27-28] NOTES. 103 



the Scholastic Philosophy was, in tfrp mpin. an application of the 

 Topic of Aristotle to the development and explanation of the "Hoc- 

 trines of the Christian faith. This was its character on the 

 whoIeT Occasionally we meet with a Schoolman who left the 

 beaten track of theology. Roger Bacon, for instance, was as 

 diligent and enthusiastic a votary of science as his more cele 

 brated namesake. Cf. Green's History of the English People, vol. 

 i., p. 259. But the circumstances of the time were not favour 

 able to scientific inquiry : and the great evil of Scholasticism, in 

 Bacon's opinion, was that it diverted men's minds from more 

 useful studies. Cf. Hallam's Middle Age*, vol. iii., p. 432. We 

 may distinguish certain periods in Scholasticism. The first of the 

 Schoolmen was Erigena, who was born between 800 and 810. 

 The only work of Aristotle with which he was acquainted was 

 the Logic. His philosophy was that of the later Platonists : and 

 his system is an attempt to reconcile theology with his philosophy 

 by means of the rules of the Aristotelian logic. With him philo 

 sophy was only so far subject to theology, that the latter determined 

 the former in all cases where the two diverged. He allowed him 

 self full liberty of speculation on points which did not come within 

 the sphere of theology. His writings were afterwards condemned 

 by the Church. The tenth, eleventh, and twelfth centuries were 

 occupied with the great struggle between the Realists and the 

 Nominalists, a struggle which gave the Church an opportunity of 

 asserting a constantly increasing authority, since the various 

 issues raised by the conflict had a distinct bearing on theological 

 dogmas. The most conspicuous figure in the twelfth century is 

 Abelard, who came.into conflict with, and was condemned by the 

 Church, for his fea'rless application of the Aristotelian dialectic 

 to subjects which, according to the contention of the Church, were 

 to be settled by authority. It was not until the thirteenth cen 

 tury that Scholasticism attained its full development and all 

 Philosophy was included in theology. This phenomenon was 

 ue to the introduction into Europe of the ethical, physical, and 

 metaphysical treatises of Aristotle. Armed with these the 

 Church was in a position to put forth an authoritative exposi 

 tion of the truth on all subjects. The most eminent representa 

 tive of this fully developed Scholasticism is Thomas Aquinas. 

 Thus the history of Scholasticism displays a progressive limitation 

 of the right to freedom of thought. The last representative of 

 the Scholastic method is the famous William of Ockham. When 

 he appeared Scholasticism was doomed. In his works we see the 

 human mind once more asserting its irrepressible claim to the 

 right of freedom in speculation. Ockham was a revolutionist 

 both in philosophy and politics. He employed his dialectic skill 

 in attacking the main positions of the philosophy of Aquinas. 

 He was scholastic in his method, but his philosophical ideas are 

 those not of the past, but of succeeding generations. It is not 



