Scholasticism

“fear of scholasticism is the mark of a false prophet”
-KARL BARTH


I strongly believe that Deep inside every one of us questions everything from why do we have fingernails to why is the sea salty. We weren’t contented on just staying still and always find a way to seek knowledge but that’s the greatest thing about humanity we always seek out to find how things work, our origin and what our purpose is and it leads us where we are right now. Ever heard of the famous quote “curiosity kills the cat”?  Some say that curiosity is dangerous but I strongly agree that it is the key of our evolution and what makes us humans and have faith.

Have you ever heard of dogma?
If you don’t then let me explain it to you dogma is defined as principles or rules that cannot be questioned. As an example in Christian Faith is the Ten Comandments this cannot be questioned  because it is a set of principles laid down by authority as an inconvertibly true. Therefore it cannot be argued because it is the base of right and wrong. But as I stated earlier humans are always curious and always question everything. For if we simply follow the rules blindfolded it takes away what makes us human  and makes us no different from robots or machines who only do what they’re programmed to do. According to Origen (also known as Origen Adamantius) “free will is the power of choosing good and evil” but how can you question something that is unquestionable? That’s where scholasticism comes in .
scholasticism  is the system of theology and philosophy taught in medieval European universities, based on Aristotelian logic and the writings of the early Church Fathers and having a strong emphasis on tradition and dogma. To make it short scholasticism is the study of dogma. Its main purpose is to find an answer  to a question  or to show that a contradiction can be resolved. Also known for rigorous conceptual analysis and the careful drawing of distinctions.


Scholasticism has six main characteristics
• .An acceptance of the prevailing Cathollic orthodoxy.
• .Within this orthodoxy, an acceptance of Aristotle as a greater thinker than Plato.
• The recognition that Aristotle and Plato disagreed about the notion of universals, and that this was a vital question to resolve.
• giving prominence to dialectical thinking and syllogistic reasoning.
• An acceptance of the distinction between “natural” and “revealed” theology.
• A tendency to dispute everything at great length and in minute detail, often involving world-play.



The Scholastic method is to thoroughly and critically read a book by a renowned scholar or author (e.g. The Bible, text of Plato or St. Augustine) reference any other related documents and commentaries on it, and note down any disagreements and points of contention. The two sides of an argument would be made whole (found to be in agreement and not contradictory) through philological analysis (the examination of words for multiple meanings or ambiguites), and through logical analysis (using the rules of formal logic to show that contradictions did not exist but were merely subjective to the reader.)




Reference:
https://en.m.wikiquote.org/wiki/Absurdism
https://www.britannica.com/topic/Scholasticism