Nuova storia della filosofia occidentale. Vol. II: Filosofia medievale

New History of Western Philosophy #2

by Anthony Kenny

Sir Anthony Kenny continues his magisterial new history of Western philosophy with a fascinating guide through more than a millennium of thought from 400 AD onwards, charting the story of philosophy from the founders of Christian and Islamic thought through to the Renaissance. The middle ages saw a great flourishing of philosophy, and the intellectual endeavour of the era reaches its climax in the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries, with the systems of the great schoolmen such as Thomas Aquinas and John Duns Scotus. Specially written for a broad popular readership, but serious and deep enough to offer a genuine understanding of the great philosophers, Kenny's lucid and stimulating history will become the definitive work for anyone interested in the people and ideas that shaped the course of Western thought.

Genres: Philosophy, History, Nonfiction, Religion, Medieval, Medieval History, Reference

380 pages, Kindle Edition

First published January 9, 2005

About the author

Sir Anthony Kenny is an English philosopher whose interests lie in the philosophy of mind, ancient and scholastic philosophy, the philosophy of Wittgenstein, and the philosophy of religion.

Reviews

[Haniye_Mirkamali · Rating 5 out of 5]

اتمام..
۱۴ شهریور ۱۴۰۰
ساعت ۱۹:۰۰

[Lander Demonie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Een controversiële rating, wellicht, dus laat me hier even kort toelichten waarom ik hiervoor koos.
Akkoord dat dit boek niet ideaal is als leerstof, maar dat kan van vele boeken gezegd worden. Kenny geeft niet alleen de nodige historische context in zijn boek, hij weet dit ook te verwerken op een manier waarop de overgang van filosoof tot filosoof, de invloed van de sociopolitieke context in de middeleeuwen op de filosofie een duidelijke plaats krijgt in het geheel. Is trouwens ook een van de weinige boeken waar de overgang van klassieke oudheid naar middeleeuwen zo precies, scherp en uitgevoerd (maar toch niet dominant) wordt toegelicht. Ideeën ontwikkelen en hebben hun oorsprong (het is een wording), en Kenny slaagt er in om dit met de nodige densiteit (absoluut noodzakelijk!) tot uiting te brengen. De middeleeuwse filosofie is deel van het geheel, en het zou zonde zijn ,na het lezen van dit handboek, om te stellen dat filosofen als Averroes, Aquinas, Scotus geen originele bijdrage leveren. Ze bouwen voort en geven commentaar op hun voorgangers (niet zo verschillend met hoe filosofie vandaag bedreven wordt).
Ziehier!

[Xander · Rating 3 out of 5]

After reading Ancient Philosophy (2004) by Anthony Kenny, and not liking it (at all), one might wonder: Why, then, do you read Medieval Philosophy (2005), written by the same author? Well, the simple answer is: I had already bought both books.

The more complicated answer: years ago I started reading the original works by philosophers and scientists, because I wanted to gain a proper understanding of the philosophical and scientific developments and their interaction with culture, politics, etc. In short: I wanted to understand intellectual history. The problem with such an approach is that one can read all of the original works, but this lacks structure. So once in a whole, I'd like to systematize all my knowledge, putting all the pieces together, and to be able to do this I read modern books that offer an overview and integration.

So, anyway, that's why I chose to read Medieval Philosophy.

From the outset, I have to admit that the book is slightly better than the first Volume (Ancient Philosophy) in Kenny's series. Medieval Philosophy has the same structure as the first book: 1/3 of the book chronological developments (roughly 400-1400), 2/3 thematic discussions. This division is still flawed: the developmental part is easy to follow, but once Kenny enters thematic discussions, it pretty soon becomes hard to follow.

