The Historical Development of the Notion of ‘Scholastic Philosophy’: An Underestimated Historiographical Problem

The present study stems from two observations: the first is that the notion of ‘scholasticism’ in general, the notion of ‘scholastic theology’ and the notion of ‘scholastic philosophy’ have had discrete historical developments; the second that there is a lack of research focusing specifically on the history of the notion of ‘scholastic philosophy’. Aiming to overcome this lacuna, the essay presents a concise history of the development of the notion of ‘scholastic philosophy’. The survey has led to two findings: on the historical level, evidence is provided that the notion of ‘scholastic philosophy’ is a late Renaissance or early modern creation and is imbued with substantial ideological elements; on the historiographical level, attention is drawn to its inadequacy as an effective description of any aspect of medieval or early Renaissance thought.