I.

Introduction

A. RELEVANCE OF THE STUDY OF MODERN PHILOSOPHY

Reference: Cahoone, Lawrence E. The Dilemma of Modernity: Philosophy, Culture and Anti-Culture.
Albany, State University of New York Press, 1988. Latourelle, R., ed. Dictionary of
Fundamental Theology. New York: The Crossroad Publishing Company, 1994. pp. 723-725.
Schumacher, E.F. Small is Beautiful: Economics as if People Mattered. New York: Harper and
Row, 19723. pp. 79-101.

1. Meaning of the word “modern”

- from the Latin word:
- modernus (Late-Latin – 200-600 A.D.): recent
- modo (Classical Latin): just now
- pertaining/referring to:
- something recent, new as radically distinct from the past
- anything that is characteristic to the period between 16th century to the present
- anything that is the result/product of the historical development between the 16th century to
the present

2. Application of the word “modern”

- Used to refer something that is outside of us, an objective reality (external culture)
- modern architecture, modern arts, modern literature, modern dance, modern science and
technology, modern medicine, modern communication and transportation, modern state,
modern military
- Applied also:
- to one’s (individual or society) way of perceiving and experiencing reality, and way of valuing
things as radically distinct from the past
- to one’s underlying presuppositions, fundamental convictions about reality and value which
constitute one’s “criteria of judgment, scales of values, points of interest, way of thinking,
sources of inspiration and models of life” (Evangelii nuntiandi)
- “ideas, principles and patterns of interpretation, of diverse kinds from the philosophic to the
economic, on which western and central European and American society and culture (those
influenced by them), from the sixteenth through the twentieth centuries, increasingly found
itself to be based.” (Cahoone)
- the latter use of term "modern" speaks about:
- depth culture, internal culture
- modern mentality, modernity
- What are these fundamental assumptions that characterize modernity?
a. what is new/original is considered as good and much better than the past
- the past is regarded with suspicion, as irrelevant and even as bad/evil/useless
b. choices and way of living are justified by measurable efficiency, progress and change,
newness and originality
- there is the attitude of seeking change for change sake as the content of change being
ephemeral and thus considered unimportant
- stability is seen as a disvalue, means death
- change, progress otherwise one perishes
- the value of change is based on efficiency that can be measured; even the reality of things
is judged on the basis of measurable efficiency.
c. promotion of rationality (often in the sense of instrumental rationality) and activity over
wisdom and contemplation
d. great importance placed on Science and Technology
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 e. secularity: deals with reality of here and now without explicit reference to
God/Transcendence; primacy of the autonomy of the world and man (humanism).
f. the priority of structure over content, image/sensations over thought
g. value is placed on consensus, public opinion and meaning which take precedence over truth

3. Modern Philosophy and Modernity

- one could not reduce modernity to modern philosophy as this could find its origin and
manifestations not only in philosophy. “Each philosopher’s work is one piece of a constantly
shifting mosaic that is the culture of a period and a place.” (Cahoone)
- Nevertheless, modern philosophy has an important place in the development of modernity. Why?
- “A philosophy reflects and characterizes its culture not as a photograph characterizes its
subject or electoral results the will of a community, but as a part characterizes a whole.”
(Cahoone)
- “A philosophy which is found to be valuable by a community provides ideas that guide action,
thereby shaping the development of community life.” (Cahoone)
- In other words, the basic and common assumptions and principles current in our time were ideas
resulting from the philosophical speculation of the men from Descartes to Kant/Hegel.
- The different philosophies that evolved from the 17th to 19th century have been visited on the
generations living in the 20th century. They become an unwitting and uncritical assumption of
the men and women of our time.
- They who brought forth these ideas were seldom governed by them. To their originators, these
ideas were simply the result of their intellectual speculation within a given social context.
- But to contemporary men and women, to the men and women of today, these ideas have become
the fundamental assumptions through which the world is experienced and interpreted and social
life is founded. “And most of the people of this earth are born into the world as children or
stepchildren of modernity, whether they like it or not.” (Cahoone)
- And at this period of history, we are in later stage of modernity or we are moving into a new
period of post-modernity. We are now in a transition period in which:
- the fundamental assumptions and doctrines of modernity are being questioned and becoming
meaningless,
- and new ideas, principles and patterns of interpretations are shaping, being proposed and
speculated in contrast to modernity.
- Thus, to understand our age, we should study Modern Philosophy. “Descartes, Bacon Locke and
Kant are spiritual forces still alive today even in the minds of men for whom such names are but
symbols of vague notions. To learn better what they mean and to know oneself better, this is for a
philosopher one and the same thing.” (Gilson)

