Scholasticism as a Systematic European Philosophy of the Middle Ages

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The article examines the contribution of the greatest encyclopedic mind of antiquity - Aristotle to the formation of scholasticism. The direct and indirect influence of Aristotelian ideas can be traced during the long period of the formation of scholasticism. The emergence of non–Christian Aristotelianism – Averroism - was an important moment in the history of philosophy. An adherent of authentic Aristotelianism - Averroes, translated the works of Aristotle and interpreted them through the concepts of Arabic philosophy. The topic of the influence of authentic scholasticism on patristic theology is touched upon. The traditional understanding of scholasticism as a combination of Christian theology with the philosophy of Aristotle is noted. Scholasticism, being a religious philosophy, applies philosophical concepts and techniques to the Christian-church doctrine, the early experience of which is contained in patristics. Scholasticism, as a religious philosophy, needed the development of theological thought and its development took place along with the development of theology. Studying the great ancient thinkers – Plato and Aristotle, the development of scholasticism has moved forward especially noticeably, which is reflected in the formation of scholastic metaphysics. The penetration of Aristotelianism in the XIII century into Christian philosophy marked the heyday of scholasticism. The scholastics turned their eyes to the ancient thinkers in order to establish Christian truth. Aristotle was presented to them as a universal thinker with a broad outlook, who achieved knowledge by the aspirations of reason. The similarity of Aristotle's organic worldview and the Christian understanding of the spirit and life turned out to be suitable for representatives of scholasticism, who noticed the similarity of Aristotle's teaching about the existence of God with the teaching of Holy Scripture.