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The question I will be examining this evening is this.

Why did medieval philosophers, especially medieval

philosopher saints, study astrology?

Now, I've spoken on this topic before, and I actually have a video on Aquinas

101 on the same topic. And I've always been surprised by the kind of pushback I receive on my

position, which suggests to me that there are a good number of people who have a commitment to

astrology in one way or the other. You might be wondering, what is my position? Well, while I think

that it was legitimate for medieval philosophers to study astrology, I don't think it's legitimate

for us. Now, if that's not your position, please don't get up and walk away. But hear me out.

Let's try to find a way to discuss it in the Q&A.

But just to be up front, I'm going to be arguing that both believing Catholics and scientists who are not Catholic are not warranted in studying astrology today

in the same way that medieval philosophers were warranted to study it in the Middle Ages.

I may be wondering, what's the difference? Why could medieval philosophers do it?

And why would it be illegitimate for us today? Well, part of the reason can be found in the

history of science and philosophy. In antiquity, the discipline that we call science, today was largely the domain of philosophers.

The very first philosophers in Greek-speaking Western Turkey were primarily interested in the study of the natural world,

and were searching for principles, origins or beginnings that could explain change.

...