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B. MEDIEVAL PHILOSOPHY AND MODERN PHILOSOPHY: Continuity and Discontinuity
- The history of Philosophy (Western Philosophy) could be divided into four periods:
1. Ancient Philosophy (Thales to Neoplatonism): 7th century B.C. – 4th Cent. A.D.
2. Medieval Philosophy (Patristic Philosophy to Nicolas of Cusa): 4th – 16th Cent.
3. Modern Philosophy (Descartes to Kant/Hegel): 17th –18th/19th Cent.
4. Contemporary Philosophy: 19th – 20th Cent.
- Without denying the development of diverse philosophies within each period, each period has its
own distinct characteristics. The division is not just a matter of chronological classification. Each
period possesses common characteristics which are not present in others. From one period to
another, there is a radical break, a significant shift in terms of method and content of
philosophizing. In this sense, we speak of discontinuity. Nevertheless, what is fundamentally new
does not arise out of nothing and is not completely independent of the old. There is also a
continuity from one period to another.
- For our study of Modern Philosophy, we first try to understand in general and preliminary way the
nature of this period. Before we plunge into the ocean, we want to view it as a whole. Before we
proceed to examine the trees, we want to look first at the forest. Since a particular period could be
understood by comparing it with the previous period, we will achieve this by comparing Modern
Philosophy with Medieval Philosophy in terms of their discontinuity and continuity.

1. Discontinuity
- Modern philosophers were themselves aware, especially those in the seventeenth century, at
the beginning of modern philosophy, that there was a great difference between what they were
trying to do and what had been done before in the field of philosophical inquiry.
- A simply study of the content and process of philosophizing would reveal the distinctive
marks between Medieval and Modern Philosophy. One would argue about the differences but
no one could deny that there are differences.

a) Difference in Literary Expressions

(1) Language
- in the Medieval Period, the language of Philosophy was Latin
- in the Modern Period, vernacular languages were used.
- In the seventeenth century,
- Descartes, Bacon, Hobbes wrote in Latin as well as in their vernacular language
- While Spinoza's works were in Latin, Locke's were in English.
- In the eighteenth century, vernacular became the common language of the
philosophers.
- Hume composed his philosophical texts in English
- Voltaire and Rousseau in French
- Kant in German
- Latin practically died out among the philosophers at the end of the Modern Period
- The change in language should not taken lightly for it is very crucial in the method and
content of philosophizing. Why?
- As contemporary Philosophy of Language has demonstrated, language plays a
decisive role not only in the articulation but also in the perception, understanding and
valuation of truth or reality.

(2) Literary Form

- Most of the philosophical writings in the Medieval Period were in the form of
commentaries - commentaries on the Sentences of Peter Lombard, on Aristotle, and on

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 some major works. Even the "Summas" and "Disputatios" list down the opinions of the
great authorities and make commentaries on them.
- The modern philosophers wrote in original treatises rather than commenting on previous
works.
- This difference in the literary forms reveals that the modern philosophers were conscious
that they were embarking on a new path, finding new answers to both old and new
questions. They could not just be content in repeating the old method, rehashing the old
and tested answers.

