Blog 2

There were many groups throughout history that influenced contemporary thinking. Take the Scholastics for example. This group included a number of men, some of which were Thomas Aquinas, Albert the Great, Peter Abelard, and William of Ockham. I saw their contributions to contemporary thinking as we discussed them in class today. Thomas Aquinas influenced contemporary thinking by demonstrating that much of what Aristotle said was actually consistent with a Christian world view, which no one had pieced together before then. Albert the Great also taught Aristotle’s work and emphasized the value of experience. He believed that we were not born with knowledge, but instead we gain it through our experiences (which I happen to agree with). I think this thought would have made people more open to trying new things. Peter Abelard contributed to contemporary thinking through his gift of dialect. He wrote a book that presented questions and then he answered them by arguing both sides, which I can imagine cause some controversy while expanding people’s views over the questions asked.  William of Ockham became known for his principle, Ockham’s Razor, which states that entities should not be multiplied unnecessarily, which means if there are two competing hypotheses, the one with fewer assumptions is the better one. I believe that this encouraged many people to experiment in order to find the best hypothesis. This is how I believe these men influenced contemporary thinking during their time.