An encyclopedist of the dark ages: Isidore of SevilleBrehaut, Ernest
History
An encyclopedist of the dark ages: Isidore of Seville
Brehaut, Ernest
Isidore, of Seville, Saint, -636; Thesis (Ph. D.)
2. It is knowledge when anything is known with definiteness;
opinion, when a thing lurks as yet in uncertainty and seems in no
way established, as for example, whether the sun is [only] as large
as it seems or greater than all the earth; likewise whether the moon
is a sphere or concave; and whether the stars adhere to the heavens
or pass in free course through the air; of what size the heaven
itself is and of what material it is composed; whether it is quiet
and motionless or revolves with incredible speed; how great is the
thickness of the earth, or on what foundations it continues poised
and supported.
3. The word philosophy, translated into Latin, means _amor
sapientiae_. For the Greeks call amor φιλὸν, and sapientiae σοφίαν.
The sub-division of philosophy is three-fold: first, natural
philosophy, which in Greek is called _physica_, in which there is
discussion of the search into nature; the second, moral, which
in Greek is called _ethica_, in which the subject is morals; the
third, rational, which in the Greek is called _logica_, in which the
discussion is as to how the truth itself is to be sought in respect
to the causes of things or the conduct of life.
4. In physics, then, the cause of inquiry, in ethics, the manner of
living, in logic, the method of understanding, are concerned. Among
the Greeks, Thales of Miletus, one of the seven wise men, was the
first to search into natural philosophy. For this man first regarded
with contemplative thought the causes of the heavens and the force of
the things of nature. And this division of philosophy Plato afterward
divided into four separate parts, namely, into arithmetic, geometry,
music, astronomy.
5. Socrates first established ethics with a view to correcting and
ordering conduct, and he devoted all his attention to the discussion
of right living, dividing it into the four virtues of the soul,
namely, wisdom, justice, fortitude, temperance.
6. Wisdom is engaged with things, and by it the evil is distinguished
from the good. Fortitude, by which adversity is endured with
calmness. Temperance, by which lust and concupiscence are bridled.
Justice, by which through righteous judgment his own is rendered to
each.
7. Plato added logical philosophy, which is called rational, and by
it he analyzed the causes of things and of conduct, and examined
their force in a rational way, dividing it into dialectic and
rhetoric. It is called logical, that is, rational, for among the
Greeks λόγος means both word and reason.
8. The divine utterances also consist of these three kinds of
philosophy. For they are wont to discuss nature, as in Genesis or
Ecclesiastes; or conduct, as in Proverbs and here and there in all
the books; or logic, instead of which our [philosophers] assert the
claim of theology,[232] as in the Song of Songs or the Gospels.
[232] Du Breul has _theologia_; Arevalus, _theorica_.
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