Medieval Philosophy (AP9120C)

Postgraduate, 24.0 points

Content

Philosophers of the middle ages investigated such ‘modern’ concerns as cosmology and freedom, the question of being, skepticism about truth and immortality, the nature of happiness and ‘the good life’, love and hate, political authority, beauty, faith and reason. This unit explores texts from the fourth to the fourteenth century that address such concerns. It considers the historical milieux, philosophical thought and selected texts of authors who may include Augustine, Boethius, Erigena, Avicenna, Anselm, Abelard, Peter Lombard, Hildegard, Phillip the Chancellor, Albert, Bonaventure, Aquinas, Siger of Brabant, Roger Bacon, Matthew of Aquasparta, Eckhart, Scotus, and Ockham.

Unit code: AP9120C

Unit status: Approved (Major revision)

Points: 24.0

Unit level: Postgraduate Elective

Unit discipline: Philosophy

Proposing College: Catholic Theological College

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Learning outcomes

1.

Elucidate the specifically-medieval conceptual framework behind the texts studied in the unit
2.

Expound the fundamental ideas, positions and arguments of the thinkers studied in the unit, and interrelate them as appropriate
3.

Compare ideas, positions and arguments on themes that are found in more than one of the thinkers studied in the unit
4.

Evaluate and assess the strengths and weaknesses of the major arguments of the thinkers considered in the unit
5.

Appraise the conceptual frameworks and arguments of the thinkers studied in the unit – both singularly and in relation to one another where appropriate – in relation to the core themes examined in the unit
6.

Demonstrate the capacity to develop a topic of research in a critically rigorous, sustained and self-directed manner

Unit sequence

One foundational unit of Philosophy

Pedagogy

Lectures, seminars, tutorials. When taught as a seminar or online asynchronously, the tutorial/seminar component may be replaced by guided reading exercises.

Indicative Bibliography

  • Bauerschmidt, Frederick Christian. The Essential Summa Theologiae: A Reader and Commentary. Second edition. Grand Rapids: Baker Academic, 2021.
  • Cory, Therese Scarpelli and Gregory T. Doolan, eds. Summa Metaphysicae Ad Mentem Sancti Thomae: Essays in Honor of John F. Wippel. Washington, D.C.: The Catholic University of America Press, 2024.
  • Cross, Richard. The Medieval Christian Philosophers: An Introduction. London: I.B. Tauris, 2013.
  • Davies, Brian, and Eleonore Stump, eds. The Oxford Handbook of Aquinas. Oxford; New York: Oxford University Press, 2011.
  • Gorman, Michael. A Contemporary Introduction to Thomistic Metaphysics. Washington, D.C.: The Catholic University of America Press, 2024.
  • Klima, Gyula, ed. Medieval Philosophy: Essential Readings with Commentary. Malden, MA: Blackwell, 2007.
  • Lagerlund, Henrik, ed. Rethinking the History of Skepticism: The Missing Medieval Background. Leiden: Brill, 2010.
  • Marenbon, John, ed. The Oxford Handbook of Medieval Philosophy. New York: Oxford University Press, 2012.
  • Pasnau, Robert, ed. Mind and Knowledge. Vol. 3, The Cambridge Translations of Medieval Philosophical Texts. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2002.
  • Williams, Thomas, ed. The Cambridge Companion to Duns Scotus. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2002.

Assessment

Type Description Word count Weight (%)

Variant 1

Skeleton Argument 1000 10.0
Essay 6000 90.0

Variant 2

Skeleton Argument 1000 10.0
Essay 4000 50.0
Written Examination 2000 40.0

Variant 3

Skeleton Argument 1000 10.0
Essay 2000 40.0
Essay 4000 50.0
Approvals

Unit approved for the University of Divinity by Prof Albert Haddad on 28 Jul, 2025

Unit record last updated: 2025-07-28 08:55:14 +1000