Peter AbelardEthical Writings: 'Ethics' and 'Dialogue Between a Philosopher, a Jew and a Christian'

This is an interesting book. It is very thought-provoking. It causes us to think about many subject and ideas raised by this famed scholar. The Frenchman Peter Abelard (1079-1142), was a rational philosopher who was considered the most intelligent man of his generation by his Christian community. Like all other people, he was not always correct. In this book, among much else, he used an improper argument in his book “Dialogue between a Philosopher, a Jew, and a Christian,” to belittle Judaism. He created a straw man and then demolished it. He described the Jew as believing that circumcision saved the Jews from extinction and Judaism wants all people to be circumcised.The twelfth century Jewish sage Maimonides, born in 1138, four years before Abelard’s death, explained the purpose of circumcision in his Guide of the Perplexed 3:49. He wrote that circumcision teaches that we must not injure the body in any way other than when demanded by God, this being the only instance. It therefore prohibits castration. Since the penis is weakened slightly by circumcision, circumcision, according to Maimonides, also teaches that people should not behave excessively, but keep everything within the golden mean. But sex should not be suppressed entirely because the Bible mandates in Genesis 1:22, “Be fruitful and multiply.” Thus, Abelard’s contention that Jews believe that circumcision is that institution that maintains them in existence is not true.Abelard depicts the Jew arguing in the Dialogue that Jews are circumcised to teach them that their hearts should be “inwardly circumcised from vices, just as they are already circumcised outwardly in the flesh.” They are therefore told to “cut themselves off in their practices from their earlier origin among the Chaldean unbelievers.”Abelard counters the Jew’s statement by saying that Judaism is insisting that all people, even non-Jews, should be circumcised. This, of course, is not what the Jew said, nor is it a tenet of Judaism. Judaism teaches the opposite, that all people, whether they observe the Torah or not, are children of God and must be respected. Thus, the fault that Abelard sees in Judaism, simply does not exist.

Ethical Writings: 'Ethics' and 'Dialogue Between a Philosopher, a Jew and a Christian' by Peter Abelard, Translated by Paul Vincent Spade, Introduced by Marilyn McCord Adams.Most major theologeans have written on ethics, but Abelard's works are more important to his corpus of work than with most others. The simple reason is that so few of his works are available to us in English, and many that are were left incomplete by Abelard. The more complex reason is that Abelard's signature doctrine of atonement, which he posed as an alternative to the equally famous doctrine by Anselm of Canterbury, is based primarily on the nature of virtue ethics. What makes it even more modern sounding is that it is based on a theory of philosophical psychology and intention which is as modern as tomoorrow.Both works in this volume were left incomplete by Abelard, but the volume contains all we have. The heart of Abelard's theory of intention in 'Ethics' is that sin is based on intention, not on the act, or even on the dispostion to do the act. An inference he makes from this is that the Roman soldiers who crucified Jesus were not acting sinfully by that act. They were acting lawfully. One wonders what Abelard would have thought of the thousands of Nazis who professed that they were 'just following orders' before WW II, in persecuting the Jews and others. But this position is a lynchpin to Abelard's doctrine of atonement, whereby one is changed by the love of God to intend to do his will.In his 'Dialogue', the author, Abelard does not play the Philosopher. Rather, he plays the mediator in the conversation about ethics. It should be no surprise that the Christian comes out of the dialogue with the advantage. Unfortunately for those who are fond of Plato's dialogues, Abelard is far more rigid and less conversational. Most of the speeches are very long, and there is relatively little drama or strong words, as there are in Hume's Dialogues Concerning Natural Religion.This appears to be the least expensive option for purchasing these two works on Amazon. It is far less expensive than those available from the expert on Abelard's ethics, David Luscombe. Therefore, I consider this a very good choice (although I have not read Dr. Luscombe's introduction and translation).If one gets nothing else out of reading Abelard, one should appreciate the sophistication of his psychology and the extent to which he is different from the Roman church to which Martin Luther and the other Reformers objected. Luther and Abelard shared the same 'nominalist' philosophical outlook, so one may be surprised at both their similarities and differences.This is a revelation of how sophisticated was Medieval thinking.

Abelard's ideas concerning the significance of the intention of an act rather than the consequences caused by it are brilliant. I share his vision - I always have - and am amazed to find such an early thinker with such authentic and extreme ethical ideas, which seem to be considered radical even nowadays. Also, nothing but credit for professor Spade's translation. Not being a native English speaker myself, I may have a different view on these matters, but I dare say the translation is clear, consistent and accessible. I highly recommend this book to anyone interested in ethics.

A very nice translation, with useful notes about ambiguities in the original text, of two interesting pieces Abélard. It's too bad they came done to us unfinished. We get from these books a sense of what concerned medieval Christian thinkers: Questions of God's purpose, why evil exists (theodicy), and more.Abélard could state abstract principles engagingly and concisely. He needed a wod processor, though—these works tend to wander and be repetitive.

Pierre Abelard is Christianity incarnate. Merci !

Good translation. Good notes. Available and affordable. Love it beyond loving!!!