One problem is the artificially chopped-up subjects. So the coherent philosophical systems and ideas of Augustine, Averroes, Aquinas & co. are cut up into pieces and these fragments are then placed - chronologically - into each thematic chapter. This is problematic primarily because these philosophers didn't wrote their works for it to be chopped up. So, when Kenny divides the second part of his book into themes like: language & logic, knowledge, physics, metaphysics, soul & mind, ethics, and God, this means, in effect, that to understand, for example, Aquinas' view on some subject has to be referenced with Aquinas' views on other subject. For instance, when dealing with metaphysics, Kenny asserts that, since Augustine's metaphysics is intimately tied to his theology, it is better to explain Augustine's views in the chapter on God. The truth is, for these writers, there simply was no such distinction as Kenny makes. Augustine wrote a book, City of God, which deals with all of the themes that Kenny distinguishes.

Another problem, connected with the first one, is the multitude of references to other chapters. This is a consequence of Kenny's thematic division. This was already problematic in the first Volume, but now Kenny references not just to parts in the same book, but also to parts in the earlier book. Which makes following the main arguments very hard and one is constantly hindered from continuing, which reduces the reading experience (for me, at least) to a minimum.

A third problem, also present in the first Volume, is Kenny's approach in explaining the philosophies involved. He has a peculiar style of explanation, and one gets the impression that Kenny wants to be the popular teacher - trying to offer accessible introductions to less accessible information. This is laudable, especially since Medieval philosophy is pretty abstract and esoteric, but there's something with Kenny's way of expressing himself that completely blocks me from gaining any insights from his texts. I simply can't follow his explanations and this becomes irritating after the two first thematic chapters.

A big plus in this book, as compared to the first Volume, is the interesting material Kenny can work with. Ancient philosophy is pretty chewed up (I mean, who didn't get this subject in school), while Medieval philosophy is, by comparison, much less known. Which makes it a more interesting historical period in philosophy and science to write a book about. Unfortunately, this advantage is only partially exploited by Kenny. In the chronological part of the book, Kenny is able to offer readers new insights and to connect Ancient philosophy (pre-Augustine) to Modern philosophy (post-Descartes) in an informative way.

Yet, in the thematic part of the book (which, again, is about 2/3 of the entire book), the material becomes pretty dull at times. To be honest, this is not Kenny's fault. St. Augustine was the last original thinker up to René Descartes - anything in between is - generalizing, I know, I know - translation of old works, disputing about these works and trying to solve puzzles that were brought up by these old works. Frankly, Medieval philosophy was one big attempt to philosophize theology - in the sense that Christian theology was given as ultimate truth, and that philosophy was used as a tool to support theological doctrines, to understand nature in order to know God's works better, and to help resolve theological problems. The Middle Ages saw philosopers and theologians - the distinction is, frankly, a modern one - attempting to make sense of old works in light of Scripture and to fit in these old works where friction between both fields arose.

For example, the universally hailed St. Thomas Aquinas did nothing more (nor less) than working out how Aristotle's metaphysics and philosophy could be adjusted so that it would fit neatly within a Scriptural framework. And, in general, the whole period of the Middle Ages, saw philosophers clinging obsessively to logic as a way to truth. Logic, epistemology, ethics, psychology and metaphysics were all branches of the same tree, which was theology. God had given us a revelation - through the prophets, and, ultimately, Jesus Christ - and this was the primary and only truth. Anything else (like philosophy) had to acknowledge this scriptural truth, or at least not contradict it.

There's a charicature that the Medieval period saw theologians arguing how many Angels could dance on the head of a pin. This might be a bit unfair, but the gist of the joke is absolutely true. The Middle Ages were a period in which philosophers and theologians (again, the distinction only makes sense in retrospect) would argue both for and against propositions, review the arguments on both sides, and then pick the argument that would fit best within the existing Christian edifice.

This is, frankly, not the road to knowledge. For one, knowledge requires that preconceived notions go out the window: a priori truths have no place in a quest for knowledge. So, theology is, in that sense (and to me in any possible sense), incommensurable wih both philosophy and science. Second, Aristotle's axiomatic-deductive system of knowledge is severly handicapped and, ultimately, will hinder us in our quest for knowledge. To know the world, experience of the world is a necessary (although not sufficient) condition. Logic, in that sense, is only a tool for us to build our theories and hypotheses. Empirical science is needed to discover new truths - and this simply didn't have a place in the framework of Medieval philosophy.

