Children of Aristotle

The idea of the Dark Middle Ages is a consequence inherent to the myth of the origin of modern science: that is, the myth that scientific research cannot appear as a respectable and productive activity until it frees itself from the claws of dogmatic authoritarian faith. The "theatrical" subject is in the opposition between rationality and religion, where religion plays the role of the oppressive or persecuting censor, and free scientists and thinkers play the role of hero or martyr. Scientific thinking in the West began with the intellectual explosion that followed the rediscovery of Aristotle's writings. But European Christians did not split into a "rational" camp and an "orthodox" camp as I had expected. It became clear to me in a way that shattered all my preconceived modern notions that the leading force for the transitional change in Western thought was religious leadership (the Catholic Church).