b) Difference in Context
- The medieval philosophers :
- were university professors.
- This explains why their works were mostly commentaries and in the forms of summa
and disputatio
- They were commentaries on the standard texts used in the university
- Disputatio and summa were written form of the class discussions or debates.
- Almost if not all were clerics
- The modern philosophers
- were not based in the universities
- In Continental Europe,
- Descartes and Spinoza did not teach though the latter got an invitation to teach
from Heidelberg.
- Leibniz also refused to work in the university
- In the British Isles,
- Locke held a major post in the service of the State
- Berkeley was a bishop.
- Hume tried to secure a university chair but he did not succeed
- Only much later did significant philosophers of the modern period held teaching post
at the university like Kant and Hegel.
- and almost all of them were not clerics
- In the Modern Period, philosophy was not only the concern of those in the academe
but also of the educated men, no matter what their occupation was.
- Since the educated during this period were not predominantly confined among the
clerics, we find more and more philosophers who were not clerics.
- Descartes was not a cleric, Spinoza was a Jew, Leibniz was a protestant.
- Though Berkeley was a bishop, Hobbes, Locke, and Hume were not.
- What is the significance of this difference in context?
- Coming from a different context, Modern Philosophy took a different language, asked
new questions and tried to find answers in ways different from those in the academe and
from those who were clerics.

c) Difference in Content and Method

MEDIEVAL MODERN
 Primary and Central Theme: GOD  Primary and Central Theme: MAN AND
- The themes of nature and man are NATURE
secondary, subordinated to, derivative - the issue of God is subordinated,
from the theme of God. secondary to, derivative from the
- More specifically: What God reveals issues of man and nature
about himself, about Man and the - God is understood without explicit
World (Revealed Truth) reference to the revealed truth/faith,
 Process/Approach so are the questions of man and nature

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 - Consequently, it concerns itself with - they are understood purely in the light
how God looks: of reason.
- At himself  Process/Approach
- At man - It seeks to find out and understand
- At the world what man could know by himself
- It seeks the truth from the side of - It seeks to know and understand
God, from the perspective of God reality from the perspective, from the
- Truth: is the correspondence of mind side of man
and reality - This is what we call as the subjective
- Logical truth: correspondence of turn in philosophy
the human mind to reality - In Modern philosophy, man seeks
- Metaphysical truth: not how God (the object of his
correspondence of reality to the knowing) sees Himself, man and
mind to God the world
- It is interested primarily in finding the - But how he (the subject, the one
metaphysical truth. who knows, who seeks to know)
 Philosophy connected with Theology sees himself, the World and God.
- philosophy and theology coexisted  Philosophy separated from Theology
- any work of philosophy is found in - Philosophical issues and insights did
the work of theology not arise out of theological issues and
- whatever the problem between the problems but from a purely secular
relation of philosophy and theology interest and concerns
was, how it was resolved, there was - No interest in theological implications
no philosophy separated from in any philosophical issues and
theology and for theology to make use insights
of: - Did not use philosophy to articulate,
- philosophical issues and insight defend and explain the faith
arose out theological problems
and issues
- philosophical insights were seen
directly or indirectly in the light
of their theological implications
- philosophical concepts were used
to articulate, defend and explain
the faith

2. Continuity
- As shown above, there is a break, radical shift between Medieval Philosophy and Modern
Philosophy
- Yet this does not exclude any form of continuity.

a) Terms Used
- modern philosophy used terms like "substance", "natural law", "cause" among others which
were also used in medieval philosophy though they were not exactly used in the same sense
- this points to the influence of medieval philosophers on modern philosophers
- some studies show that Bacon, Descartes, Locke were influenced by the medieval
philosophers to a greater extent than they realized and admitted.

b) Reasoning Skills
- medieval philosophy developed formal acuteness: a skill in drawing fine distinctions and
building up sound arguments which are indispensable in any philosophical inquiry

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 - modern philosophy though having different themes and approach was heir to these skills in
reasoning and made good use of them.

c) Anticipation of Modern Philosophy in Medieval Philosophy

- there were a number of philosophical insights/ideas in medieval philosophy which anticipated
later development in modern philosophy.
- Nominalist Movement or Occamism in the 14th century anticipated the Empiricism of the
Modern Period in several significant points
- The philosophy of Nicolas of Cusa in the 15th century
- anticipated many of the insights and approaches of modern philosophy:
- the use of mathematics as a model
- the limits of reason
- the resolution of contradiction
- he forms as link between Medieval, Renaissance and Modern thoughts
- Leibniz and Hegel owed much to him.
- the modern philosophy's preoccupation of building a philosophical system, particularly in its
initial stage (17th) and later stage (19th) shows that it kept alive the concern of medieval
philosophy for metaphysics.

