Phil
43151:
Aquinas on Human Nature
Freddoso
304 Malloy 631-7327
E-mail: afreddos@nd.edu
or afreddos@gmail.com
Home page:
Purpose----Texts----Requirements---- Syllabus----Online
Handouts----Parallel
Texts in St. Thomas-----Next Paper Assignment
Purpose
of Course: A close examination of St. Thomas Aquinas, Summa Theologiae I, qq. 75-102, the
so-called treatise on human nature, in a spanking new
translation. Among the questions to be discussed: the ontological
status of the human soul and its role as the form of a human being; the
cognitive and appetitive powers of the human soul; human origins; the
creation of man and woman and their status as images of God; the
original natural and supernatural condition of the first human beings;
the metaphysics of human procreation; and the interplay between St.
Thomas's account of human nature, contemporary cognitive science, and
contemporary biological accounts of human origins and human
reproduction.
Texts:
- St. Thomas Aquinas, Treatise on Human Nature: The Complete Text (St. Augustine's Press) (ISBN: 978-1587318818) (Note: this translation is required.)
In addition, there are several required and supplementary texts available
on
the online handout section of
the course website.
- For those interested, the Latin text of the Summa Theologiae is
available online at Index
Corporis Thomistici, which is maintained by Prof. Enrique
Alarcon
of the University of Navarre, Spain. An alternate (though inferior) translation of the material from the Summa Theologiae is
available at the New
Advent Website.
Requirements:
- Before the course begins, you are strongly encouraged to read
part 2 of my "Suarez
on
Metaphysical Inquiry, Efficient
Causality, and Divine Action," as well as my classnotes on Aristotle and St.
Thomas's
metaphysics from Phil 30301. This is a refresher
for 30301 and
goes beyond what I do in 30301.
- Class
Participation (25% of course grade). This
consists of two separate things:
(a) You must submit to me by email, before 11:00AM on each class day, a
question/comment based on the readings assigned for that day.
(When we are spending more than one day on a given topic, I will
give more specific instructions about which texts are relevant for a
given class.) I expect the questions/comments to be well thought
out and well articulated. They will serve as the starting point
for my class comments on the day in question. (I pay close
attention to the quality of these questions in determining the
participation component of the grade.) (15% of course grade)
(b) Active and intelligent participation in seminar discussions.
In general, student initiative and signs of self-motivation will
be rewarded in this course. (10% of course grade)
- Papers.
You are required
to write three 6-7 page
papers, worth 75% of the course grade. These will be due on 9/28,
10/31, and 12/7. The topics will be assigned, though you have the
option of writing the last paper on a topic of your own choosing, as long as you clear the topic with me first.
- Final
Exam.
If I determine that it is necessary, there will be a final exam. If
this dreadful possibility is realized, I
will readjust the above percentages accordingly.
Syllabus:
- 8/24 & 8/29: St. Thomas, "On the Principles of Nature" (handout page) (8/24: no question; 8/29: submit question)
- 8/31 & 9/5 & 9/7: ST
1 q. 75: The human soul's essence (8/31: question from aa.
1-2; 9/5: question from aa. 3-4; 9/7: question from aa. 5-7)
- 9/12 & 9/14 & 9/19: ST
1 q. 76: The union of the soul with the body (9/12: question from
aa. 1-2; 9/14: question from aa. 3-4; 9/19: question from aa. 5-8)
- 9/21 & 9/26: ST
1, q. 77: The powers of the soul in general (9/21: question
from aa. 1-4; 9/26: question from aa. 5-8)
- 9/28: ST
1, q. 78: The specific powers of the soul
- 10/3 & 10/5 & 10/10: ST
1, q. 79: The intellective powers of the soul (10/3: question from aa. 1-5;
10/5: question from aa. 6-9; 10/10: question from aa. 10-13)
- 10/12: ST
1, qq. 80-81: The appetitive powers in general and the sentient
appetite in particular
- 10/24: ST
1, qq. 82-83: The will and free choice
- 10/26 & 10/31 & 11/2: ST 1, q. 84: How the
conjoined soul understands lower corporeal things (10/26: question from
aa. 1-4; 10/31: question from aa. 5-6; 11/2: question from aa. 7-8.)
- 11/7 &11/9: ST
1, q. 85: The mode and order of intellective understanding (11/7:
question from aa. 1-4; 11/9: question from aa. 5-8)
- 11/14: ST
1, q. 86: What our intellect has cognition of in material
things
- 11/16: ST
1, q. 87: Our intellect's cognition of itself
- 11/21: ST
1, q. 88: Our intellect's cognition of things that are above it
- 11/28: ST
1, q. 89: A separated soul's cognition
- 11/30: ST 1, qq. 90-92: The
production of the first man, soul and body, and of the first woman
- 12/5 & 12/7:
q. 93: Made to the image and likeness of God (12/5:.
question from aa. 1-5; 12/7 question from aa. 6-9)
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