2 INTEODUCTORY. 



able, Dante's writings clearly prove. It is Aristotle to 

 whom he refers when he says : 



" Then when a little more I raised my brow, 

 I saw the master of the sapient throng, 

 Seated amid the philosophic train. 

 Him all admire, all pay him reverence due."* 



He also says that Aristotle is most worthy of trust and 

 obedience, for, just as a sword-cutler, bridle-maker, or 

 armourer should obey the knight whose implements he 

 makes, so should we obey and trust Aristotle, who teaches 

 us the end of human life.! 



Not long after Dante's time there commenced a great 

 change of attitude towards Aristotelianism, and not only 

 Vv^ere the Aristotelian writings criticized adversely, but 

 Aristotle's fame, and, above all, his attempts to arrive at 

 the truth, were called in question. After the Revival of 

 Learning this antagonism became very strong. Aristotle 

 and his philosophy, as well as the Church, were attacked by 

 the Eeformers, and then by Bamus, Patrizi, and Galileo. 

 In Luther's writings are many passages adverse to the 

 Aristotelian philosophy. He said in one of his debates 

 that he who wished to apply himself, without trial or experi- 

 ment, to the philosophy of Aristotle, must first become 

 thoroughly inefficient in the School of Christ {Qui sine 

 pei'iculo volet in Aristotele philosophari, necesse est, lU ante 

 bene stultificetur in Christo), and asked, in his Adversus 

 execrahilem Anticliristi Bullam, 1520, why the very wicked 

 philosophy of Aristotle, in which nothing but errors was 

 taught, was not condemned, at least in part (mo, cu7- im- 

 piissimum Aristotelem, in quo non nisi error es docentur, non 

 saltern in parte da^nnatis ?). Ramus wrote bitter criticisms 

 of Aristotle's writings. In 1536 he proposed as the title 

 of the thesis for his Degree at Paris : " Everything that 

 Aristotle taught is false." This gave great offence to the 

 Aristotelians, but Ramus sustained the argument so well 

 that he obtained his Degree, and was licensed to teach. 

 His talents were chiefly employed in attacking the Aristo- 

 telians, and Ramism replaced Aristotelianism in some of 

 the universities. Patrizi (1529-1597) contended that the 

 works known under Aristotle's name were not authentic, 

 and that the Aristotelian doctrines were false. He also 



■-'= The Vision, Inferno, Canto iv. (Gary's translation), 

 f 11 Co?ivivio, iv. c. 6. 