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C. The Renaissance Period: The Transition from Medieval to Modern Period
- we have seen in our previous discussion that there was a radical shift/break from Medieval
Philosophy to Modern Philosophy especially in terms of method and content.
- The shift/break did not just happen in a spur of a moment but it began through a historical
development in Europe between 14 and 16th centuries which is called as the Renaissance Period.
- "Renaissance" (in the broader sense)
- from the French word which means rebirth, renewal, revival
- refers to certain moment in the history of a particular people in which after a period of decline
there was a rebirth, revival of civilization:
- e.g.:
- Ancient Greece: Renaissance between 800-500 B.C.
- Medieval Ages: Carolingian Renaissance between 700-800 A.D. and the Renaissance of
the 12th century
- "Renaissance Period" (in the narrower sense)
- refers specifically to the historical development between 14-16th centuries which brought
about the end of Medieval Period and the beginning of the Modern Period
- in fact, the word "Renaissance" was coined during this period to describe their historical
situation which displayed a remarkable revival, rebirth

1. Humanism: Intellectual/Cultural Movement

- oftentimes, the Renaissance Period is identified with the Intellectual/Cultural Movement - i.e.
to the complex of literary and artistic movement in the 14th-16th centuries which started in
Italy and spread throughout Europe.
- With the risk of oversimplification and leveling the distinctive character in each place and
period, we could characterize this movement in terms of three elements: Rediscovery/Revival
of Learning, New Activities and Accomplishment, and New Thinking/Outlook

a) Rediscovery/Revival of Learning
- great interest in the rediscovery and revival of ancient learning, i.e. of the cultural
achievements of Ancient Greece and Rome: literature, arts, science, history, language,
philosophy
- started in Italy
- those who were interested at this period thought that the classical learning was totally absent
or lost during the Middle Ages; thus they considered the Middle Ages as the Dark Ages
- this view is not true
- Where did they get the classical learning?
- How was it preserved and transmitted to them?
- West: in the monasteries though in limited extent
- East: among the Arabs/Muslims in great extent
- Brought from the East to West by crusaders and merchants (11-12th cent)
- Translated and studied by monks and friars
- Nevertheless, the extent of the interest and the manner of studying the classical learning was
different in the Renaissance Period than in the Renaissance of the 12th century
- Extent of the interest:
- Greater interest by a greater number of and diverse persons
- Not just confined among the clergy but also non-clerics - the gentlemen and
merchants
- nine million volumes, of thirty thousand titles all of which came off the presses of
more than one thousand printers
- This was brought about:
- by the invention of printing machine

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 - Johannes Gutenberg (c.1398-1468): invented movable metal type of
printing machine
- This multiplied the output and cut the cost.
- greater wealth
- brought about by decline of famine and plague; cf. below.
- Manner of studying:
- This classical learning was studied for its own sake, not to be used for Christianity as
possible source of Christian edification.
- Classical civilization was seen as the highest expression of the human values and
achievement
- Classical learning as a means of cultivating/developing a person to become more
human:
- Free, responsible
- Developing his own inherent potential
- Guide to good life, active life.

b) New Activities and New Accomplishments

- their rediscovery and revival of classical culture made them into artists, writers and scientists
themselves
- thus, they brought about/forth achievements in the field they were studying and had great
interest. And they even surpassed the accomplishments of antiquity
- E.g.:
- Arts: Raphael, Michaelangelo, Da Vinci
- Literature: Erasmus, Thomas More, Shakespeare, Miguel de Cervantes
- Science: Da Vinci, Galileo

c) New Thinking/Outlook
- The humanism or intellectual/cultural movement of this period was more than a receptive
process, resulting in great accomplishments in the Arts and Sciences
- More importantly, it brought about a new thinking, understanding, view about the World
- How?

