"How many angels can dance on the head of a pin?" (alternatively "How many angels can stand on the point of a pin?") is a phrase that, when used in modern contexts, can be used as a metaphor for wasting time debating topics of no practical value, or on questions whose answers hold no intellectual consequence, while more urgent concerns accumulate.[1]
The phrase was originally used in a theological context by 17th century Protestants to mock medieval scholastics such as Duns Scotus[2] and Thomas Aquinas.[3] Whether medieval scholastics really discussed the topic is, however, a matter of debate. The suggestion is possibly an Early Modern invention, intended to discredit scholastic philosophy.[4]
The phrase has also been associated with the fall of Constantinople, with the assertion that scholars debated the topic while Turks besieged the city.[5][6] In Italian,[7] French,[8] Spanish and Portuguese, the conundrum of useless scholarly debates is linked to a similar question of whether angels are sexless or have a sex.[6] In Polish, instead of angels the question is about devils.
Summa
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was invoked but never defined (see the help page).