Date of Award
5-1928
Document Type
Dissertation - Restricted
Degree Name
Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)
Department
Philosophy
Abstract
It is not my intention to give in this dissertation a general account of mediaeval philosophy; there are many excellent volumes available on that subject, some of them concise summaries, some exhaustive treatises. Nor shall I attempt to trace the effect of all past philosophy upon the middle ages. It will be my endeavor to show that in mediaeval philosophy there were a few fundamental principles which guided and motivated practically all human activity in western Europe during the middle ages, and that accordingly the civilization of the age had in its concretions a unified philosophical basis. I do not use the word philosophy in its essentially narrow and technical sense. I mean to include within its scope not only the general concepts and the philosophical method or methods, but also the popularly held notions of the great masses of people, which, I think, may properly be called the popular philosophy.