(1) The revival of classical learning revealed to them of an intellectual life outside and
independent of the Church, of Christianity
- Through their interest and study classical learning, they came into contact into a way of
thinking, an intellectual life:
- Independent of the Church and Christianity
- which had no relation to faith
- with its own laws and principles, its own consistency, ways of proceeding and
history independent of faith.
- Interested in the here and now, worldly reality and not anything beyond it.
- In short, they were exposed to a secularistic and naturalistic way of looking at things

(2) This intellectual life contained in the classical learning became the very model/pattern of
perceiving, understanding and valuing during this period.
- In other words, they did not only learn what was thought before, but they themselves
began to think like the ancient. They began to perceive, understand and value man and
nature:
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 - Without reference, relation to God and Faith
- With greater, more fundamental and central interest than God
- In their own consistency and their own laws without reference to anything
transcendent.
- In short, NATURALISTIC AND SECULARISTIC MINDSET
- But not necessarily Atheistic and Unchristian
- E.g.:
- Political Theory of Niccolo Machiavelli (1469-1527) in The Prince (1513)
- Secularist and naturalistic political theory: tried to explain the state without
reference to God, without reference to Christian teaching
- State:
- Not God's creation or institution.
- Rulers should base his policies not on Christian principles
- Politics is the rational deployment of forces as well as, even prior to, the
exercise of virtue.
- "If a prince wants to maintain his rule he must learn how not to be
virtuous, and to make use of this or not according to his need."
- Religion - not foundation of politics but merely useful tool in the prince
struggle for success
- The prince might even dissemble, if he thought he had to, in matters of
faith, by appearing pious, whether or not he was, and by playing on and
exploiting the piety of his subjects.
- Ethics of Pietro Pomponazzi (1462-1525)
- The reward of virtue is virtue itself and the punishment of the vicious is vice.
- Thus, the prospect of reward and punishment after death is no longer a motive
for man to attain moral perfection.
- The full development of man within the different spheres in the here and now
finds its satisfaction in itself and is attainable within the bounds of this life.
- History:
- Unlike in the Medieval which stressed the unfolding of God's will and
providence, the Renaissance emphasized the importance of human action and
human task in history
- It began to see people as active participants in the shaping of event, in
fashioning themselves in the form they prefer.
- Belief in progress: deep confidence in the capacities of able people, instructed in
the wisdom of the ancients, to understand and change the world even against
great odds.

- However, the intellectual speculation (or "philosophy") at this time:

- Fanciful and containing bizarre ideas
- Lack precision and intellectual discipline
- Not systematic
- Does not deal with the fundamental assumption, presuppositions
- Problem: Do they deserve to be called philosophy?
- At the same time, Scholasticism continued to be taught at the schools