It was only when René Descartes overthrew both Christian theology and the Aristotelean axiomatic-deductive system, and when Francis Bacon emphasized the need for empirical science and inductive truths, that the minds of intellectuals were opened up to alternative approaches to the quest for knowledge.

We, moderns, are steeped solely in inductive reasoning and empirical science, and it is extremely hard for us to enter the minds of people who think in terms of Aristotelean concepts and theological a priori's. It feels unnatural, and it feels awkward, and a lot of times it simply doesn't make any sense. I think this is why I couldn't enjoy Kenny's second Volume in his series, like the first Volume - it simply doesn't make sense to me. I understand what he's saying and what the original works were about, but I simply don't get it. It looks to me like Medieval philosophy is - for modern day readers, at least - nothing but a way to enjoy leisure time. Getting familiar with old ways of thinking, without drawing any implications from them - or rather: without being able to draw any implications from them.

Nevertheless, even though both the content and the structure of the book don't speak to me, I can see Kenny is a knowledgable author and he does his best to present the material as best as he can. This book is also slightly more interesting than the first book, so that's a plus.

[Lucy De Geyseleer · Rating 4 out of 5]

Anthony Kenny is an actual genius.
the way he's somehow able to first convey the chronology of philosophers and then take a subject and show how it evolves and expands through the history is mind-blowing.

i will have to study this book very well for my exam but I'm not at all reluctant to

[Silviu · Rating 4 out of 5]

Reading this book I realized how weak, stupid and lazy modern man is, including myself.

[Jim Cook · Rating 4 out of 5]

Jim Cook’s review) Medieval Philosophy, the second volume in Kenny’s 4-volume history of philosophy, covers the period from the conversion of Augustine until the early years of the European Renaissance. I’ve never been much of a fan of the thought of this period, as the bulk of the philosophical problems posed - the the “solutions” developed - are very much focused on what seems to me to be obsessive forms of religious belief. Basic concepts such as predestination, salvation, sin, grace, freedom, obligation, the nature of the Trinity, and the array of views about the nature of resurrection in an afterlife generated millions of pages of manuscript. For the most part, all seem to me to be false problems with meaningless solutions. A good example, is the many pages written by Augustine about the nuances regarding the resurrection of a cannibal and the victim he has eaten.

Like the other volumes in this series, the first few chapters are a chronological history of the greatest philosophers who lived during this period, followed by a thematic exploration of a number of key philosophical topics of perennial interest (eg, logic, epistemology, ethics, metaphysics, etc.). Unlike some other histories of medieval thought, Kenny’s volume also examines the work of several influential Muslim and Jewish thinkers, especially the work of Avicenna (Ibn Sina), Averroes (Ibn Rushd) and Maimonides (Moses Ben Maimon). In my view, the book is worth its purchase price for the inclusion of these writers!

Like all the volumes in this series, the second volume is beautifully illustrated. The cover of the book shows Lady Philosophy appearing to Boethius during a dream while he was incarcerated and writing his Consolation of Philosophy. As Kenny notes, “It is to be hoped that Boethius found consolation in his philosophical writing, because he was brutally tortured, a cord being fastened round his head and tightened until his eyes started from their sockets. He was finally executed by being beaten with clubs”(p. 22). As the history of philosophy amply illustrates, Socrates was not the only philosopher put to death for his ideas.

I did obtain a small measure of consolation myself, however, when I read that the great Arab philosopher Avicenna read Aristotle’s Metaphysics 40 times and still was unable to understand it. It wasn’t until he came across Al Farabi’s commentary of it that he was able to grasp the finer points of Aristotle’s great work! I also discovered, from reading Kenny’s book, that Ockham never said the words attributed to him in his famous “Ockham’s Razor”; nor did Jean Buridan ever utter the famous paradox subsequently known as “Buridan’s Ass.”

