Module description
In this module, we will look at philosophy from around the 4th to the 14th centuries. We will be especially concerned with how philosophers understood the basic metaphysical constituents of the material world, particularly of matter itself. Is matter necessarily extended? Can it exist on its own, without any formal characteristics? Is it composed of atoms? Do spiritual things, like the soul or angels, have matter? While most of the course will be concerned primarily with metaphysical issues, we will have occasions to digress into related fields in the history of science and even in ethics.
Assessment details
Formative: 1 x 3000-word essay,
Summative: 1 x 3500-word essay
Educational aims & objectives
To become familiar with the rich philosophical tradition of the medieval period, including Jewish, Islamic, and Christian thinkers
Learning outcomes
- Learn how to read and analyse philosophical texts especially from the medieval period.
- Learn to identify and discuss important philosophical issues
Teaching pattern
One weekly one-hour lecture and one weekly one-hour seminar.
Suggested reading list
- Augustine, Commentary on Genesis
- Gregory of Nyssa, Hexaëmeron
- Thomas Aquinas, Summa Theologiae
- Duns Scotus, Commentary on Aristotle’s Metaphysics
- Avicebron, The Fountain of Life
- Averroes, On elements