Should you have antiquarian interests, at some point you may want to read the medieval treatise Sic et Non written in 1120 by French theologian Peter Abelard (10791142 CE). It is a no-nonsense guide to critical thinking during the early Middle Ages. Merely reading its 158 theological questions would have been an education in itself for twelfth century university students, as within just a few minutes they would have discovered the kinds of questions that were routinely studied during that time.
If they had been fortunate (that is, rich) enough to own a copy of this book before the age of printing, they could have chosen any question that interested them about God and Christianity, and found both pro and con arguments by authorities, that would at first glance have seemed equally convincing. What they wouldn't have found, however, was a resolution of those questions, for that was the point of this groundbreaking, epochmaking, astonishing book. Students had to work their way through both sets of persuasive arguments to determine for themselves which arguments made the stronger case!
This personal challenge to each student caused a sensation in the medieval university world, which had always appealed to respected authorities and their proof texts to answer such questions. But here students were confronted with two sets of authorities that contradicted one another (hence the book's title: Yes and No).
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The Two Dennises
Hannah Mortimer observes a close encounter of the same kind.
Heraclitus (c.500 BC)
Harry Keith lets flow a stream of ideas about permanence and change.
Does the Cosmos Have a Purpose?
Raymond Tallis argues intently against universal intention.
Is Driving Fossil-Fuelled Cars Immoral?
Rufus Duits asks when we can justify driving our carbon contributors.
Abelard & Carneades Yes & No
Frank Breslin says 'yes and no' to presenting both sides of an argument.
Frankl & Sartre in Search of Meaning
Georgia Arkell compares logotherapy and atheistic existentialism.
Luce Irigaray
Luce Irigaray, now ninety-two years old, was, among many other things, one of the most impactful feminists of the 1970s liberation movements - before she was marginalised, then ostracised, from the francophone intellectual sphere.
Significance
Ruben David Azevedo tells us why, in a limitless universe, we’re not insignificant.
The Present Is Not All There Is To Happiness
Rob Glacier says don’t just live in the now.
Philosophers Exploring The Good Life
Jim Mepham quests with philosophers to discover what makes a life good.