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Scholastics

Scholastics were medieval Christian theologians and philosophers who developed scholasticism, a method of learning that aimed to reconcile faith and reason through rigorous argument, disputation, and synthesis of authorities. The movement emerged in the 11th and 12th centuries within European schools and universities such as Paris, Bologna, and Oxford, and reached its height in the 13th and 14th centuries, continuing in various forms into the early modern period. The central aim was to articulate and defend Christian doctrine by logical analysis, using the dialectical method of posing questions, presenting competing positions, and resolving them with careful argument and cited authorities, especially Scripture, Church Fathers, and Aristotle.

Scholastics produced a vast body of commentaries, glosses, and systematic syntheses. Their best-known works include the

The legacy of the Scholastics endures in Catholic theology and philosophy, in clerical education, and in the

Summa
Theologiae
of
Thomas
Aquinas
and
the
Sentences
of
Peter
Lombard,
both
used
as
comprehensive
frameworks
for
theological
education.
Scholasticism
gave
rise
to
several
schools
of
thought,
notably
Thomism
(influenced
by
Aquinas),
Scotism
(Duns
Scotus),
and
Occamism
(William
of
Ockham).
They
employed
formal
logic
and
epistemology
to
questions
about
existence,
causation,
morality,
and
the
nature
of
universals.
broader
tradition
of
medieval
intellectual
method.
Critiques
from
Renaissance
humanists
and
later
rationalists
challenged
some
of
its
methods,
but
its
emphasis
on
rigorous
argumentation
and
the
integration
of
philosophy
with
theology
significantly
influenced
subsequent
scholastic
and
post-medieval
thought.