Aristotelianism

Tradition of ways of thinking based originally on Aristotle's writings.

Aristotelianism was the dominant philosophic influence in the early Middle Ages in Europe. There, philosophy was regarded as the ‘handmaiden’ of theology and was pursued in the main by clerics, either in monastic schools or in the universities which arose as clerical foundations from the 12th century. However, these scholars studied Aristotle in Latin versions prepared from translations into Arabic, and then only some parts of the corpus. It was not until the Renaissance that an extensive investigation of the Greek originals began. Medieval Aristotelianism culminates in the works of St Thomas Aquinas. It survives today in neo-Thomism, but is now overshadowed by modern studies of the Aristotelian originals themselves.