Talulah

I got that book. I just happened by chance to run by the local used book store and see it laying on the new arrival cart. I was so exicted they must have thought I was daft. Thanks for the recomendation.

DMB

I too recommend the Uta Ranke-Heinemann book.

Ales

It depends on what you mean by the word "genius". Their influence and the size of their writings is of course immense. According to what religionists say Aquinas had to write 1 word per 10 s during the most prolific year of his life and that without sleeping, eating etc. Catholics say he was able to dictate to 3 secretaries simultaneously and also that he was able to dictate even when he was asleep. Augustine's antihumanist teaching brought about and started the Dark Ages, Aquinas' antihumanist teaching stabilized it and developed the useless method of scholasticism - a barren philosophizing - but a precious discipline to Catholics hold by them to be sacred, one pope even ordered the Christian philosophers to revive it in the form of neotomism. B. Russell criticized them all thoroughly. In my point of view I can admire only the breadth of Aquinas’ work, but when I remember a schoolmate of mine who was able to write functioning computer programs at a comparable pace or realize there are mathematical proofs thousands pages long it doesn’t seem so admirable.

[ August 10, 2002: Message edited by: Ales ]</p>

Doug

Don't you suppose that the collapse of the Roman Empire might have had just a bit to do with the beginning of the Dark Ages in Western Europe?