A Short History of Medieval Philosophy

In this short history Dr. Weinberg attempts to show, more by illustration than by explicit argument, that medieval philosophy existed not merely in spite of but also because of the religious traditions in which it developed. Tracing the extent to which medieval thought was influenced by Plato, Aristotle, and the Neoplatonisyts and the extent to which Greek thought had to be modfied to be useful to the medievalist, the author examines the central doctrines of some of the most important Christian, Jewish and Muslim philosophers: Augustine, Aquinas, Saadia, Maimonides, Averroes, and Avicenna, among others. While pointing out the limitations in medieval thought resulting from theological restrictions on inquiry and from inadequate scientific knowledge of cosmology and physics, Dr. Weinberg clearly shows the contributions of the great systems of the Middle Ages to present-day philosophy.