대학의 몰락을 이겨내기 위한 새로운 대안과 방향성은 어떻게 발견될 수 있을까? 여러 학자는 대학의 오랜 역사, 특히 중세 대학의 설립과정에서 해답을 찾고자 한다. 그렇지만 일부 학자는 중세 대학에서는 아예 학문의 자유가 보장되지 않았다는 주장을 펼치기도 하다. 본 논문에서는 대학의 위기를 극복하기 위해 우선 중세 대학의 발생 배경과 유형들, 그리고 구조 등을 통해 발전 (...) 과정(1장)을 살펴보겠다. 이어서 중세 대학이 정치적 억압으로부터의 독립을 추구하는 과정과 교회 권력의 통제에 대해 저항하는 과정을 살펴봄으로써 외부권력‘으로부터의 자유’를 추구하는 과정을 탐구할 것이다.(제2장) 이를 토대로 과연 중세 대학이 지키려 했던 소중한 가치가 진리를 추구하려는 학문에 대한 사랑(amor scientiae)이며 이를 위해 ‘교수와 학생의 공동체’이 이루어졌음을 밝힐 것이다. 이러한 소중한 가치를 지키기 위해 중세의 대학은 동맹 휴학이나 철수를 포함한 참으로 다양한 방법을 동원했고, 필요에 따라서 교황과 왕이나 귀족을 자신의 보호자로 삼기도 했다. 아리스토텔레스의 강의 금지령이 성과를 거두지 못한 것에서 중세 대학의 자율성은 잘 드러난다.(제3장) 중세의 대학이 추구했던 가치를 통해서 위기를 겪고 있는 현대의 대학인들은 다양한 교훈을 얻을 수 있다. 다양하고 교묘한 형태로 나타나는 현대 대학에 대한 통제에 대처하기 위해서는 대학인들이 단지 눈앞에 작은 이익에만 매몰되는 일 없이, 자신이 추구하고 있는 학문적인 이상을 뚜렷이 자각해야 한다. 효율적인 기술자 양성에 적합한 방법을 모든 기초 학문에도 적용하려는 경향을 극복하기 위해서는 중세 대학의 인문학부에서 이루어진 통합적인 교육과정을 주목해야 한다. 상위학부를 위한 기초과정의 역할을 충실히 수행했던 ‘인문학부’처럼 변화하는 개별적인 상황에 능동적으로 대처할 수 있는 보편적인 교육을 지향해야 한다. 또한 중세 대학에서 추구했던 평등의 원리에 따라 대학의 주체인 구성원들이 모두 ‘함께 지배하기’(shared governance)에 참여함으로서 이미 심하게 손상된 대학의 공동체 정신을 회복해야 한다. 우리가 가르치는 학생들과 동료들을 진정한 가족으로 바라 볼 때, 우리의 대학들은 경쟁의 두려움에서 벗어나 ‘지혜의 집’이 주는 아늑함과 형제애를 느끼는 장소가 될 것이다. (shrink)

This book presents an overview of the later medieval trinitarian theology of the rival Franciscan and Dominican intellectual traditions, and includes detailed studies of thinkers such as Thomas Aquinas, Henry of Ghent, John Duns Scotus, ...

Liturgy and ritual -- Structure -- Curriculum.

Resumen: Para reconstruir el pasado de Europa, los cronistas medievales debieron recurrir a un cúmulo de textos narrativos de origen griego y romano, atiborrados de elementos de carácter mitológico, dioses y héroes. En el presente artículo exponemos el proceso de evemerismo empleado por esos clérigos cristianos para depurar doctrinalmente la historia antigua. El análisis de las crónicas universales redactadas en el siglo XII muestra la construcción de un discurso narrativo basado en un rico lenguaje compuesto de sustantivos, adjetivos y sus (...) derivados adverbiales, tendiente a desacreditar la veracidad de la mitología clásica.: In order to reconstruct Europe’s past, the medieval chroniclers had to resort to a series of narrative texts of Greek and Roman origin, which were full of mythological elements, gods and heroes. In this paper we present the process of euhemerism used by these Christian clerics to doctrinally purify ancient history. The analysis of the universal chronicles written in the XII century reveals the construction of a narrative discourse based upon a rich language composed of nouns, adjectives and adverbs, with the purpose of discrediting the veracity of classical mythology. (shrink)

Originally published in 1967, this volume provides an account of the early development of English education. The schools and universities of the mediaeval period arose to meet the social needs of that time. The book charts developments up to the sixteenth century when the Reformation brought profound social and religious changes which affected education: not only the organisation of schools and universities but also the curriculum. This was the turning point when the foundations of an educational system, in (...) the modern sense of the term, were laid. (shrink)

