This introduction to philosophy in the Latin West between 1150 and 1350 combines an historical approach, which concentrates on the sources, forms and backgrounds of the medieval works, with philosophical analysis of thirteenth and fourteenth-century writing in terms comprehensible to a modern reader. Part One looks at the intellectual and historical context of medieval thought. It examines the courses in the medieval universities; the methods of teaching; the forms of written work; the logical techniques used for argument and analysis; the translation and the availability of Ancient Greek, Arab and Jewish philosophical texts; the challenges the new material presented and the various ways in which Western thinkers responded to them. Part Two focuses on one important problem in later medieval thought: the nature of intellectual knowledge. It explains the arguments given by Aristotle, his antique commentators and the Arab philosophers Avicenna and Averroes, and traces how a series of Western thinkers, including Thomas Aquinas and William of Ockham, developed, modified or rejected them.

`Coupled with the earlier volume this book gives us the most up-to-date general work on medieval philosophy in the Latin West currently available; I have no doubt that students will profit from it. It is clearly written and has a good bibliography of the easily accessible sources as well as of important secondary works. Its discussions of philosophical issues are both erudite and astute.' - Canadian Philosophical Reviews

`Marenbon's book is an intelligent and useful contribution to our understanding of a difficult yet stimulating period of philosophical thought.' - Oliver Leaman, Philosophy

`The book is one which will grow with the reader, and should be equally valuable for university students, intelligent sixth-formers and their teachers establishing a course.' - Times Higher Education Supplement

`Marenbon's clearly written and intelligent philosophical essay deserves a place on the shelves of student libraries.' - The Thomist

John Marenbon (Trinity College, Cambridge. UK)