Cupid and Psyche: Part Two

Late antiquity was a time of transition. The schools of Classical philosophy were closing, and the new religion of Christianity was taking up the issues of metaphysics and society. So it should come as no surprise that the dialectic of will and intellect would enter Christianity. In the High Middle Ages the different postions of the dialectic were taken up by the two new preaching orders: the Dominicans and the Franciscans. The Dominicans would be the champions of the intellect and abstraction; the Franciscans the champions of will and emotion. Of course, the two positions were already present in Christianity before the Franciscans and Dominicans. The position of intellect and abstraction were already a prominent part of the theology and philosophy of St. Augustine. the alternate position was finds expression in the writings of the Pseudo-Dionysius; which were thought to be the authentic writings of St. Paul's disciple Dionysius the Areopagite till the Renaissance. We have a tendency to forget that the middle of the twelfth century not only were the writings of Aristotle made available to the Latin West, but also the writings of the Pseudo-Dionysius became available in translations. In this essay am much indebted to J. Ratzinger's (later Pope Benedict XVI) book: "The Theology of History in St. Bonaventure." so let us begin. We shall start with the Dominicans, since their story is more simple and straight forward. Albert the Great took up the task of reconciling Christian doctrine and Aristotle's Philosophy. In this task he was surpassed by his student Thomas Aquinas. Here we do meet a wrinkle in the story. As we observed in the last part of this essay, Aristotle thought that emotion or will was the moving term of the dialectic of will and intellect. Thomas Aquinas rejected this position, instead holding to the Augustinian position of intellect over will. It is ironic that much of Academia tries to assert that Aquinas was opposed by the Augustinian Bonaventure. When in point of fact Aquinas is much closer to Augustine on most issues than Bonaventure. This identification of Bonaventure and Augustine against Aquinas came about because both Bonaventure and Augustine agreed against Aquinas that philosophy and theology should not be divided. This is the origin of the myth of the Augustinian Bonaventure opposing the Aristotelian Aquinas. So what is the position of Aquinas and Augustine that led to the Dominicans being the champions of intellect over will? to answer this question we must move to the epistemology that Augustine and Aquinas shared. Aquinas held that there were three types of knowledge, or vision. The first is "visio corporalis": this is the knowledge of the senses, knowledge gained through sense perception. The second is "visio spiritualis": this is the imagination or dreams of symbolic knowledge. In other words myth; the knowledge expressed in myths and parables. The third and highest type of knowledge is "visio intellectualis": this is abstract knowledge or understanding. The interpretation of myths:reason. For Aquinas reason is the highest type of knowledge, the ability to abstract. This would become the position of the Dominican order. There were no significant opponents to Thomism in the Dominican order, and Thomism would soon become the official position of the Roman Church. We now move to the convoluted and fascinating story of the Franciscan order; where nothing is simple or straight forward. St. Francis coming seems to have been foretold by Joachim of Fiore. Joachim is one of the strangest, and influential figures of the Middle Ages. Joachim was an Abbott who wrote several books on the Apocalypse, which he thought was coming soon. He foretold the rise of two figures which seemed to fit the careers of St. Dominic and St. Francis. Aquinas and the Dominicans dismissed the writings and prophecies of Joachim. The Franciscans are a different story. Joachim put forward many prophecies and positions. Two of his positions that would become very influential, one would become part of Christian orthodoxy, the other would remain heterodox,but find a place in progressive politics up to the present. The first position that would become part of Christian orthodoxy is that Jesus Christ was the axis or pivot point of history. Before Joachim it was believed that the appearance of Jesus Christ was the beginning of the end. It was the end of history breaking through into the present. For Joachim the appearance of Christ was the mid-point of human history. The second and heterodox position was Joachim's tripartite division of history and time. Each division of time or history was ruled over by a person of the Trinity. The first age was the age of the Father, then the second the age of the Son, and the third and coming age is the age of the Holy Spirit. The third age is paradise on Earth, it is the parousia. In the third age humans shall be ruled by monks. In other words, it would be an age of Christian communism. A time of no class divisions, or income divisions, etc. Monks of course own nothing as individuals, everything is collectively owned. The Spiritual Franciscans even insisted that they did not even own the robes they wore. This is of course, a precursor to Marxism, and progressive politics. This is the spirit of the age that St. Francis entered. Francis conceived the novel idea of living and convincing others to live Christ's Sermon on the Mount. A life of poverty and collective ownership, while waiting for the