Deck 15: Anselm and Aquinas: Existence and Essence in God and the World

Question 1

In the Aristotle-Ptolemy-Dante picture of the world,

A) heaven is understood to be quite literally up above us.
B) space is thought to be infinite.
C) the sun is located in the very center of the created universe.
D) human beings are thought to be insignificant in comparison with the glories of the celestial bodies.

Answer 1

heaven is understood to be quite literally up above us.

Question 2

Renaissance humanists

A) intensify the otherworldliness embedded in medieval culture by emphasizing that human perfection is possible only in the life to come.
B) see clearly that a good human life, as represented in the classics, is incompatible with Christianity.
C) celebrate the human being as the central fact in all the created world.
D) tend to be pessimistic about humanity's prospects.

Answer 2

celebrate the human being as the central fact in all the created world.

Question 3

Martin Luther

A) speaks of man as "maker and molder" of himself.
B) upholds the Church as the legitimate interpreter of Scripture, lest chaos result from individual opinions.
C) leaves the Church, resigning his priesthood in disgust over the selling of indulgences.
D) stresses the grace of God and the inability of human beings to save themselves.

Answer 3

stresses the grace of God and the inability of human beings to save themselves.

Question 4

In defending the theology of Sebond, Montaigne

A) shows that Sebond's arguments are superior to the arguments of those who criticized him.
B) makes use of Plato's Forms to show that God is knowable to us.
C) relies on Aristotle as the authority who showed us how to avoid infinite regress problems.
D) says only that Sebond's arguments are as solid and firm as any.

Question 5

The new science

A) seems to require a distinction between primary and secondary qualities.
B) shows how final causes actually work.
C) puts the sun in the center of the universe.
D) finally solves the old philosophical problems about knowledge.

Question 6

Where is hell, in the picture Dante gives us, and what do the various circles of hell represent?

Question 7

What does Pico della Mirandola mean when he says that man is created as "maker and molder" of himself?

Question 8

What is the disagreement between Luther and the Church basically about?

Question 9

How does Montaigne "defend" the claim of Sebond to rationally demonstrate all the doctrines of Christianity?

Question 10

Compare, in as many ways as you can, the new scientific picture of the world with the older medieval view.