Kenny is a specialist in some of the thinkers who lived during this era and has published a number of books about, for example, Aquinas. While Kenny is able to discuss Medieval thought in layman’s terms most of the time, he does occasionally get bogged down, as when he spends many pages in the book discussing the nuances between “three-valued”, vs “modistic”, vs “terminist” logic. Tedious stuff indeed. Kenny would also have better succeeded in engaging his readers if more of his chapter sub-headings were less boring. His typical sub-headings are ones like: “Augustine on Time”, “Abelard”, “Modistic Logic”, etc. He did break the mould with my favourite two sub-headings, though: “The Informed Ignorance of Nicholas of Cusa” and “Augustine on Lying, Murder, and Sex.” Thanks to Augustine for spicing things up a bit!

As an aside, I found it intriguing that so many of the scholastic philosophers discussed in the book had surnames that began with an “A.” Augustine, Anselm, Aquinas, Abelard, Alfred the Great, Avicenna, Averroes, all make an appearance - and none of them would have had much to write about if it were not for another, earlier philosopher whose name also began with the letter “A”: Aristotle.

I’ll end where I began. Too many of the philosophers examined in Medieval Philosophy were almost exclusively devoted to religious dogma and, to the other side of this vicious coin, seeking out heresy. More than one of them met with a gruesome end after being labeled a heretic. A few, like John Wycliffe, who is also discussed in volume 2, were even declared heretics after they had died and were buried. The solution? Dig up their grave and burn the remains!

Religious intolerance is, indeed, a special kind of crazy.

[Daniel Schotman · Rating 3 out of 5]

The Chronological part was good. The thematic part was not so good.

[Felten De meulenaere · Rating 4 out of 5]

The first part is chronological written and offers a historical insight of medieval philosophy. The second part is ordered thematically and explains and deepens into individual topics of the medieval thinking, such as logics, language, epistemology, ethics, God.. This book showed me that the medieval times we're not dark ages in which nothing of interesting happened. It's a vivid and complex period of time where various thinkers had discussions about natural theology.

[Betawolf · Rating 3 out of 5]

Something of a mixed review, here. I found the second book in Kenny's ambitious series to be less impressive than the first, certainly, but I can't rule out that the main reasons for this were largely out of the author's control. The philosophy of the medieval period itself seems to be at fault, more than anything else, for how uninteresting I find vast portions of the book.

Kenny does anticipate some of this in his introduction, although he makes what I think are finally unjustified efforts to defend the period. The majority of the philosophy expounded upon _does_ seem to be an offshoot of theology or apologetics for the Christian faith, and what thought there is of value amongst that seems to be fundamentally bankrupted by having to share its space with dogma. The one area where this might not be said to apply is that of logic, where scholastic thinkers made some strides to pull apart purely linguistic confusions inherent in the still confused systems of deduction -- but this topic was painful to read for another reason, in that so much of the analysis seems to flounder painfully on the shores of clarity, and without the charm similar flaws had in the texts of the ancients. Other areas were hopeless. The less said about the ethics of the Christian philosophers, the better.

Moving the problems with the content aside, with some difficulty, I think there is still a justified criticism of the way Kenny reports on it, in comparison to the first volume. The chronological section of the first volume seemed like an edifying trip through the history of philosophy, but the same section of this volume felt less rewarding -- too crowded with argumentative figures who did not flourish with the same detail as the ancients. Several times I felt I was told that some development was important, without being given an opportunity to understand the significance for myself. However, I cannot charge that the book was not informative, opening up at least an overview of the period that lets me situate some shards from other reading.

