Two centuries later Pope Gregory the Great protested against the study of pagan literature,
Again in the tenth century, a period of utter stagnation, illumined by scarcely a ray from classical antiquity, church dignitaries maintained that
But with the revival of learning during the next two hundred years came a change for the better, and medieval knowledge began to assume a more positive character. Its science, still contaminated with the errors and superstitions it had received from remote ages, gradually became less chaotic, less fantastic and symbolic, less dominated by theology, although for a long time after its subjection to scholastic influences it remained, so to speak, Aristotelized. That is to say, logical analysis was relied upon for ascertaining all manner of truth, a complete system being devised toward that end by Raymond Lull. The independent searching out and testing of actual facts, the process of drawing general conclusions from concrete phenomena, were not the methods employed by medieval schoolmen, with the one notable exception of Roger Bacon.[1] It was commonly held that all truth may be obtained by the use of reasoning alone; and "that by analyzing and combining the notions which common language brings before us, we may learn all that we can know. Thus logic came to include the whole of science." (Whewell.)
There can be no doubt that the universal reverence for Aristotle's authority, and blind acceptance of other accredited doctrines and treatises, greatly retarded scientific progress. All men begin their development with a childlike trust in authorities and examples, and as science had to be regenerated de novo toward the end of the middle ages, it is only natural that its beginnings should appear to us lamentably weak and puerile. Moreover, the system of instruction employed by Catholic schoolmen was not conducive to real enlightenment. The real difficulty, as has been pointed out, is that "not life and nature were the basis of instruction and science, but books. Not the thing itself was the object of inquiry, but the word; not experiment disclosed the truth, but dialectics." Authority had greater weight than arguments, and in the last resort authority depended more upon a master's reputation than on his knowledge. Finally, we must not forget the restraint imposed upon medieval philosophy by theology. Religious discipline required that the results of human reason should be con-
- ↑ On Baconian contributions to science, see Professor Holden's interesting article in Popular Science Monthly for January, 1902 (60: 255).
