Take-Home Essay Exam and Paper #4

 

 

Take-Home Essay Exam (for Nonmajors)

 

Write a separate essay for each of the following topics. Each essay must contain at least one citation from our reading.

 

1. Summarize Dr. Rosental’s lecture on the influence of Aristotle in the high and late medieval period. Which Aristotelian texts were present during the entire medieval period, and which texts were rediscovered through contact with the Muslim world? What were the various changes in the attitudes towards Aristotle among philosophers and theologians both prior to and after the condemnations of 1277? What lasting influence did Aristotle have in both philosophy and theology? (Minimum 1 full page.)

 

2. As I stated in class, Ockham restricts the scope of reason in natural theology and expands the scope of faith. Illustrate this by explaining his argument against rational proofs of monotheism (484-486). Although he contends that it is possible to prove God’s existence, Ockham maintains (in contrast to Aquinas) that it is impossible to prove that only one God exists. Critically evaluate his argument, justifying your claims. (Minimum 1.5 full pages.)

 

3. Summarize Eckhart’s description of a nonrational faculty of intuition that makes possible access to the divine. What is intuition? How is it based on a conception of the way God knows things? How is intuition supposed to differ from sense experience and rational forms of knowledge? (Minimum 1.5 full pages.)

 

 

Paper (for Philosophy Majors)

 

One of the central issues in medieval philosophy is the problem of universals. Are there forms that determine the essential features of particular things? If so, what is the nature of these forms? Does a name refer to the form of that thing, or does it refer to the particulars? Summarize the three main positions in the debate: strong realism (Plato and Neoplatonism), moderate realism (Aristotle, Boethius, Abelard, Aquinas), and nominalism (Ockham). For each of these positions, make sure to address the three questions above. Place the greatest emphasis on nominalism and explain Ockham’s views in detail.

 

Your paper must contain at least 3 citations from our reading.

 

 

Guidelines for Take-Home Essay Exam and Paper:

 

1. Length – Minimum of 4 full pages, maximum 7 pages. If you use formatting or stylistic devices which artificially inflate the length of your writing – such as titles or headers, footnotes or citations within the text, or extra spaces between paragraphs – you will need to expand the length of your essay or essays to make up the difference.

 

2. Citations – Provide full citations for any quotation or paraphrase (not including class lectures), using any standard method that provides all of the relevant information (including exact page numbers). Sample: Augustine, “On the Free Choice of the Will,” in Medieval Philosophy, 4th edition, ed. Forrest E. Baird and Walter Kaufmann (Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall, 2003), p. 81.

            Place full citations in endnotes or a bibliography placed at the very end of the paper. Citations in the text or in footnotes should include only the author’s last name and the page numbers.

 

3. Formatting – Number pages and staple; 12 point type; Double-spaced; 1-1.5 inch margins