parousia. This life was a denial of reason in favor of a simple love of God. To get an idea of Francis's conception of reason, and what part it plays in faith, we shall take a quote from J. Ratzinger's book: "The Theology of Time in St. Bonaventure." The quote concerns Francis trying to convert an Islamic Sultan. "The Sultan told him that he should dispute with his priests. But Francis responded that it was not possible to dispute about the faith by reason because faith was above reason" So it should come as no surprise, that the mystical theology of the Pseudo-Dionysius should find a friendly home in the Franciscan order. So unlike the Dominican order, the Franciscan order was already inclined to place emotion over intellect. The life and teachings of Francis put a peculiar stamp or impress upon the order, and this peculiar stamp was favorable to the teachings and prophecies of Joachim. Joachim's teachings and prophecies were condemned by the Roman church, but Joachim as a person was not condemned. The sixth Minister-General of the Franciscan order; John of Parma was forced to step down because of his sympathy for Joachim's writings. John of Parma was replaced by St. Bonaventure, who was given the unenviable task of rejecting Joachim, while preserving the special stamp and mission of the order. While Aquinas took up the newly available writings of Aristotle, Bonaventure took up the also newly available writings of the Pseudo-Dionysius. We vow move to the heart of the dispute between the Franciscans and Dominicans. Bonaventure's epistemology diverged significantly from the model of Augustine and Aquinas. Bonaventure posited four types of knowledge. The first and lowest type is "sapientia uniformis" This is the awareness of the basic principles that make knowledge possible. This would include the law of Non-contradiction; it is the knowledge of reason and philosophy. The second type of knowledge is "sapientia multiformis": this is the knowledge expressed in myths and parables. The parables of Christ would be an example. It is the knowledge that remains hidden to the proud, and is revealed to the humble and faithful. The third type of knowledge is "sapientia omniformis"; this is the knowledge that discovers the reflection of God in all things. It is the knowledge of the microcosm and macrocosm. The fourth and highest type of knowledge is "sapientia nulliformis": this is the mystic knowledge of the eternal mystery of God. It is the eternal silence, the reversal to formlessness, it is knowledge beyond form and reason. It is knowledge that can only be reached by the love of God. It should be easy to see the connection of Bonaventure's sapientia nulliformis with Plotinus's becoming one with the One, and Empedocles's Holy Mind. A knowledge without distinctions a comprehensive feeling of everything (the Absolute as it shall later be called). We know from history that it was the rationalism of Aquinas that won the day. Aquinas became not only the official theology and philosophy of the Dominican order, but of the Roman Church. There are of course good reasons why this happened. Christianity like most religions is a hybrid of reason and myth. One of the distinctive moves that Christianity made was to divinize reason, in the Second person of the Trinity: the Son. The Son is the (nous) mind of God. The mind of God is of course Plato's realm of the Forms translated into Christianity. The Franciscans would go on to produce other important thinkers like, Duns Scotus , and William of Ockham. Although Duns Scotus, and William of Ockham would seem to have very little in common with Bonaventure, there is a thread that that starts with Francis, and Bonaventure that Duns Scotus, and William of Ockham would continue. That thread being that it is emotion or will that moves the dialectic of will and intellect and is the dialectic's highest term. That the highest knowledge can only be reached in a comprehensive feeling not by reason. Before leaving the Middle Ages we shall briefly examine one more inheritance it has bequeathed us. That of the dialectic of angels and demons. It was in the Middle Ages that the complicated surveys of angels and demons were compiled: angelologies and demonologies. The first authoritative description of angels is found in the writings of the Pseudo-Dionysius. Here of course is that mix of myth and reason that is so characteristic of religion. Angels for the medieval mind were not just symbolism, but had epidemiological and ethical value. Like Aristotle's cosmology each choir of angels can only influence the choir below them. In other words, The Seraphim (one of the highest choirs) could not reach directly down to humans, but must pass inspiration on through the hierarchy of choirs. This of course brings up the problem of inspiration directly from God. Bonaventure solves this problem with some analogical imagery. That each choir of angels can open a window, as if to let a light pass through, and so on down to humans who are at the bottom. The demons are of course, a mirror image of the divine hierarchy. Here again we observe the dialectic of will and intellect. The angels represent reason, and abstraction,while demons represent emotion. Demons are unchecked emotion, desire; instant gratification. The angels on the other hand represent restraint delayed gratification:conscience.This is still with us in the cartoon depiction of an angel on one shoulder and demon on the other trying to influence the cartoon character either to reason or desire.