A. The influence of Nominalism

1. Nominalism--a logical account of the basis and references of ideas; it main thesis is that ideas do not refer to independent, metaphysical realities like God or Goodness (Plato thought they did); rather ideas have meaning only in a logical way in that they help us make sense of our experiences

a. the Medieval period was dominated by Realism, which says some ideas

refer to independent, metaphysical reality; hence it is very important to have

the right ideas and believe them deeply

b. perhaps William of Ockham (a Franciscan philosopher who taught at Oxford;

1280-1349) was the first to promote clearly and forcefully nominalism

c. by the 16^th century, nominalism have become more prevalent

B. The influence of Skepticism

1. Pyrrho of the 4^th BCE had maintained the following:

a. we only know appearances

b. all dogmatic claims conflict with other dogmatic claims

c. we cannot absolutely verify our ideas about sense experiences are correct

d. we must suspend beliefs

e. nonetheless we can be happy by not taking anything too seriously and just

accept reality for how it appears.

2. Michel de Montaigne ( a Frenchman who wrote Essais, part of which was called "Apology for Raymond Sebond"; 1533-1592) revived interest in Pyrrhonic skepticism; it became prevalent in learned society; this viewpoint rejected the Medieval scholaticism outright, which was an intellectual approach which religious authorities (e.g., the Bible and traditional Church teachings) to construct a comprehensive, systematic understanding of self, world, and God.

a. instead of placing theological systems in the center of understanding the

world, humanistic concerns and interests like art and politics became central

C. The influence of the New Science

1. Copernicus, Kepler, and Galileo introduced a new way of looking at humanity’s position in the universe; prior to them the universe was seen primarily from two viewpoints:

a. Aristotle’s idea of the rotation of the planets and stars determined by God

b. and a view of the Bible which puts the earth in the center of the universe.

2. a general excitement about scientific discovery grew but also a despair about the loss of security given with the geocentric view of the solar system and universe.

D. The dismantling of the centrality of the ecclesiastical hierarchy

1. the growth of nation-states undermined the centrality of the universal Roman Church

2. the sectarian wars ravaged Europe and jaded people to the claims of the various, rival religious groups, e.g., Roman Catholics, Lutherans, Calvinist, Anabaptist, millennial groups;

3. Treaty of Westphalia put an end to the religious wars and politically started modernity