DESCRIPTION:

In the medieval period (400-1450 C.E.), people sought to balance Christian and classical Greek and Roman traditions, as well as the intellectual and material worlds. This course explores that balance in questions of God as a philosophical concept, definitions of the self and its component parts, the nature of Christ as human or divine, and the possibility of religious plurality. We will also examine the interplay of thought and materiality through the phenomena of universities and the Renaissance.

TEXTS:

C.W. Hollister’s Medieval Europe: a short history is available for background reading. If you’re confused about how a week’s readings fit into larger social, political, or economic themes of the time period, consult the textbook or come talk to one of us in office hours. Also, there are several websites that are particularly useful for philosophy. Two peer-reviewed sites are: the Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy (http://plato.stanford.edu/contents.html) and the Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy (http://www.iep.utm.edu/). You also may find Wikipedia to be useful for general background. We think it is an excellent starting point, but please note that we will not accept Wikipedia pages as sources in your written work, as it is not sufficiently peer-reviewed.

The following books are available at the Huntley Bookstore and are on 2-hour reserve at Honnold Library:

• C.W. Hollister and J.M. Bennett, Medieval Europe: a short history
• Augustine of Hippo, The City of God against the Pagans
• Boethius, The Consolation of Philosophy.
• Bosley & Tweedale (eds.) Basic issues in medieval philosophy, 2nd ed.
• Geoffrey Chaucer, The Canterbury Tales, Norton 2nd ed.
• Mechthild of Magdeburg, The Flowing light of the Godhead

There is also a course copy packet, available thru Sakai.

All assignments indicated on this syllabus are subject to change. It is the student’s responsibility to keep track of changes as they are announced in class or online.