medieval philosophy of religion the history of western philosophy of religion volume 1: ancient philosophy of religion volume 2: medieval philosophy of religion volume 3: early modern philosophy of religion volume 4: nineteenth-century philosophy of religion volume 5: twentieth-century philosophy of religion medieval philosophy of religion Edited by Graham Oppy and N. N. Trakakis (cid:27) volume 2 the history of western philosophy of religion RO Routledge UTLEDG ~L~OoND~O;N! A~NnD~ N~E~Wu YpO RK E LONDON AND NEW YORK First published 2009 by Acumen First published in paperback by Acumen in 2013 Published 2014 by Routledge 2 Park Square, Milton Park, Abingdon, Oxon OX14 4RN 711 Third Avenue, New York, NY 10017, USA Routledge is an imprint of the Taylor & Francis Group, an informa business © Editorial matter and selection, 2009 Graham Oppy and N. N. Trakakis. Individual contributions, the contributors. Th is book is copyright under the Berne Convention. No reproduction without permission. All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reprinted or reproduced or utilised in any form or by any electronic, mechanical, or other means, now known or hereafter invented, including photocopying and recording, or in any information storage or retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publishers. Notices Practitioners and researchers must always rely on their own experience and knowledge in evaluating and using any information, methods, compounds, or experiments described herein. In using such information or methods they should be mindful of their own safety and the safety of others, including parties for whom they have a professional responsibility. To the fullest extent of the law, neither the Publisher nor the authors, contributors, or editors, assume any liability for any injury and/or damage to persons or property as a matter of products liability, negligence or otherwise, or from any use or operation of any methods, products, instructions, or ideas contained in the material herein. ISBN: 978-1-84465-682-0 (paperback Volume 2) ISBN: 978-1-84465-679-0 (paperback 5 volume set) ISBN: 978-1-84465-221-1 (hardcover Volume 2) ISBN: 978- 1- 84465- 181- 8 (hardcover 5 volume set) British Library Cataloguing- in- Publication Data A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library. Typeset in Minion Pro. contents Editorial Introduction vii Contributors xi 1. Medieval Philosophy of Religion: An Introduction 1 g. r. evans 2. Boethius 19 john marenbon 3. Johannes Scottus Eriugena 33 dermot moran 4. Al-F arabi 47 syed nomanul haq 5. Avicenna (Ibn Sina) 61 jon mcginnis 6. Anselm of Canterbury 73 thomas williams 7. Al-G hazali 85 michael marmura 8. Peter Abelard 97 constant j. mews 9. Bernard of Clairvaux 109 brian patrick mcguire 10. Averroes (Ibn Rushd) 121 gerhard endress 11. Moses Maimonides 137 charles manekin v contents 12. Roger Bacon 151 jeremiah hackett 13. Th omas Aquinas 167 john f. wippel 14. John Duns Scotus 181 richard cross 15. William Ockham 195 gyula klima 16. Gersonides 209 tamar rudavsky 17. John Wyclif 223 stephen e. lahey 18. Nicholas of Cusa 235 jasper hopkins 19. Erasmus of Rotterdam 251 james mcconica Chronology 263 Bibliography 269 Index 281 vi editorial introduction Bertrand Russell’s History of Western Philosophy (1946; hereaft er History) provides a model for some of the signifi cant features of the present work. Like Russell’s more general history, our history of Western philosophy of religion consists prin- cipally of chapters devoted to the works of individual thinkers, selected because of their “considerable importance”. Of course, we do not claim to have provided coverage of all of those who have made important contributions to Western phil- osophy of religion. However, we think that anyone who has made a signifi cant contribution to Western philosophy of religion has either seriously engaged with the works of philosophers who are featured in this work, or has produced work that has been a focus of serious engagement for philosophers who are featured in this work. Like Russell, we have aimed for contributions that show how the philosophy of religion developed by a given thinker is related to that thinker’s life, and that trace out connections between the views developed by a given philosopher and the views of their predecessors, contemporaries and successors. While our primary aim is to provide an account of the ideas, concepts, claims and arguments devel- oped by each of the philosophers under consideration, we think – with Russell – that this aim is unlikely to be achieved in a work in which “each philosopher appears as in a vacuum”. Again like Russell, we have only selected philosophers or religious writers who belong to, or have exerted a signifi cant impact on, the intellectual tradition of the West (i.e. western Europe and the Anglo- American world). We realize that this selection criterion alone excludes from our work a number of important thinkers and religious groups or traditions, such as: Asian philosophers of religion, partic- ularly those representing such religions as Hinduism, Buddhism, Confucianism and Taoism; African philosophers of religion; and individuals, texts and traditions emanating from indigenous religions, such as those found in the native popu- lations of Australia and the Pacifi c Islands. Clearly, the non-W estern world has produced thinkers who have made important, and oft en overlooked, contribu- vii editorial introduction tions to