I have mentioned briefly during my previous post that Aristotle was incorporated into the Catholic theology by Saint Thomas Aquinas. In fact, when I was studying the history of western philosophy, I remember hearing that Aristotle's philosophy was "baptized" by Saint Thomas Aquinas.
It is interesting to observe that this fresco is facing another fresco depicting the Christian theological dispute titled,"Disputa."
While some have placed the themes of these two fresco as rivaling or opposing, I hold the exact opposite stand point. As the old philosophy was "baptized," and the new churches were built on the old sacred sites, the Greco-Roman philosophy became the ground/soil where the early Christianity had sprouted. In fact, Saint Paul, in his speech, recognized the magnanimous hearts of the ancient Greeks who had built the alter for "the unknown god" (Acts 17:23).
Many things can be said about the importance of this fresco from the point of view of the 15th/16th century Catholic theology, but today, I would like to be selective and point out only a few things.
Because the way the perspective is used, it is very easy for us to focus onto the two central figures, Plato and Aristotle.
First of all, how do we know that these are Plato and Aristotle?
If you pay attention to the books they are holding, you can get the sort of the hint. An older looking person is holding a book with the inscribed title, "Timeo (Timaeus/Timaios)," and the younger looking person is holding a book with the title, "Etica (Nicomachean Ethics)."
"Timaeus" is one of the dialogues of Plato, and "Nicomachean Ethics" is one of the several works on ethics by Aristotle. It is very interesting to point that "Timaeus" mentions about the creation of the universe by "demiurge," a Divine presence. Through "Nicomachean Ethics", Aristotle expressed how to be ethically virtuous. If we pay attention to the gestures of the two, Plato is pointing upwards with his right hand, and Aristotle is pointing downwards with his right hand thus creating sort of upward and downward movements. At the same time, Plato's pointing index finger may represent the singularity (of the Divine = one god), and Aristotle's open hand may represents the multiplicity (many men/women)thus forming the one and the many relationship.
Plato is known for his philosophy on Idea-lism and the dualism (i.e., body and soul), while Aristotle is known for his Categories and Metaphysics.
Without going into detail of rather complex philosophy of the two, and just by observing their gestures and the two books in this fresco, we can see the correlation to Christian theology (of pre-reformation 15th/16th century "Italy").
"Timaeus" held by Plato points to the creator (demiurge/god), and Plato is, in fact, pointing upwards. The book is held vertically, thus suggesting the vertical relationship between the creator and the creation below. One of the major themes in the biblical scriptures is to remember where we have come from and who is the Creator of this universe.
If this idea is "baptized", then, it would lead to one of the two most important commandments given by Jesus: "Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy strength, and with all thy mind." (Luke:10:27 / King James)
"Ethics" held by Aristotle, with his right hand with its palm open to suggest the many, points downwards to the humanity amongst the universe. He asks, "How can the humans be happy?" The answer leads to the practical life lived (practiced) with virtue. Ethics is related to all of us that is equal under the Creator. The book is held horizontally, and it is suggesting the horizontal relationships of the humanity.
If this idea is "baptized", it may lead to the second commandment by Jesus: "...and (love)thy neighbour as thyself." (Ibid)
While "Timaeus" connects evil with the physical body and admitting the existence of the essence of evil that cannot be overcome by effort (will) nor the power of reason (nous) alone, "Nicomachean Ethics" disagree with such view and puts evil back to our responsibility and, in a way, rejects the idea of Platonic view of the inevitability of evil.
If we "baptize" these ideas, the Platonic evil can be understood from the point of view of the original sin where the grace from Divine alone may be able to transform such condition. The Aristotelian evil can be prevented or overcome by following the 10 Commandments, etc.
Furthermore, if we superimpose the images of these two books (placed vertically and horizontally), we have the symbolic "cross".
As we can see that even if we limit ourselves to the observation of the gestures of the two central figures, we can make the connection to the Catholic theology of.
...then, my next question is: "What is Plato pointing at?"
(...to be continued)
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