There is little of the true philosophic spirit in Aquinas. He does not, like the Platonic Socrates, set
out to follow wherever the argument may lead. He is not engaged in an inquiry, the result of which
it is impossible to know in advance. Before he begins to philosophize, he already knows the truth;
it is declared in the Catholic faith. If he can find apparently rational arguments for some parts of
the faith, so much the better; if he cannot, he need only fall back on revelation. The finding of
arguments for a conclusion given in advance is not philosophy, but special pleading. I cannot,
therefore, feel that he deserves to be put on a level with the best philosophers either of Greece or
of modern times.
CHAPTER XIV Franciscan SchoolmenFRANCISCANS, on the whole, were less impeccably orthodox than Dominicans. Between the
two orders there was keen rivalry, and the Franciscans were not inclined to accept the authority of
Saint Thomas. The three most important of Franciscan philosophers were Roger Bacon, Duns
Scotus, and William of Occam. Saint Bonaventura and Matthew of Aquasparta also call for
notice.
Roger Bacon (ca. 1214 - ca.1294) was not greatly admired in his own day, but in modern times has
been praised far beyond his deserts. He was not so much a philosopher, in the narrow sense, as a
man of universal learning with a passion for mathematics and science. Science, in his day, was
mixed up with alchemy, and thought to be mixed up with black magic; Bacon was constantly
getting into trouble through being suspected of heresy and magic. In 1257, Saint Bonaventura, the
General of the Franciscan order, placed him under surveillance in Paris, and forbade him to
publish. Nevertheless, while this prohibition was still in force, the papal legate in England, Guy de
Foulques, commanded him, contrary orders notwithstanding, to write out his phi-