The nature and properties of angels occupied a prominent place in medieval philosophical inquiry. Creatures of two worlds, angels provided ideal ground for exploring the nature of God and his creation, being perceived as 'models' according to which a whole range of questions were defined, from cosmological order, movement and place, to individuation, cognition, volition, and modes of language. This collection of essays is a significant scholarly contribution to angelology, centred on the function and significance of angels in medieval speculation and its history. The unifying theme is that of the role of angels in philosophical inquiry, where each contribution represents a case study in which the angelic model is seen to motivate developments in specific areas and periods of medieval philosophical thought.

Humanist prejudice famously made medieval angelology the paradigm of ludicrous speculation with its caricature of “How many angels can dance on the head of a pin?” The truth is quite the opposite: many of medieval philosophy’s most original and ingenious contributions actually came to light in discussions of angelology. In fact, angelology provided an ideal context for discussing issues such as the structure of the universe, the metaphysical texture of creatures (e.g. esse-essentia composition and the principle of individuation), and theories of time, knowledge, freedom, and linguistics—issues which, for the most part, are still highly relevant for contemporary philosophy. Because this specifically philosophical interest in angels developed mainly during the course of the thirteenth and early fourteenth century, this volume centers on the period from Bonaventure to Ockham. It also, however, discusses some original positions by earlier thinkers such as Augustine and Anselm of Canterbury. Its nine thorough studies bring to light some neglected but highly fascinating aspects of medieval philosophy, thus filling an important gap in the literature. Contributors include: Richard Cross, Gregory T. Doolan, H.J.M.J. Goris, Tobias Hoffmann, Peter King, Timothy B. Noone, Giorgio Pini, Bernd Roling, and John F. Wippel.

Angels have made a remarkable comeback in the popular imagination; their real heyday, however, was the Middle Ages. This text offers a study of angels and angelology in the Middle Ages, seeking to discover how and why angels became so important in medieval society.

In this book Tobias Hoffmann studies the medieval free will debate during its liveliest period, from the 1220s to the 1320s, and clarifies its background in Aristotle, Augustine, and earlier medieval thinkers. Among the wide range of authors he examines are not only well-known thinkers such as Thomas Aquinas, Duns Scotus, and William of Ockham, but also a number of authors who were just as important in their time and deserve to be rediscovered today. To shed further light on their theories of free will, Hoffmann also explores their competing philosophical explanations of the fall of the angels, that is, the hypothesis of an evil choice made by rational beings under optimal psychological conditions. As he shows, this test case imposed limits on tracing free choices to cognition. His book provides a comprehensive account of a debate that was central to medieval philosophy and continues to occupy philosophers today.

This book studies medieval theories of angelology insofar as they made groundbreaking contributions to medieval philosophy. It centers on the period from Bonaventure to Ockham while also discussing some original positions by earlier thinkers.

The wonder of natural philosophy in our 21st century, in the mind of the ordinary individual, has divided into political and humanist secular divisions. The widespread outlook of the Providence of God has been fragmented in our modern culture. St. Thomas Aquinas's synthesis on angels in the Middle Ages was not specifically a religious inquiry. It was also a study of natural philosophy. Angels are creatures whose existence can be demonstrated. In certain exceptional cases they have even been seen. To disregard them destroys the balance of the universe. 1 To include angels within the philosophy of nature of the cosmos today is to give a wider perspective to the articulation of the Providence of God in all its complexity. 2 We know from our personal experience that man is more than his body, because he has a power different from his physical body. This power is called intellect. Angels, created without bodies, are pure intellects. This fact with all its ramifications is the foundation for the Angel Institute Guide. It seems time to accept the existence of these intelligible beings we call angels as a vital aspect of our physical reality, natural philosophy and St. Thomas's Christian metaphysics. St. Thomas derived his information about angels from three sources. First, from astronomy which reached back to the ancient Greeks. Second, from the complex medieval history of metaphysics. Third, from the accounts of angels and demons in the Bible. 3 Etienne Gilson, a modern Thomist philosopher states: "The significance of the existential reform imposed by St. Thomas upon Greek metaphysics is one of the major events in the whole history of philosophy. If we do not grasp its meaning, we allow its fruits to perish." 4 This book discusses information we have from the Bible about the place and action of God's created beings, angels, in the physical universe. The Angel Guide gives a bird's eye view of the exceptional scholarly work available to us. A concise view of St. Augustine's work as well as St. Thomas Aquinas's, as it pertains to angels is provided. Information was extracted both from St. Thomas' own writing 'On The Angels' by the Dominicans publication, and from the reliable historical and philosophical work of Etienne Gilson, to whom I am greatly indebted. In the vast universe in which we as living individual human beings are a physical and immaterial part, the Angel Guide aims to expand our understanding of the Providence of God. The above ideas summarize the objective of the author in this very numinous and philosophically probing work on the Angels and their existence and relevance in the modern world and in God's universe.