I am conflicted now in my expectations for the further volumes. On one hand, the modern philosophers probably escape the worst of the apologetics and theology, and so my problems with content might be alleviated, but on the other I suspect the cast of characters is going to get much larger, and if Kenny hopes to cover the figures with the same pagecount I might find the descriptions becoming intolerably short and crowded.

[Tyrone_Slothrop (ex-MB) · Rating 4 out of 5]

Secoli tutt'altro che bui

Secondo tomo della grande opera dedicata alla Filosofia Occidentale: alla fine della lettura concordo con la scelta di Kenny di dedicare un volume intero (e della stessa estensione) al periodo Medioevale. Ben lungi dall'essere un tempo privo di cultura e di pensatori rilevanti (come una superficiale cultura di massa suppone) è invece ricco di grandi menti e di tesori del pensiero.
Solo come esempio ho scoperto con sorpresa che i primi tentativi di fisica "sperimentale" sono opera di Roberto Grossatesta, che i 25 anni che intercorrono tra la Summa di san Tommaso e la Lectura di Duns Scoto sono un momento decisivo per la storia globale della filosofia, che il concetto di "mondi possibili" di Leibniziana memoria sono stati introdotti da Duns Scoto e che la questione della predestinazione nasce con Agostino.
Che dire, poi, dei passi fatti nella logica dai molti pensatori scolastici (e non solo)? solo che molte delle loro riflessioni sono poi state recuperate dai pensatori del XX secolo e sono state la base delle rivoluzioni filosofiche-scientifiche con protagonisti Russell, Frege, Godel.

Una lettura a tratti difficile, anche se il livello di complessità è per studenti universitari: quindi un minimo di preparazione in filosofia è necessario, ma anche i non addetti ai lavori possono apprezzare questo testo.

[Shoaib M. Nagi · Rating 5 out of 5]

A very informative and well-written introduction to Medieval Philosophy from St. Augustine to William Ockham. The thematic division of the book helps the reader understand different branches of philosophy in a more coherent manner. To take an example, the author describes the ethical philosophy of St. Augustine under the chapter dedicated exclusively to Medieval Ethics and his theology under the chapter dedicated to God. In this manner, the entire voluminous philosophical output of a philosopher is not crammed down the reader's throat in an instant.

Moreover, Anthony Kenny also gives an insight into Islamic philosophy. He introduces the reader to the theology of Al-Kindi, the metaphysics of Avicenna and the logic of Averroes. It isn't as detailed as it should be (e.g. Kenny doesn't mention Ibn Tufayl, Ibn Arabi or Al-Ghazali), but compared to other books on the history of philosophy, it is still a good start.

[Anderson Paz · Rating 5 out of 5]

Nesse segundo volume de sua obra, Kenny abrange o período da conversão de Agostinho ao início da Renascença humanista. Os capítulos um e dois têm uma apresentação cronológica dos autores, e do três ao nove são apresentados vários temas (lógica, linguagem, conhecimento, física, metafísica, mente e alma, ética e Deus), articulando-se as respectivos interpretações dos autores do período para tais temas.
Nesse volume, destacam-se as interpretações de Kenny sobre o pensamento de Tomás de Aquino e de Agostinho de Hipona. É uma obra a ser consultada várias vezes, já que em vários momentos o autor faz inserções filosóficas importantes e aprofundadas na filosofia do medievo que, em geral, não é tão bem conhecida.

[Artur · Rating 4 out of 5]

The second installment of the New History of Western Philosophy series that covers the medieval period and its thinkers. It's written in the same structure as the other books of the series - historic succession first, after that a breakdown of ideas on main topics of God, ethics, metaphysics, etc. It's written in eloquent and clear language, covers most of the interesting topics and main figures in the era, and conveys the feel of this epoch rather nicely. A good introductory textbook on the history of philosophy, complete with an extensive bibliography and a map.

[Evan Walker · Rating 3 out of 5]

Great writing/distillation as in the first volume. Everything in this period is centered around God. Feel like at least I, relate philosophers (but really anyone known for opinions/beliefs) to a set of ideas, so it was cool to see how much ideas of one person can change over lifetime and even contradict each other (young vs old augustine for instance)

[Patris · Rating 4 out of 5]

A brief overview of medieval philosophy....