Originally published in 1967, this volume provides an account of the early development of English education. The schools and universities of the mediaeval period arose to meet the social needs of that time. The book charts developments up to the sixteenth century when the Reformation brought profound social and religious changes which affected education: not only the organisation of schools and universities but also the curriculum. This was the turning point when the foundations of an educational system, in (...) the modern sense of the term, were laid. (shrink)

Scholars will be grateful to the Pontifical Institute of Mediaeval Studies for its enterprise in undertaking the publication of a new series of studies and texts. A priori it was clear that much valuable work done in doctorate theses here, as in all other universities, was not generally available; Gilson’s monumental History of Christian Philosophy in the Middle Ages evidently depended on results contained in some of these theses. The present volume is the worthy beginning of a scheme to (...) present these studies in detail to the mediaevalists of the world. Much of the present picture of mediaeval thought was the work of great pioneers at the end of the last century; they took the main figures and great themes and created the outline. To-day the work is less thrilling: it is a matter of the patient study of detail, adjusting and filling in the outline; the joy of great discovery is rare, but the task is vital if a true picture is to result. The texts published here shed light on details from the 12th until the 14th century. (shrink)

Scholars will be grateful to the Pontifical Institute of Mediaeval Studies for its enterprise in undertaking the publication of a new series of studies and texts. A priori it was clear that much valuable work done in doctorate theses here, as in all other universities, was not generally available; Gilson’s monumental History of Christian Philosophy in the Middle Ages evidently depended on results contained in some of these theses. The present volume is the worthy beginning of a scheme to (...) present these studies in detail to the mediaevalists of the world. Much of the present picture of mediaeval thought was the work of great pioneers at the end of the last century; they took the main figures and great themes and created the outline. To-day the work is less thrilling: it is a matter of the patient study of detail, adjusting and filling in the outline; the joy of great discovery is rare, but the task is vital if a true picture is to result. The texts published here shed light on details from the 12th until the 14th century. (shrink)

The article actualizes the significance of scholastic encyclopedias for the religious and secular culture of medieval Europe. Their role as a compendium of accumulated knowledge and at the same time ideological synthesis of Christian religious doctrine and scientific achievements, ancient and scholastic traditions, university, and church-monastery intellectual culture is shown. The main attention is paid to the multi-volume Vincent of Beauvais’ work «Speculum Maius» as the most significant work among medieval encyclopedias and its conceptual completion. The extraordinary role (...) of the encyclopedia as a documentary evidence of knowledge, ideas, worldview, mentality of the Western European Middle Ages is proved. The author outlines the principles of codification of «The Great Mirror»; highlights the influence of the Christian-theological context on the content, structure and methods of organizing its material; the relationship of encyclopedic work with the processes of development and rationalization of the religious worldview. The focus is on the universalizing potential of the Christianity concepts, the extraordinary expression of which was the work by Vincent of Beauvais. The aspiration for universality was manifested both in the desire to understand the world as a Whole, created by God-completed omnipresence, and in attempts to base all the accumulated human experience, all kinds of knowledge and life on the principles of the Christian worldview. The encyclopedia is valued as a real «mirror» of an entire era, the medieval reception of Christianity, the history of European science and knowledge. (shrink)

