Victor prevailed in
their contention that philosophers were "_humanae videlicet
sapientiae amatores_," while theologians were "_divinae scripturae
doctores."
Cardinal Mercier, himself the greatest contemporary exponent of
Scholastic philosophy, defines philosophy as "the science of the
totality of things." The twelfth century was a time when men were
striving to see phenomena in this sense and established a great
rational synthesis that should yet be in full conformity with the
dogmatic theology of revealed religion. Abelard was one of the most
enthusiastic and daring of these Mediaeval thinkers, and it is not
surprising that he should have found himself at issue not only with
the duller type of theologians but with his philosophical peers
themselves. He was an intellectual force of the first magnitude and
a master of dialectic; he was also an egotist through and through,
and a man of strong passions. He would and did use his logical
faculty and his mastery of dialectic to justify his own desires,
whether these were for carnal satisfaction or the maintenance of an
original intellectual concept. It was precisely this danger that
aroused the fears of the "rigourists" and in the light of
succeeding events in the domain of intellectualism it is impossible
to deny that there was some justification for their gloomy
apprehensions.
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