[Alberto Tebaldi · Rating 2 out of 5]

i agree with those saying that the chronological part was good and the thematic one not so. this book would make a good way to refresh the knowledge but the topics are discussed too swiftly.

[Fabian Standaert · Rating 4 out of 5]

Begrijpelijk, goed opgebouwd, aangename introductie in de filosofie van de Westerse middeleeuwen

[Matei · Rating 4 out of 5]

It seemed a lit bit too technical sometimes. Maybe it was my mistake that I chose this book as an introduction to philosophy :).

[Jacqueline Quackenbush · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book is the second in a four part series on the history of western philosophy. Following from the first volume on the progression of ancient philosophy, this addition to the series spans the progression of western philosophical thought from the conversion of Augustine to the beginnings of the Renaissance. Like its predecessor, the first two chapters of this book cover a general summary of the major philosophers of the time, with the final seven chapters analyzing the development of philosophical thought in regards to specific issues such as god, ethics, and logic.

My major complaint with this volume is the same one I discussed in my review on the first book of the series; I found the organization sometimes difficult as, opposed to discussing a philosopher’s views as a whole, their views were individually discussed by topic through each of the last seven chapters. This organization has its upsides, I’m sure, but I couldn’t help but find it difficult to organize the wealth of separately discussed views under any single philosopher, leaving me with only a few facts about each philosopher that I can accurately remember. So, while I feel like I walked away from this book with a good understanding of the major philosophical questions of this era, I can’t say I recall very much about any one specific philosopher.

Despite this, I did learn quite a good deal from this book. If nothing else, I feel as if I now understand much more clearly the academic and religious atmosphere of the time much better. While I have not studied philosophy in any depth before, I have done a fair share of reading on history and prior to reading this I sometimes found it difficult to understand the general climate of the times in comparison with my own modern day life. Exactly how the church managed to sway such influence throughout history seems much clearer to me now that I’ve read through the types of philosophical dilemmas that absorbed the great minds of the time, and learned of the sometimes vitriolic backlash that occurred to even the silliest seeming bits of heresy.

So, definitely continue this series if you have begun it; there is a wealth of information to be had. For those looking to get more out of it than I myself did, I recommend utilizing Wikipedia and google to recap about specific philosophers as you read through it. I also wish I had read a little more on formal logic before beginning this tome as it would have made numerous sections much more clear to me.

All and all, this series is shaping up to be a rather solid introduction to western philosophical thought, although it is definitely worth it to through in a little extra effort to get the most out of it.

If you liked this review, you can read others as well as anumber of articles on the topic of self-education at my blog

[Sam Eccleston · Rating 4 out of 5]

Interesting, clear, and sufficiently detailed without being tedious. In other words, typical of Kenny. This ought to make it a brilliant work, and there isn’t anything I can find wrong with it, but there is just something very plodding about Kenny’s approach that takes the life out of the subject somewhat- one feels that he is reciting from memory rather than teaching with passion.

[IWB · Rating 4 out of 5]

A good introductory survey of philosophical topics as they were treated by various medieval thinkers throughout the entire period, from late antiquity and the commentators of Aristotle, to the inception of the humanists. The survey combines what is properly called intellectual history and philosophy proper. The historical aspect is kept to a minimum (as it ought to be in a philosophy book) without sacrificing salient features of the historical context in which the topic under discussion occurred. The philosophy, on the other hand, is more developed and Kenny has an emphasis on concept explanation, as opposed to explicating arguments; though he does do both at times.

This includes the following topics: God, Mind and Soul, Logic and Language, Knowledge, Physics, Metaphysics, Ethics, as well as an excellent treatment of philosophy and religious belief from Augustine to Maimonides,and scholasticism from the twelfth century renaissance (Abelard and the 'nominales' school) to the so-called renaissance proper (roughly 1360-1550), at which point scholasticism began to give way to the new schoolman, the humanists.

