[Lecture Eight] Founders of Western Philosophy: Thales to Hume
by Dr. Leonard Peikoff
Total Time: 2 hours, 52 minutes
Course summary: Presented as two complementary twelve-lecture courses—Founders of Western Philosophy: Thales to Hume and Modern Philosophy: Kant to the Present—The History of Philosophy covers the whole of western philosophy from its discovery in Ancient Greece to the twentieth century, including Objectivism. Dr. Peikoff argues that philosophy is the means by which we can understand any human culture and, more broadly, the history and changing course of a civilization. Read more »
In this lecture: This lecture explains the basis of Thomas Aquinas’s metaphysical system, his view of God, and how he also attempted to synthesize Aristotle and Christianity in his ethical system. It explores the consequences of Thomistic thought for later philosophy, especially as it influenced thinkers in the Renaissance and Protestant Reformation. The lecture concludes with an examination of how the rediscovery of antiquity and modern science, especially Francis Bacon and Galileo, influenced Renaissance thinkers.
Study Guide
This material is designed to help you digest the lecture content. You can also download below a PDF study guide for the entire course.
| How does Aquinas reconcile the existence of God and this world? |
| Give a brief account of the five arguments from natural theology for the existence of God. |
| What are the natural virtues for Aquinas? The theological virtues? |
| What key points from Aquinas led philosophy to advance in the Renaissance? |
| How did Duns Scotus and William of Occam lead to the sundering of theology from philosophy? |
| How did the rediscovery of antiquity and Protestantism help lay the groundwork for modern philosophy? |
| Give a brief account of unique philosophic views of Luther. |
| How did Francis Bacon’s views on epistemology set up modern science? |
| What are the deepest philosophic roots of modern science? |
| How does Machiavelli represent the modern scientific approach to politics? |
Q&A Guide
Below is a list of questions from the audience taken from this lecture, along with (approximate) time stamps.
| 2:23:58 | Two things regarding Aquinas’s angels. |
| 2:29:34 | Why did the forces of reason and science not wipe out Christianity entirely? |
| 2:32:07 | Please describe utopia. |
| 2:37:16 | For developing the philosophy of Objectivism, is there a beginning, a genesis? Is there a word, phrase, sentence, or single idea that is a logical place to start? If so, what? |
| 2:38:09 | I thought that there was no proof that Jesus actually existed. Is there such proof? If so, what is it and could you tell us your source for his dates? |
| 2:40:03 | Would you please briefly review the dichotomy of necessity vs. contingent facts and the error therein? |
| 2:43:10 | What are the roots of this confusion? |
| 2:45:11 | Did Aristotle’s principles of definition anticipate Bacon’s principles of scientific induction? |
| 2:48:25 | How is it possible to overemphasize epistemology? |