Scholasticism. Its principal figures were Duns Scotus, William of Ockham—of eponymous “razor” fame—and Thomas Aquinas. Today most regard Scholasticism as a fussy, over-formalized way of instruction that was fatally removed from practical life issues. The idea of ivory-tower academics wrangling and perspiring over outré philosophical riddles—as the marauding Turks lay siege to Constantinople and Christendom—is memorably summed up in the classic question “How many angels can dance on the head of a pin?”