Kenny is especially good at explaining the intellectual current of a given period and how such a current has bearing on the topic at hand, this is particularly seen in his discussion of physics. As such, the historical context of each topic and its subsequent development is presented thoroughly but briefly; however, little attention is given to the explication of any particular thinker's arguments on any given topics. For that reason, you will find little critical analysis of is presented.

All in all it is an excellent work, written clearly and informatively, by a very capable philosopher. It's a good introduction for undergraduates at the freshman and sophomore level. But if you've had more than a survey course in medieval philosophy, you need something with a bit more depth.

[John]

This fine book, the second volume in Kenny's A New History of Western Philosophy, provides an overview of the major figures and issues in the philosophy of the European Middle Ages. Kenny takes an "intellectual history" approach in the opening section to provide necessary historical context and biographical information on the major figures he will be discussing. In the longer second part of the book, he turns to philosophical issues per se, tackling, in turn, "Logic and Language," "Knowledge," "Physics," "Metaphysics," "Mind and Soul," "Ethics," and "God." Kenny organizes this discussion around a who's who of the major medieval philosophers, including Augustine, Boethius, Avicenna, Anselm, Abelard, Aquinas, Duns Scotus, and Ockham. The chapters on ethics and God, topics so important in the Christian philosophical matrix of the Middle Ages, are very good, but it is the chapter on logic and language that stood out to me as being particularly interesting--Kenny highlights the ways in which medieval thinkers were anticipating issues in the philosophy of language that have been very hot topics among philosophers of the last century.

Kenny's book will be useful to anyone with a more-than-casual interest in philosophy or in medieval intellectual history. It may prove too difficult for absolute beginners with no philosophical background. Non-specialist academics and students, among others, will relish the book both for the helpfulness of its content and for the charm and grace of Kenny's writing.

[Paul · Rating 4 out of 5]

An excellent introductory and thematic text, usefully organized into thematic chapters (metaphysics, logic, ethics, etc.) following a couple of useful chapters on the intellectual history of the period. Kenny's discussions of various topics are nicely balanced between explanatory glosses and more detailed explications of knotty problems. I read this book because, despite half a lifetime as a student of philosophy, my knowledge of the subject after Aristotle but before Descartes was woeful, limited to Boethius and some Augustine.

While the overwhelming context of Christian theology and doctrine unavoidably colors the book, Kenny does a nice job contextualizing the debates and developments and highlights the importance of Al-Farabi, Averroes, Avicenna, and other non-Christian thinkers of the era.

Having read this, I doubt that I'll read any further into the philosophy of the period, because (under the crushing imperium of the Catholic Church) the era was not replete with interesting developments in ethics or political philosophy, my primary areas of philosophical interest. It's nice to feel like I did take a sip before dismissing the drink as not to my taste.

[Maya · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is the second volume of the history of philosophy. It deals with the history of philosophy and the concepts of it during the Hellenistic era going through to St. Augustine, Abelard, Aquinas, Scotus, Okham, and some Islamic and Jewish philosophers as well. Even though my interest is in the Ethics portion of this I enjoyed reading the whole book.

[Rebecca Lovatt · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is an interesting introduction to medieval philosophy and some of the philosophers of the time. It studies the concepts of St. Augustine, Abelard, Aquinas, Scotus, and Okham, along with a few others, exploring topics such as Ethics, Physics, Metaphysics, Logic and Language.

I found it to be a bit confusing at times, however it was informative and well-written.

[Thomas Dodson · Rating 2 out of 5]

I finally finished this book! I'm ready for the agent intellect to beam me up!

[Jeffrey · Rating 4 out of 5]

Second part of a four volume set: medieval philosophy.

[Imogen]

Read chronological survey, see Philosophy and Philology nb (p. 67-86) for notes