In lieu of an abstract, here is a brief excerpt of the content:Journal of the History of Philosophy 41.2 (2003) 269-270 [Access article in PDF] Steven Harvey, editor. The Medieval Hebrew Encyclopedias of Science and Philosophy: Proceedings of the Bar-Ilan University Conference. Dordrecht: Kluwer, 2000. Pp. xi + 547. Cloth, $239.00. This fine volume, covering the proceedings of a conference at Bar-Ilan University (January, 1998), is the first book devoted to the medieval Hebrew encyclopedias of science and philosophy. (...) According to the editor, the talks at the conference "were arranged to fit together like a jigsaw puzzle," and that intention is also reflected in the current volume: It is extremely well-organized, the earlier essays provide useful background for the later ones, and the various parts of the book complement each other quite well. Though they contain much that is highly technical, the editor has succeeded in making the essays comprehensible to the non-specialist, as was his declared intention. [End Page 269]The editor's introductory essay draws the book together and makes it a coherent whole. The most important part of that essay raises the conceptual problem underlying the entire book, namely: what defines a medieval encyclopedia? The contributors do not always agree on how to answer this question, nor should we expect such agreement. Some of their criteria are: an encyclopedia must treat a subject comprehensively; it must be well-enough organized to facilitate retrieval; it is meant to be consulted, not read cover-to-cover; it is usually an eclectic collection of previously extant material, not an original composition, and certainly not a major source for new ideas. Finally, an important goal of the encyclopedist is popular enlightenment.The book's first two sections deal with the predecessors of the medieval Hebrew encyclopedias, the medieval Latin and Arabic works. Only the latter had heavy influence on the structure and content of later Hebrew works. Nevertherless, the Islamic author who had the greatest influence by far on Jews during the age of the encyclopedias under discussion, namely Averroes, is judged by Butterworth (as well as by Biesterfeldt) not to be an encyclopedist at all. The basis for this judgment is that Averroes had no interest whatsoever in popular enlightenment; his books are not introductory, and nowhere does he address himself to anyone but the expert.Nevertheless, when it comes to Averroes, it would be prudent to honor the editor's admonition that we not be too demanding with our criteria for what constitutes a medieval encyclopedia. Perhaps the corpus of Averroes's works does not make him an encyclopedist, as the essays contend. But we should not lose sight of how his works were actually used by later Hebrew writers: their Hebrew translations were copied and paraphrased extensively as state-of-the-art presentations of science on nearly every important topic. In other words, even if Averroes himself did not have the intentions of an encyclopedist for his works, later authors mined them for informative essays as if they were encyclopedias.Part 3 deals with Early Hebrew Encyclopedias. Despite the volume's otherwise outstanding organization, Woolf's fine article on Maimonides' Mishneh Torah seems out of place here, since it is by no means an encyclopedia of science and philosophy.Part 4 deals with the structure and organization of the three thirteenth-century encyclopedias that are the focus of the volume: Judah ben Solomon ha-Cohen's Midrash ha-Hokhmah; Shem-Tov ibn Falaquera's De'ot ha-Filosofim; and Gershom ben Solomon's Sha'ar ha-Shamayim. The descriptive essays are extremely useful for getting a balanced picture of these books, but perhaps of even greater value are the content outlines, which include pagination from the manuscripts to make them easier to consult.The most fascinating section of the book by far, and the most likely to become a productive model for future research, is part 5, which analyzes specific topics within the encyclopedias. These essays trace scientific problems from Aristotle to the medieval Aristotelians, especially Averroes, and then examine how they are dealt with in the Hebrew... (shrink)

The paper delves into manuscript sources connected with various disputations held at Prague University from around 1390 to 1420 and singles out a set of hitherto unknown quaestiones dealing with the nature of the human intellect and its relation to the body. Prague disputations from around 1400 arguably offer a unique vantage point on late medieval anthropological issues, since they encompass an entanglement of numerous doctrinal influences from Buridanian De anima commentaries to John Wyclif’s theories. The paper delineates several (...) conceptual tensions regarding the nature of the intellect, e.g., between materialism (entailed by the emphasis on the intellect’s inherence in the body) and personal immortality. It presents several strategies Prague masters employed to overcome these tensions. For example, an anonymous participant of the 1409 quodlibet develops the Buridanian distinction between the rationally demonstrable materialist tendency and the indemonstrable “catholic truth” about the intellect both inhering in and separable from the body. On the other hand, Wyclif’s adherents (Jacob of Mies and another anonymous master) postulate an immortal spirit hypostatically united to each human being beside the human soul educed from the potency of the matter. Yet, the boundaries between the doctrinal standpoints in question seem permeable, whereby a rigid definition of antagonistic groups in late medieval Prague intellectual milieu (e.g., Buridanians vs Wycliffites) is rendered ineffective. (shrink)

Fortunately – and perhaps surprisingly, due to the size of a field which remains absent from most philosophy departments, especially in the Anglophone world – medieval philosophy is awash with exce...

In the thirteenth century, the University of Paris emerged as a complex community with a distinctive role in society. This book explores the relationship between contexts of learning and the ways of knowing developed within them, focusing on twelfth-century schools and monasteries, as well as the university. By investigating their views on money, marriage and sex, Ian Wei reveals the complexity of what theologians had to say about the world around them. He analyses the theologians' sense of responsibility to the (...) rest of society and the means by which they tried to communicate and assert their authority. In the late thirteenth and early fourteenth centuries, however, their claims to authority were challenged by learned and intellectually sophisticated women and men who were active outside as well as inside the university and who used the vernacular - an important phenomenon in the development of the intellectual culture of medieval Europe. (shrink)

Later Medieval Philosophy (1150-1350) provides an introduction to philosophy in the Latin West between 1150 and 1350. Part I describes the medieval thinker's intellectual and historical context, by examining the structure of courses in the medieval universities, the methods of teaching, the forms of written work, and the translation and availability of ancient Greek, Arab, and Jewish philosophical texts. Part II examines the nature of intellectual knowledge by explaining the arguments given by Aristotle, his antique commentators, (...) and the Arab philosophers, Avicenna and Averroes. (shrink)

Fortunately – and perhaps surprisingly, due to the size of a field which remains absent from most philosophy departments, especially in the Anglophone world – medieval philosophy is awash with exce...