“Alicui Manius Porcuatus Severinus Boethius”

“BOETHIUS”
(480 – 524/525)

 Bridge of Greek Philosophy to Medieval.

 He translated ORGANON (Aristotle) and ISAGOGE (Porphyry)
 Wrote DE CONSOLATIONE PHILOSOPHAE (Consolation of
Philosophy) while he was imprisoned because of treason by Theodoric
of Austrogots.
 Written in dialogue between Boethius and Lady Wisdom.
 Defined Philosophy as not only purely speculative or abstract work
nor just a method of reasoning but it involves the love and search for
wisdom which is equivalent to the love and search for God.

2 ASPECTS IN KNOWING ANG LOVING GOD

 Theoria – Speculative/ theoretical philosophy.

 Praxis – The study of human activity that is equal to Active Philosophy.

PRACTICAL PHILOSOPHY (Virtues)

1. Self-Government
2. Governing a Family
3. Social Life

SPECULATIVE/ PRACTICAL PHILOSOPHY

1. Theology
2. Psychology
3. Physiology/ Physics

QUARIVIUM – All questions pertains in Psychology

1. Arithmetic
2. Astronomy
3. Geometry
4. Music

TRIVIUM – helps man articulate correctly what he knows.

1. Grammar
2. Rhetoric
3. Logic

THE UNIVERSALS
  The Objects outside mind has these characteristics…
 They can be seen
 They are Particular
 They are concrete
 The objects of the Mind (Concepts) have these characteristics…
 They can be thought of.
 They are universal.
 They are ideas.
 There are 2 different ways in which minds forms concepts…
 Composition – Combinations of concepts
 Abstraction – Absorbing the essence

ANSWERS TO GAUNILON

 Genera and Species as well as universals exists simultaneously in the

object and in the Mind.
 Universal exists concretely in things that are materially and immaterially
or abstractly in the mind.
 They exists in things and apart from the mind.

PROBLEMS OF UNIVERSAL

 Exaggerated Realism (Plato and Odo of Pournai)

 Universals exists in reality and individual things shared in this
universal (World of forms)
 Nominalism
 Universal concepts or general term does not refer to anything, it
is just a word or a name
 Moderate Realism
 Universals are just words or concepts used to denote singularity
(similarities) among things.
 Realism
 Universals exists materially in things and as well as immaterially
in the mind.