The first thing that comes to mind when thinking about medieval philosophy is often God. Although this is not the only thing that man used to write about, Dod does play a huge part in medieval philosophy. The early middle ages ended over five centuries ago and back then the whole society was still breathing God. God and religion were the guides in everything, even in everyday life. This means that also philosophy was completely intertwined with religion. In fact, philosophy served religion in some kind of way. Since religion was primary and the most powerful, philosophy was just a tool to make sure that religion would be smooth.
Furthermore, the conjunction of philosophy with religion meant that back in the middle ages there was no such thing as a philosopher as we seen them today. There were no men that would study philosophy, just for the sake of philosophy. Rather, the wise man would see themselves as religious man. That once again just studied knowledge, truth and other things regarding philosophy, to assure religion ran smoothly.
Man might at first sight say that what was true for the middle ages, is no longer true in today’s society. People tend to believe that religion and other sciences, such as philosophy, are complete separated since the separation the separation of state and church. In the 21st century there are for sure academics calling themselves philosophers and many of them might claim that they study philosophy for the sake of philosophy. However, I would like to argue that religion still plays a huge part in everyday life, in some states more than in others. In believe that as long as religion and everyday life are still in some way intertwined, we cannot see philosophy completely separate from religion either. Therefore, in my opinion, a good philosopher should study religion and other cultural aspects of a society to be capable of researching, discussing or solving philosophical issues.
Medieval philosophy Lecture 1 