Certificate No.

AJA19-0226

Balasta, Mara C. Professor: Dr. Josephine Marasigan

Course: MAED-ELT Subject: Philo-social Foundations

COURSE WORK # 7:

MEDIEVAL

Some historians say that Middle Ages began in AD 476 when the barbarian Odoacer
overthrew Emperor Romulus Augustulus, ending the Western Roman Empire; still other say about
AD 500 or even later. Historians say that the Middle Ages ended with the fall of Constantinople in
1453, with the discovery of America in 1492; or with the beginning of the Reformation in 1517.

German barbarians sacked and pillaged the declining Western Roman Empire. The
invader, however, lacked the knowledge and skills to carry on Roman achievements in art,
literature, and engineering. In effect, highly developed system of Romans law and government
gave way to the rude forms of the barbarians. Thus, the Early Medieval Period is sometimes
referred to as the Dark Ages (Solomon &Higgin 1996).

The way of life in the Middle Ages is called feudalism, which comes from medieval Latin
feudum, meaning property or “possession”. Peasants, about nine-tenths of them, are farmers or
village laborer. They built villages of huts near the castles of their lords for protection in exchange
of their services.

However, with the growth of commerce and towns, feudalism as a system of government
began to pass. As changes in business, government and social customs steadily shaped a new
life in Europe, rising interest in artistic and intellectual achievements reached a peak in the
RENAISSANCE- a revival of classical learning. An interest of beauty and culture was reborn. In
the 14th and 15th centuries, leadership in art and literature returned to Western Europe.

Amid the turmoil of the Middle Ages, one institution stood for the common good-the
ROMAN CATHOLIC CHURCH. By the 13th century, the church was the strongest single influence
in Europe. The middle ages employed pedagogical methods that caused the intercommunication
 Certificate No. AJA19-0226

between the various intellectual centers and the unity of scientific languages. In all schools,
philosophy was taught in the Latin language.

One of the philosophers of the Medieval is St. Thomas Aquinas. He was an Italian
philosopher and a theologian of this period. He establishes the existence of God as a first cause of
all God’s creations; human beings have unique power to change themselves and things around
them for the better. So as humans, we are both material and spiritual. We have a conscience
because of our spirituality. God is love and love is our destiny.

MODERN

In particular, the title “modern philosophy” is an attack on and a rejection of the Middle Ages
that occupied the preceding thousand years. It is an attack on the church that ruled those ages
and dictated its ideas.

The modern period is generally said to begin around 1500. Only a decade after, Martin
Luther would tack 95 theses to the door of the church at Wittenberg and initiate the
REFORMATION, which would cause several centuries of upheaval in Europe, change the nature
of Christian religion, and eventually, change conceptions of human nature. With REFORMATION
came not only the rejection of medieval philosophy but also the establishment of the “Protestant
ethic” and the beginnings of modern capitalism.

POSTMODERNISM

Post modernism means “after the modern”. In modernist thinking is about the search of an
abstract truth of life. Postmodernist thinkers believe that there is no universal truth, abstract or
otherwise. Postmodernist believe that humanity should come at truth beyond the rational to the
non-rational elements of human nature, including the spiritual. They consider that to arrive at truth,
humanity should realize the limits of reason and objectivism. Beyond exalting individual analysis of
truth, postmodernism value our existence in the world and relation to it.

The most influential early postmodern philosophers were Jean Baudrillard, Jean-François
Lyotard, and Jacques Derrida.

In Deconstruction, or at least Derrida's version, is based on the idea that all words are
situated - they are said somewhere and mean certain things. Interpretations change, and the idea
 Certificate No. AJA19-0226

of deconstruction is to understand how interpretations are shaped and have changed in specific
texts.

It can have some similarity to nihilistic thought, because it is based on an idea that human
action is socially constructed and has no universal or ultimate meaning beyond those that they
produce, directly or indirectly (note not that they don't exist, merely that they cannot 'transcend'
their contexts of production and reception).

Postmodernism is one of those abused words that lack specific clarity because it is used to
often to mean so many things. In a sentence, it refers to a range of self-conscious work in the arts,
humanities and social sciences that in some way reproach the nature of disciplinary enquiry, the
limits of knowledge and reality, the ethics of research, the legacy and/or legitimacy of
modernist/historical work, and so on. They are generally unified in disputing the idea of grand
narrative or ultimate truths - everything and anything can be questioned.

Postmodernism is usually sensitive to deconstructive ideas (by focusing on construction,

reflexivity, context and such) although it is ironic that people identifying with/as postmodernism will
often devote much energy to arguing with other postmodernists about seemingly technical or
unresolvable philosophical issues. And so postmodernists often find themselves in a quagmire of
reflexivity and relativism.

In a nuthsell: deconstruction is a useful way of learning about how ideas in societies

become taken-for-granted, whereas postmodernism refers to a broader mash of ideas and groups
generally starting from a point where nothing is accepted at face value. They are compatible but
often debated as deconstruction is but one possible line of inquiry within postmodernist-inspired
works.

POLITICAL

In terms of policy making, Plato’s Dialogue in the Republic has overshadowed all his other
Dialogues in fame, for undoubtedly brought out the many-sidedness of his genius no other
Dialogue of his can aspire to do. It is for that very reason that it has been looked upon as a
masterpiece in world literature.
 Certificate No. AJA19-0226

The Republic, as its name implies, is a book on politics; however, it was found difficult to
define justice in an individual without studying the broader perspective of the State. So, it is in its
origin, ethical. The art of government leads on to the topic of education. However, the book also
became important for Eugenics and for Pedagogic because of its refreshing discussion of poetics
and aesthetics. Finally, due to his idea of Good, the Republic became a great book on
metaphysics as well.

Plato’s purpose of the Republic is to define “justice”. So he decided to divide it into three
classes: First, the common people or the artisan class; second, the soldiers or the warriors; and
the third, is the guardians or the rulers.

As life has become complex, the legal system has also grown to the point where almost all
human activities come in contact with the law in one form to another. This integration of policy
making has brought people within the states into an unprecedentedly closer relationship and has
resulted in a greater complexity of social organization.

Reference: Introduction to the philosophy of the human person, First Edition 20160

https://www.quora.com/What-is-the-role-of-deconstruction-in-postmodernism