PHILOSOPHY 439 ter, was to mediate between the infinite and the finite, the perfection of God and the im- perfection of creation. Hence the Gnostic scheme of emanations, which interposed suc- cessive intermediate ranks of being, a demi- urge, or world-builder, and countless seons. This scheme was almost infinitely varied. Analogous to it was the speculation of the Neo-Platonists, whose aim was a philosophi- cal monism that should put an end to the dualism of subjectivity and objectivity. They borrowed freely from Plato, and to some ex- tent from Aristotle ; but their hope and effort to obtain absolute truth was based, not on the methods of objective knowledge, or any dia- lectic process, but on an inner mystic subjec- tive exaltation, which amounted to immediate vision or ecstasy. Plotinus, the chief thinker of the school, was at once a Platonist and a mystic. His pantheism harmonized with his theory of the possibility of attaining to that vision of the eternal reason, or universal soul, which he claims repeatedly to have enjoyed. Porphyry and lamblichus were his succes- sors, combining their philosophy with theurgy and applying it to the defence of pagan ritual. Proclus, in whose time the school had been removed to Athens, was more a pagan hiero- phant and mystic than a philosopher. Before the decree of Justinian (A. D. 529) forcibly suppressed Neo-Platonic speculation, it had run its course, and demonstrated its lack of the elements of permanent vitality. The power of Julian and the genius of Hypatia could only temporarily arrest its decay. Scholasticism was the result of a variety of cooperative ele- ments, which united to mould the philosophy that bears this name. The early Christian fathers, with the exception of Justin Martyr, Clement of Alexandria, and Origen, repelled rather than courted the alliance of philosophy. Some, like Tertullian, were violent in its re- jection. But the defence of dogma, especially against Arius, taught them the necessity of a more subtle logic. Augustine was inclined to Platonism, in accordance with which he systematized or defended Christian doctrine. Aristotle commanded increased respect, and Boethius was regarded as an authority. Yet for centuries philosophy existed scarcely in name. Except among the Saracens and Jews, it experienced no marked revival till the rise of scholasticism. This was the adaptation of eclectic principles to the conditions of dogma that had crystallized to a fixed form under the influence of tradition and authority. At first its aim was to elucidate and vindicate doc- trine, then to harmonize speculation with faith, and finally, by the aid of reason, to suppress the opposition of reason to dogmas too invio- lable to be questioned. In doing this, it broke with the spirit of the age, and fell under its assaults. Its first period dates from John Sco- tus Erigena (died about 880), who translated the Pseudo-Dionysius, through him imbibed NQO- Platonic views, and pronounced philosophy the science of the principles of all things, and inseparable from religion. In his system are found the germs of mediaeval mysticism and dialectic scholasticism. Although disapproved by the leading authorities of the church, he found adherents, and furnished a point of de- parture for that conflict between nominalism and realism which thenceforth runs through the whole history of the scholastic philosophy. A realist himself, he could invoke Platonism in his defence ; but he thereby provoked his opponents to exalt the exclusive authority of Aristotle. The doctrine ascribed to Plato, and involved in his theory of ideas, that universals have an existence anterior to individual ob- jects (Unwersalia ante rem), was the ground of conflict between the two parties. Nomi- nalism contended that only individuals have real existence ; that universal notions are mere names, conceptions without reality. They de- nied genera and species apart from the con- crete individual. Their motto was, Universa- lia post rem, and they appealed to Aristotle as authority. The disputes of the time pre- pared the way for a more careful study of the works of the Stagirite, soon to be supplied from Arabian sources. Meanwhile speculation took its course, and philosophical antagonisms became more pronounced. Anselm (died in 1109) planned a system of philosophy mainly accordant with that of Augustine. While harmonizing religion with reason, fixed reli- gious convictions were presupposed. By some he has been regarded as "the inventor of scho- lastic metaphysics, while others have given the preference to Abelard, and still others have pronounced Alexander of Hales the first school- man. It was when William of Champeaux had become the champion of the realists, and nominalism (under Roscellinus, on account of his free speculations on the Trinity) was fall- ing into disrepute, that the latter was reen- forced by a new impulse from an unexpected quarter. Aristotle, through the channel of Arabian learning, shaped the philosophy of Christendom. Through the Nestorian and Syrian Christians Arabian scholars had be- come acquainted with the writings of Aristotle. The patronage of the caliphs encouraged their translation and study. A philosophy was de- veloped, which was a form of Aristotelianism, tempered with Neo-Platonic conceptions. Its most distinguished representatives were, in the East, Alkindi, Alfarabius (died about 950) with his doctrine of emanations, Avicenna, a stricter Aristotelian, noted for his physical specula- tions, and Algazzali ; while in the West were Avempace, Abubacer (Ibn Tophail), and Aver- roes, the celebrated commentator on Aristotle, pantheistic in speculation, and rejecting the notion of individual immortality. Mystical tendencies were combined with philosophic speculation, and Ibn Tophail of Cordova anti- cipates Rousseau in his sketch of the " man of nature," self-developed, and rising by degrees of contemplation to union with the Deity.
