Aquinas and Descartes: Medieval and Baroque Philosophical Contexts
Thomas Aquinas
Historical Framework
Thomas Aquinas belongs to the Late Medieval era (11th-15th centuries). This period marked Europe’s awakening after the Dark Ages. Christianity revolved around two major powers: the Emperor and the Pope. Constant clashes arose due to overlapping spheres of influence, both seeking political dominance. The Concordat of Worms (1122), settling disputes between Emperor Henry IV and Pope Gregory VII, recognized papal superiority, yet conflicts resurfaced. By the 13th century, both powers weakened. Pope Innocent III championed theocracy, prioritizing religious authority, diminishing the Emperor’s role, which became honorary by the 14th century. Internal Church divisions led to the Western Schism, with the papacy relocating to Avignon, resulting in two concurrent popes. The decline of the Empire saw the rise of powerful hereditary monarchies (Castile, Aragon, England), notably France, shaping modern European states.
Sociocultural Context
From the 11th century, the feudal system declined with urban revival, driven by the bourgeoisie, a new social class engaged in trade. Their economic power grew, leading to demands for political rights, such as participation in local governance. The bourgeoisie became diverse, encompassing wealthy merchants, bankers, and artisans in guilds controlling trades. Urban development was slow, with significant centers like Milan, Florence, Paris, London, and Cologne emerging amidst a predominantly medieval, rural society. Economic improvements and technological advancements coexisted with low living standards, especially for peasants, many migrating to cities facing social exclusion. Economic inequalities fueled social conflicts and religious heresies. Culturally, urban growth spurred Gothic art, exemplified by cathedrals like Notre-Dame in Paris, fostering sculpture, painting, and stained glass. Art aimed to mimic reality, focusing on religious themes. Literature featured troubadours, promoting the cult of women and chivalric ideals.
Philosophical Framework
Understanding Thomistic philosophy requires considering two key events. First, the emergence of mendicant orders in the early 13th century: Franciscans and Dominicans (Aquinas’s order), emphasizing poverty. Franciscans, founded by Francis of Assisi, preached love for nature and evangelized directly. William of Ockham, a prominent Franciscan, influenced later thinkers like Descartes, Galileo, and Newton. Dominicans focused on theology and university teaching. Second, universities developed in cities, replacing monastic schools. They began as teacher-student partnerships, expanding to satisfy intellectual curiosity, leading to a democratization of culture, with extensive Latin translations, sometimes prompting Church intervention to control instruction. The University of Paris, where Aquinas taught, was prominent, alongside Bologna, Salamanca, Lisbon, and Oxford. Aquinas is the foremost representative of scholastic philosophy, integrating Aristotelian thought into Christianity, a task undertaken with originality by him and Albertus Magnus, creating a coherent philosophical system. Scholasticism focused on rationalizing theological texts like the Bible, writings of Church Fathers, and philosophical contributions, especially Aristotle’s. This resulted in Summae, knowledge compendiums, notably Aquinas’s Summa Theologica. The late Middle Ages saw diverse philosophical schools (Platonic-Augustinian, Aristotelian-Thomistic, Arab, Jewish) and scientific advancements (algebra, physics, chemistry), fostering debate and cultural progress. Notable philosophers included Bonaventure, Albertus Magnus, Roger Bacon, Duns Scotus, and William of Ockham.
Descartes
Historical Framework
The 17th century witnessed the consolidation of the absolutist state, concentrating power in the monarch, seen as divinely appointed. Louis XIII and later Louis XIV, the “Sun King,” epitomized absolute monarchs, often supported by the bourgeoisie. Kings sought financial, intellectual, and technical assistance from this group. The bourgeoisie’s rationalist, bureaucratic mentality influenced state modernization. In return, kings granted nobility titles to the bourgeoisie, causing resentment among traditional nobility and political tensions. However, the bourgeoisie remained politically excluded until the French Revolution (1789).
During Louis XIII’s reign, the Thirty Years’ War (1618-1648) occurred, starting as a religious conflict and evolving into a struggle for European political dominance. It ended with the Peace of Westphalia (1648), marking the decline of Habsburg hegemony and Spain’s power, while France ascended as the leading European power. Under Louis XIII and especially Louis XIV, France became the perfect absolutist state, with centralized power and expansionist foreign policy.
Sociocultural Context
Social organization remained stratified, with the king at the top, followed by nobility, clergy, and the Third Estate (bourgeoisie, peasants, artisans). The bourgeoisie challenged this rigid structure, advocating for social recognition based on reason. The transition from feudalism to capitalism fueled the bourgeoisie’s economic growth, leading to conflicts against the traditional nobility’s privileges.
Economically, polarization existed. Colonial trade (sugar, coffee, cocoa, rice) and industrial technical advances enriched many bourgeois and nobles. However, poor harvests, heavy war taxes, and population growth impoverished farmers, artisans, and skilled workers. These disparities caused social unrest, often severely repressed.
Religiously, the Protestant Reformation and Catholic Counter-Reformation clashed, leading to intolerance, exemplified by the expulsion of Moors from Spain and Huguenots from France. Medieval religious unity dissolved, resulting in a diverse religious landscape: German Lutheranism, Calvinism in Switzerland and Holland, Anglicanism in England, and Catholicism in Spain, France, and Italy.
Culturally, the 17th century was spectacular, with Baroque artists like Velázquez in painting and Bernini in sculpture. Literature flourished with Shakespeare, Molière, and Miguel de Cervantes. Spain contributed Quevedo, Góngora, Lope de Vega, Tirso de Molina, and Calderón de la Barca. Painting saw Caravaggio and Rubens. Baroque art, especially literature, often presented a pessimistic view of human existence, emphasizing life’s transience and vanity, and focusing on death.
Philosophical Framework
In philosophy, instability and doubt arose from rejecting scholasticism. Skepticism, exemplified by Montaigne, gained prominence. There was a need for a new worldview based solely on reason, independent of religious or philosophical authority and tradition.
This need was influenced by the 16th-17th century scientific revolution, initiated by Copernicus and continued by Kepler, Galileo, and Newton. Their physical, mathematical, and astronomical investigations disproved Aristotelian-Ptolemaic cosmology. Reason, supported by experimentation and observation, triumphed over faith and tradition, paving the way for European science’s independence. Galileo’s hypothetical-deductive method became the model for research.
Dazzled by science’s success, philosophy sought similar evidence and certainty. Descartes’s method, based on mathematical procedures, aimed to ensure philosophical knowledge’s progress. The mechanistic understanding of the universe, supported by many philosophers, was influenced by contemporary science. Traditional metaphysics gave way to epistemology, or theory of knowledge, as the fundamental philosophical discipline.
The 17th century was the century of rationalism. Reason became independent and critical. Besides Descartes, key figures included Spinoza and Leibniz. Spinoza developed a pantheistic philosophy, reconciling rationalism with a religious interpretation of reality. Leibniz created a metaphysical theory based on physics and mathematics (calculus) principles of his time.