The Middle Ages

Lilly Ciurca

Assignment 6

Middle Ages

One of the primary sources for this week is Statues for the University of Paris 1215. There were very strict rules regarding who was able to lecture including not being able to lecture on feast days, being mandated to attend the funeral of someone who has died, no one must lecture or dispute on the day they are buried, and nobody should lecture at Paris before his 35th year for example. Although these statutes seem to be strict, it is with the intention that students and staff are able to maintain order for a high-quality education. Comparing this to a university in America today, there are many more regulations- some of which seem to be unnecessary, while others make sense on how they can help to improve the student’s intelligence and work ethic. This source addresses the rules and regulations that took place at a Paris university.

Thomas Aquinas explains the proof that there’s an existence of God. It is said that god's existence can not be demonstrated, but proved from what he causes. With this, a cause is unable to be proved, although he explains that the unseen things of God can be visible through his manifest works. Thomas Aquinas presents five main arguments which include degrees of perfection, motion, contingency, design, and causation- these are known as the Five Ways. Motion is the reasoning that there must be a prime mover of the world, which is god. Causation explains that everything is caused by something, and there must have been the first initial cause that started the world, like a god. Contingency suggests that everything in the world depends on something else for its existence. The argument from degrees of perfection explains there must be a god who developed these varying degrees of perfection that we see in the world. Lastly, design argues that the things in the world would have needed a designer to create. Reading these arguments can provide the reader with hope if they have ever wondered if there really is a God because his reasoning lines up and makes sense.