2. Birth of Modern States

- during this period, new and unique political organization emerged; several European territories
took the form of the state in the modern sense of the term: NATION-STATE
- main feature: internal sovereignty:
- effective control within its territory or boundaries
- institutions or organizations were allowed if they recognized the state's authority
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 - how?
- Common language and history
- Powerful armies
- Powerful rulers or central government
- Money and taxation
- Effect/Consequence: able to harness the resources within its territories (material resources, the
power of its nobility) much better or more efficiently for the service of the state.
- 1453: France and England ended their One Hundred Years War and defined their respective
territories
- In France:
- The war heightened their sense of national identity
- And it strengthened the power of the king who began to assert his authority throughout
his domain and over the Church in France
- France, eventually, was governed by:
- One king
- One faith
- One set of laws
- In England
- The 100 Years War, the War of the Roses, the rise of the Tudor Dynasty with ascendancy
of Henry VII, strengthened the English monarchy and thus gave rise to the nation-state of
England.
- In Spain,
- 1469: the marriage of Isabella of Castile and Ferdinand of Aragon set the seal of the Spanish
unity
- 1492: the end of the reconquesta, with the capture of Granada, the last Arab/Muslim outpost.
Thus, we have the unification of Spain
- In Netherlands or Low Countries (Holland, Belgium)
- 1516: Charles V (the son of Juana, daughter of Isabella and Ferdinand) and Philip the Fair
(son of Maximilian of Austria, the Holy Roman Emperor) became king
- he inherited the Spanish kingdom from maternal grandparents
- and Netherland, Austria, Sardinia, Sicily, the kingdom of Naples and Franche Comte.
- In 1519, he was elected Holy Roman Emperor
- Thus, he was the most powerful ruler in Europe.
- 1560: to quash the tightly organized and revolutionary Calvinist minority, the King exported
the Spanish Inquisition into the Netherlands
- thousands of Flemish and Dutch subjects turned against the Spanish crown
- 1579: Union of Utrecht: 7 northern provinces united themselves against Spanish oppression
- 1609: effectively free themselves from the Spanish control and became a loosely united under
a republican form of government
- wide toleration, without censorship in these territories.
- In Germany,
- The Emperor of the Holy Roman Empire, who was elected by the seven elector princes, did
not have much authority over the German principalities, which were practically independent.
- Since 1438, Emperor chosen had been from the Hapsburg (Austrian House)
- Only in the 18th century, did German begin to create gradually a unified state.
- In Italy,
- Papacy lost its prestige after the Great Schism in the 14th century and Conciliarism in the 15th
century. And the Papal States had shrunk considerably.
- The rise of city-states: autonomous political entities; yet they were very unstable
- Popes were turned into Italian Princes who became much more involved with the affair of
Italy
- favored their own families, nephews and even their own natural children.
- E.g.:

10
 - Alexander VI (1492-1503) who belonged to the Borgia Family: bought his way to
the papacy, had children and held parties which turned into orgies
- Julius (1503-1513): rode most of the time on his horse wearing his helmet and armor
to attack the different towns/city-states.
- Major powers: Naples and Sicily (in the South); Florence, Venice and Milan (in the North)

3. New Discoveries and New Inventions

- 1430-1750
- with the improve resources of the nation-states, Western Europe entered an era of overseas
exploration and expansion
- years of exploring new land/places beyond the European Continent
- 1492: Columbus discovered America
- 1497-1499: Vasco de Gama: India
- 1519-1522: Ferdinand Magellan: Philippines
- new wealth poured into Europe as the colonies became:
- sources of raw materials, particularly gold and silver
- market for the growing industrial products
- increased extra-ordinarily economic activity:
- trade and commerce
- industries and manufacturing
- with this extra-ordinary increase in economic activity, new economic structure took shape:
CAPITALISM
- New machines were invented for the new and increasing economic activities:
- Guns, canons and gunpowder: beginning of armament or military industries
- Shipping industries: sailboats and other technologies related to shipping
- Manufacturing: printing, metal and spinning and weaving industries
- 16th century: crank, connecting rod, piston, cylinder were all combined in a suction pump

4. Scientific Movement

a) Development of Modern Science

- we could relate the development of modern science with the invention of machine
- since Physics was the first modern science to evolve, let us focus on it.
- we could specifically trace the development of Physics from mechanics (i.e., the arts and
science of making machines).
- And we will try to see the implications or consequences of this development on
philosophical inquiry

(1) Mechanics
- As economy progressed extraordinarily and industries were growing,
- machines became more and more important;
- new and more efficient machines were needed
- in developing machines, two things were needed or very crucial:
a. Direct Observation and Experiment or Trial and Error
- machines could not simply be developed by reading books, studying a particular
issue on pure speculation
- it demands:
- actual observation of the actual working of machines
- experimentation (trial and error under set conditions):
- a series of effort to try and try again, to see where it works, where it
does not work,
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 - the need to vary the different parts while keeping other constant so that
one could know which part will work better (experiment)
b. Precise Measurement
- To find the basis and tool for the precise understanding of the operations of the
machine so that it could be better manipulated and be more efficient, precise
measurement was needed.
- Machine easily lends itself to mathematical formulation for it is reducible to
rest/motion and extension which are in turn reducible to measurements.
- By reducing to numbers, machines become more intelligible and they can be
more efficiently manipulated.
- With the use of these 2 related methods, mechanics was more successful:
- New and better understanding of the machine
- Better and efficient machines.

