Philosophia ancilla theologiae

Philosophia ancilla theologiae ("Philosophy is the handmaid of theology") is a Latin phrase that expresses that natural (not illuminated by grace or revelation ) reason is subordinate to theology as the highest science. B. with Thomas von Aquin u. a. is justified with the rank of "their" subject. The formulation "Philosophia ancilla theologiae" is ascribed to the Italian bishop and doctor of the church Petrus Damiani (around 1006-1072). As a quote, the formulation cannot be exactly proven in his case, although the idea is formulated here for the first time in terms of content: [Philosophia] "non debet ius magisterii sibimet arroganter suscipere, sed velut ancilla dominae quodam famulatus obsequio subservire." This must be done in order to understand this quote understanding of philosophy at that time must be considered. Since the artes liberales were assigned to philosophy in the Middle Ages, this discipline included all sciences and arts that were dealt with beyond theology, jurisprudence and medicine.

literature

Bernardus Baudoux: Philosophia "Ancilla Theologiae", in: Antonianum 12 (1937), pp. 293–326
Max Seckler : "Philosophia ancilla theologiae". About the origins and the meaning of a formula that has become objectionable, in: Theologische Viertelschrift 171 (1991), pp. 161–187

Remarks

↑ Kurt Reindel (ed.): The letters of Petrus Damiani. Part 3: Letters 91-150. Hahnsche Buchhandlung, Hanover 1989 ( MGH Die Briefe der Deutschen Kaiserzeit, Volume 4.3), No. 119, p. 354. Translation: (Philosophy) “may not presume the right to teach, but has like a maid of her mistress (namely the ecclesiastical teaching) to serve obediently. ”For the attribution of the quotation cf. z. B. Hans J. Detjen: Establishing the validity of tradition-dependent interpretations of the world in a dilemma: Theology Philosophy, Philosophy of Science and Constructivism , Berlin 2010, p. 203, or Gilson Etienne, Böhner Gilson: Christian Philosophy from its Beginnings to Nikolaus von Cues . 3., rework. Ed., Paderborn: Schoeningh, 1954, p. 288ff.

[1] Kurt Reindel (ed.): The letters of Petrus Damiani. Part 3: Letters 91-150. Hahnsche Buchhandlung, Hanover 1989 ( MGH Die Briefe der Deutschen Kaiserzeit, Volume 4.3), No. 119, p. 354. Translation: (Philosophy) “may not presume the right to teach, but has like a maid of her mistress (namely the ecclesiastical teaching) to serve obediently. ”For the attribution of the quotation cf. z. B. Hans J. Detjen: Establishing the validity of tradition-dependent interpretations of the world in a dilemma: Theology Philosophy, Philosophy of Science and Constructivism , Berlin 2010, p. 203, or Gilson Etienne, Böhner Gilson: Christian Philosophy from its Beginnings to Nikolaus von Cues . 3., rework. Ed., Paderborn: Schoeningh, 1954, p. 288ff.