The Problem of Being in Medieval Philosophy

On Saturday, we will continue our series of meetings dedicated to questions of faith and philosophy.

“What does it mean ‘to be’?” — one of the classic questions of philosophy. It gains renewed relevance in the colorful world of the Middle Ages, with its feudal dependencies, social estates, guilds, jesters, witches, angels, demons, celestial spheres, dances of death, promises of the afterlife, and God Himself. Do all these things exist in the same sense?

Can being increase and decrease like the level of water? How are spiritual and material reality connected — the revealed and the worldly?

At the meeting, we will discuss how medieval thinkers such as Anselm of Canterbury, Thomas Aquinas, and Duns Scotus addressed these questions.

Anselm of Canterbury (11th–12th centuries) — English philosopher and theologian, known for the ontological argument for the existence of God (Proslogion).
Thomas Aquinas (13th century) — Italian philosopher and theologian, the greatest representative of scholasticism, author of Summa Theologiae.
Duns Scotus (13th–14th centuries) — Scottish philosopher and Franciscan theologian, who developed the doctrine of the “univocity of being” and individuality.

The session will be led by Daniil Aronson, PhD in Philosophy and graduate of the Higher School of Economics.