Medieval Philosophy after the Middle Ages

This article defends three historical theses: (1) medieval sources remained a living material for early modern readers, although some selections were made; (2) early modern readers were eager not to repeat, but to expand the medieval doctrines; (3) a close historical study of early modern scholasticism can explain numerous and important features of contemporary philosophy, such as, for instance, the opposition between realism and idealism or even the famous "Continental-analytical" divide. It concludes that medieval philosophy had a paradoxical fate after the Middle Ages. Medieval philosophy's conceptual tools led not only the famous novatores, but also the more orthodox scholastics, to embrace new world views that are quite far from the medieval one. © 2012 by Oxford University Press Published by Oxford University Press, Inc. All rights reserved.