(2) Physics
- the new methods of mechanics (direct observation/experimentation and precise
measurement/use of mathematics) and the new understanding that machine is essentially
reducible to motion/rest and extension were extended to the study of nature, the physical
universe
- the physical universe began to be studied and understood like a machine; with this, we
have the birth modern/new physics
- in doing so, modern physics was more successful than the Aristotelian physics:
- new and better knowledge and understanding universe
- better and efficient control of nature.

(3) Consequences/Implications on Philosophical Inquiry

(a) Nature became one of the primacy concerns of philosophical inquiry

- with the emphasis and success of Modern Science in the study of nature, it inspired a
great confidence on man to inquire nature in its own consistencies by his/her own
power.
- Consequently, nature became an interesting theme for reflection for the different
disciplines including philosophy.

(b) Mechanics and Physics raised a problem with regard to the nature of man which
philosophy must reflect and find some critical answers.
- Physical world as studied by modern physics:
- Subject to mechanical laws, causality
- Reducible to motion/rest and extension
- Determined externally
- Man lives in a physical world and has a body.
- Problem:
- Does he fall wholly under the mechanistic system of the universe?
- 2 Possible Fundamental Answers:
1. Man, like other things in the physical world, could ultimately be explained
by physical laws.
- free choices, reason, and other properly human activities, if not an illusion,
are at least epiphenomenon of the physical processes
2. Man transcends the mechanistic and deterministic laws of physical universe
because of his free choice, reason, and his soul.

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 (c) The use of mathematics and direct observation/experimentation of Modern Science led to
the development to two fundamental school of though in Modern Philosophy:
Rationalism and Empiricism
- as modern science continued to show how mathematics and direct
observation/experimentation leads to discovery of new truths:
- one school of thought believed that the success lies in the use of mathematics
and they were convinced that mathematics is the model of any thinking, for the
discovery and validation of certain and true knowledge, particularly
philosophical thinking
- this school is called Rationalism:
- primacy of reason
- deductive
- a priori
- another school of thought was convinced that the key to success of modern
science is in its direct observation, experimentation.
- This school is called Empiricism:
- Primacy of sense-experience
- Inductive
- A posteriori

b) Copernican Revolution and the New World View

- in the renaissance period, there was a radical shift in the conception of how the universe is
fundamentally arranged.
- From Aristotelian/Ptolemaic Model
- To Copernican/Newtonian Model
- Implications for philosophy: Gave rise to scepticism, critical attitude
- Human knowledge had to learn that, in itself, the nature of existence may be quite
different from what it immediately appears to be
- It deprived men and women stiffed in medieval worldview a clearly defined and
comprehensible frame into which, hitherto, everything which men and women had
supposed themselves to know of the world and its forces could be fitted in.

5. Reformation and Counter-Reformation

a) The Church in Need of Reform

- Though modern scholarship does not support the frequently distorted picture of the absolute
corruption of the Church during this period (i.e., the Church had become so degenerate and
rotten beyond reform), it is still considered true that the Church was never more in need of
reform than at this period.
- At every level of the Church life, there were signs of decay and disorganization:
i. Roman Curia, Papal Bureaucracy, Hierarchy
- SIMONY:
- Buying and selling of Church offices
- Lucrative source of incomes
- 2000 church jobs for sale
- cause: large number of ecclesiastical appointments reserved to the pope
- multiple bishoprics
- absenteeism
- nepotism with the nobility monopolizing the high offices of the Church resulting in
utter worldliness
- taxes levied on benefices
- indulgences
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 ii. Lower Clergy:
- Mass priests: 10% of the population in many cities and who did nothing but say daily
mass
- Preaching at its very low level.
- Clergy themselves were ignorant and superstitious as the clergy's training was poor,
only very small percentage had university education.
- Concubinage was common
iii. Faithful
- Superstitious
- Strong belief in imminent catastrophe

b) Reform Movement within the Church

(1) Papal and Conciliar Reforms (Reforms from Above)

