In the middle ages 173

Scholastic philosophy includes vast domains which

are not in conflict with the realm of theology/^

Now definition involves not merely the outlining of

limits, but also the penetrating of the field itself.

We object further, because this dependence does

not establish any doctrinal content, but simply for-

bids contradiction. It can therefore only establish

a negative — that is to say, an imperfect — definition

of philosophical doctrine, which is the thing itself

to be defined.

VII

We conclude then that need of universal order, "^

cosmopolitan value, optimism, impersonality, and

religious spirit are so many harmonious relations

which exist between scholastic philosophy and all

the other spheres of the civilization in which it ap-

pears. /

But in addition to these harmonious relations,

which reveals this civilization rather in its static

aspect, there are also relations which are distinctly

dynamic. For, scholasticism had a very profound

i!2 Even Mr. Taylor (op. cit.) recognizes that scholastic philoso-

phers are devoted to the pursuit of knowledge for itself. Beside the

joy of working for their salvation, they have the joy of study. Men

like Roger Bacon, Albertus Magnus, and Thomas Aquinas, could

not have done what they did, says he, without the love of knowledge

in their souls. Similarly, it has been shown by Male, that in addi-

tion to the symbolic sculpture, which is based on religious doctrine,

there are many sculptural designs and motives in the Gothic cathe-

drals which are introduced solely for the sake of artistic beauty.

See E, Male: L'art religieux du 13' e s. en Prance, pp. 70 ff.

174 PHILOSOPHY AND CIVILIZATION

influence within the various departments of psy-

chical life; and from this angle of its efficacy it

acquires a new value for our consideration.

What has been said concerning mediaeval apolo-

getics constitutes an example of the penetration of

philosophic doctrine within the domain of theology.

In the same way one can show that this doctrine re-

acted in the spheres of canon law and of civil law

and of political economy and of mysticism. More-

over, like a musical sound in its harmonic scale, the

same doctrine reverberates throughout the forms of

artistic and common life. And it could be pointed

out readily how the literature of the period is per-

meated with it, — how the Roman de la Rose read

in the feudal castles ; how great didactic poems such

as the Bataille des Septs Arts of Henri d'Andeli,

the Renart Contrefait, the Manage des Septs Arts

et des Septs Vertus; how Chaucer's Parlement of

Foules or his Canterbury' Tales are filled with

philosophical theories borrowed from Alan of Lille,

Avicenna, Thomas Aquinas, Thomas Bradwardine

and others.'^ The same may be said of the Canzone

of Guido Cavalcante"* and of the poems of Dante.

Thus, for example, Dante's De Monarchia draws

its inspiration from the theory of the four causes;

it invokes the scholastic theory of the proprium, in

23 For instance, Chaucer's "Nun's Priest Tale" reproduces the

theological determinism of Thomas Bradwardine.

24 For instance, Canzone, p. 123, ed. Ercole Rivalta: La Rime di

Ouido Cavalcante, Florence, 1902.