the philosophy of religion. We have decided, however, not to include any entries on these thinkers, and our decision is based primarily on the (admittedly not incontestable) view that the Asian, African and indigenous philosophical and religious traditions have not had a great impact on the main historical narrative of the West. It would therefore have been diffi cult to integrate the various non- W estern thinkers into the fi ve-v olume structure of the present work. Th e best way to redress this omission, in our view, is to produce a separate multi- volume work that would be dedicated to the history of non- Western philosophy of religion, a project that we invite others to take up. Where we have departed most signifi cantly from Russell is that our work has been written by a multitude of contributors, whereas Russell’s work was the product of just one person. In the preface to his History, Russell claimed that: Th ere is … something lost when many authors co- operate. If there is any unity in the movement of history, if there is any intimate relation between what goes before and what comes later, it is necessary, for setting this forth, that earlier and later periods should be synthesized in a single mind. (1946: 5) We think that Russell exaggerates the diffi culties in, and underestimates the bene- fi ts of, having a multitude of expert contributors. On the one hand, someone who is an expert on the work of a given philosopher is bound to have expert knowledge of the relation between the work of that philosopher, what goes before and what comes aft er. On the other hand, and as Russell himself acknowledged, it is impos- sible for one person to have the expertise of a specialist across such a wide fi eld. (Indeed, while Russell’s History is admirable for its conception and scope, there is no doubt that it is far from a model for good historical scholarship.) Of course, Russell’s worry about a multiplicity of authors does recur at the edito- rial level: the editors of this work have no particular claim to expertise concerning any of the philosophers who are featured in the work. In order to alleviate this problem, we invited all of the contributors to read draft s of neighbouring contri- butions, acting on the assumption that someone who is an expert on a particular philosopher is likely to have reasonably good knowledge of contemporaries and near contemporaries of that philosopher. Moreover, each of the fi ve volumes comes with an expert introduction, written by someone who is much better placed than we are to survey the time period covered in the given volume. Obviously enough, it is also the case that the present work does not have the kind of narrative unity that is possessed by Russell’s work. Our work juxtaposes contributions from experts who make very diff erent theoretical assumptions, and who belong to diverse philosophical schools and traditions. Again, it seems to us that this represents an advantage: there are many diff erent contemporary approaches to philosophy of religion, and each of these approaches suggests a diff erent view about the preceding history. Even if there is “unity in the movement viii editorial introduction of history”, it is clear that there is considerable disagreement about the precise nature of that unity. Although our work is divided into fi ve volumes – and despite the fact that we have given labels to each of these volumes – we attach no particular signifi cance to the way in which philosophers are collected together by these volumes. Th e order of the chapters is determined by the dates of birth of the philosophers who are the principal subjects of those chapters. While it would not be a task for a single evening, we do think that it should be possible to read the fi ve volumes as a single, continuous work. * * * Collectively, our primary debt is to the 109 people who agreed to join with us in writing the material that appears in this work. We are indebted also to Tristan Palmer, who oversaw the project on behalf of Acumen. Tristan initially searched for someone prepared to take on the task of editing a single-v olume history of Western philosophy of religion, and was actively involved in the shaping of the fi nal project. He also provided invaluable advice on the full range of editorial questions that arise in a project on this scale. Th anks, too, to the copy-e ditors and others at Acumen, especially Kate Williams, who played a role in the comple- tion of this project, and to the anonymous reviewers who provided many helpful comments. We are grateful to Karen Gillen for proofreading and indexing all fi ve volumes, and to the Helen McPherson Smith Trust, which provided fi nancial support for this project. We also acknowledge our debt to Monash University, and to our colleagues in the School of Philosophy and Bioethics. Special thanks to Dirk Baltzly for his suggestions about potential contributors to the volume on ancient Western philosophy of religion and for his editorial help with the chapter on Pythagoras. Apart from these collective debts, Graham Oppy acknowledges personal debts to friends and family, especially to Camille, Gilbert, Calvin and Alfi e. N. N. Trakakis is also grateful for the support of family and friends while working on this project, which he dedicates to his nephew and niece, Nicholas and Adrianna Trakakis: my prayer is that you will come to share the love of wisdom cultivated by the great fi gures in these volumes. Graham Oppy N. N. Trakakis ix