Global History of Philosophy (Vol. 4): The Period of Scholasticism (Pt. 1) (800-1150 A.D.)

The fourth and fifth volumes of the Global History of Philosophy are

designated The Period of Scholasticism (part one: 800-1150, part two:

1150-1350) in order to stress that the scholastic method with its emphasis

on thesis, antithesis, and attempts at synthesis became universal

throughout Eurasia. Scholasticism should not be taken in the pejorative

sense as the juggling of arguments by straw men, but in the sense of a

challenge even in our own era to work for consistent and comprehensive

systematic synthesis. All the “older traditions” need to be reinterpreted

in terms of “modern conditions”–which after all, is what the Eurasian

scholastics of these centuries were doing for their own time.

The major developments of this period are “Monism in Many Moods” during the

ninth century, through “Exfoliation and Elaboration” of those seminal

systems in the tenth and eleventh centuries until the time of the “Great

Summas” in the twelfth and thirteenth centuries. It was during this time

that philosophy and theology developed a very highly sophisticated

technique of balancing arguments and refutations and counter-arguments and

counter-refutations. Most of these architectonic structurings were in the

form of commentaries on basic handbook texts handed down as authoritative

scripture.

In every culture of Eurasia systematic philosophy as well as intuitive

wisdom had reached a high degree of sophistication from which it might be

said that it has never quite completely recovered. In terms of method,

seldom since has there been such thoroughness in treatment of every single

topic, with arguments and counter-arguments architechtonically juxtaposed

and counter-balanced into such a grand harmony. As is true of the whole

series, these volumes are a new way of exploring the accumulative wisdom of

mankind, and in the process explode many of the ethnocentric stereotypes

which still hinder intercultural communications and world peace through

intercultural understanding.

Review(s)

About the Author(s)

JOHN C.PLOTT received his B.A. degree with Phi Beta Kappa honors at the

University of Oklahoma and Ph.D. degree from Banaras Hindu University. He

is now teaching philosophy at Marshall University, U.S.A. He constantly

concerned for World Peace through Global Understanding and Social Justice

through Gandhian Practice.