- some popes sincere for reform were hesitant to call a council because of Conciliarism
- instead, they issued Papal Bulls and Decrees; yet after issuing them, they would lose
interest
- eventually a council was convened for constructive solution: Lateran Council (1512-
1517)
- but reforms introduced by the Lateran Council was not implemented by the Pope for they
were too lofty and spiritual for the Pope at that time - Pope Leo X

(2) Reform from Below

- efforts of devout souls who by their personal sanctity, works of charity, apostolic activity,
common life and prayer would move their own religious orders, parish, Church to
undertake reform
- efforts of Christian Humanists:
- while Italian humanism or cultural/intellectual movement was quite secular, the
humanism of Northern Europe took a Christian character
- those who belonged to this movement were seeking for a model to reform the
Church by their study of the ancient sources
- they believed that an education of profane and sacred learning of the ancient would
help reform the Church
- but these efforts to reform from below did not succeed because they had not reached and
seized the hierarchy, particularly the papacy.

c) Reformation of Luther
- instead of a reform in the Church which could and should have developed and effected an
internal recovery, a movement, rebellion against the Church, a break/division of the Church
occured.
- This movement to rebel, to break from the Church is what we call as Reformation
- The crucial and important figure: Martin Luther (1483-1546)
- 1517: marked the beginning of Reformation
- 95 Theses:
- tacked on the door of the Wittenberg Castle Church
- attacked Tetzel's preaching on Indulgences
- some scholars doubt if the public display really occurred. If it did not, the document
was nevertheless widely circulated almost immediately.
- Though Luther did not originally intend to break up with the Church, but series of events
resulting from this led to what we call now as Reformation.
- He simply threw a spark to a barrel which was filled to the brim with all the religious,
intellectual and social unrest.
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 - But it was the overwhelming power of Luther's personality which endowed the fire with
its force.
- Lutheran movement spread rapidly outside Germany, all over Europe, particularly Northern
Europe
- Ulrich Zwingli (1484-1531), a priest: in Zurich, Switzerland
- Though he claimed that he developed his ideas independent of Luther, he preached a
form of Christianity very close to that of Luther
- He laid the foundation for a strong reformation in Switzerland
- John Calvin (1509-1564) in Geneva, Switzerland
- A French scholar and theologian
- Moved to Geneva, and made it the center of reformation
- Here in Geneva, he trained a new generation of Protestant reformers of many
nationalities who carried the message back to their homeland
- Thus, he was responsible for the systematic spread of Reformation and made it into
an international movement.

d) Church's Response: Counter-Reformation

- Council of Trent:
- 1545-1547
- 1551-1552
- 1555-1559
- 1562-1563

e) Impact of Reformation
- Introduced radical changes in the political, religious, social, cultural landscape of Europe.

(1) Ecclesiastical Organization

- division of the Western Christendom into: Catholic and Protestant Areas
- Northern Europe: Protestant
- Southern Europe: Catholic
- development of National Churches:

(2) Political Institutions

- By and through itself, it did not create the modern secular state
- But it strengthened its development by freeing the state from subordination to religious
authority which is an essential feature of modern political life (separation of Church and
State)
- Basis: their bloody and painful experience of too much association of Church and State,
particularly in the Thirty-Years War.

(3) Thought
- Partly contributed to the idea of individualistic spirit/attitude of modernity
- From religious individualism to secular individualism
- Brought about the growth of capitalism (Weber)
- Capitalism is brought about by the Protestant Ethics
- Religious themes ceased to be a major theme in philosophy as religion is isolated from
intellectual speculation.

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