In the middle ages 153

of faith, and his science is directed by a supernat-

ural light.'"

It is easy to show that such principles were wide-

ly applied in the thirteenth century. Philosophers

reasoned on the origin of ideas, on human liberty,

on causality and finality in nature, on the relations

between will and knowledge, and on many other

problems of a purely rational kind. One would

seek in vain a religious veneer or a theological ar-

riere jiensee in the solutions given; their constant

reliance upon Aristotle is the simple fact that

makes this impossible. On the other hand, the-

ologians discuss the Trinity, the Redemption, the

supernatural end of man, and like problems, and

they invoke Scriptural authority. When certain

matters are common to the two orders of study,

such as the existence and the nature of God, there

is a difference in the point of view, from which the

philosopher and the theologian respectively discuss

them. Their arguments meet, like the rays of light

which set out from distinct foci and are received on

the same screen; but they are no more confused

than — in our comparison — the luminous sources are

confused. Hence numerous philosophic systems

could arise, remarkable explanations of the world

GSumma TheoL, art. VII, q. 1, Nos. 10-13. "Adhuc philos-

ophus considerat quaecumque considerat, ut percepta et intellecta

solo lumine naturalis rationis; theologus vero considerat singula ut

prime credita liunine fidei, et secundo intellecta lumine altiori super

lumen naturalis rationis infuso.

154 PHILOSOPHY AND CIVILIZATION

and of life, capable of being judged and set forth

as one sets forth and judges the philosophy of Aris-

totle, or of Plato, or of Descartes, or of Kant.

It is important to observe that this distinction

was universally recognized by the scholastics of the

thirteenth and fourteenth centuries. That the pub-

lic itself was of like mind in the matter is evidenced

by the painting by Traini, preserved in the Church

of St. Catherine of Pisa, to which we have already

referred.^ In this picture, entitled the Triumph of

St. Thomas, the great artist of the fourteenth cen-

tury has symbolized in drawing and in color all the

intellectual movements of the time. What inter-

ests us especially here is the diversity of the sources

by which Thomas is inspired, as he sits upon a gold-

en throne in the centre of the composition, the

Summa Theologica open on his knees. From the

top of the picture Christ sheds upon him rays of

light, which are reflected by six sacred personages

— Moses, the four Evangelists, and St. Paul — whu

are placed in a semicircle; then, further, by Plato

and Aristotle arranged on the two sides after the

same plan. Luminous waves spread the doctrines

over the world, whilst Averroes, in the attitude of

one conquered, lies at Thomas's feet. We have

here a synthetic picture, as it were, which presents

a striking resume of intellectual speculation in the

thirteenth century; and it reveals the impression

received by men like Traini, who was placed in a

7 Cf. above, p. 84.