Thomas Aquinas

Outpouring of the Holy Spirit

by John P. Joy

Published as "The Outpouring of the Holy Spirit in the Catholic Charismatic Renewal: Theological Interpretation of the Experience," Antiphon: A Journal for Liturgical Renewal 9.2 (2005): 141-65.

What makes the approach of Thomas Aquinas to natural law, Summa Theogiae, I-II, q. 94, the most comprehensive presentation? Outline four main advantages of his approach in moral norms and bio-ethics.

by Matthew Charlesworth SJ

Unpublished. Written for BTh 1st Year T13B – Fundamental Moral Theology II, Hekima College, 2 February 2012. (1235 words)

The work of St Thomas Aquinas has for centuries been the major content in all theological education, and indeed... more The work of St Thomas Aquinas has for centuries been the major content in all theological education, and indeed continues to be recommended reading by the Second Vatican Council. Gula defines nature as “the total complexity of human reality take in all its relationships and with all its potential … providing the potential which would make it possible for each person to come to wholeness in community with others seeking wholeness”. But this holistic understanding was not always the case. Classically nature, or more specifically, human nature, has been understood to have two parts, viz. the biological and the rational. This position is as a result of Aquinas’ major contribution to NL Theory as contained in his Summa Theologiæ (ST, I-II, q. 94) where he combined the two prevailing positions in NL Theory viz. the Aristotelian and Stoic Greek philosophers’ emphasis on biological physicality, and the Roman jurisprudence that championed reason and rationality. This was not just a bringing together of Greek and Roman thought, but as Pope Benedict noted, Aquinas “succeeded in establishing a fruitful confrontation with the Arab and Hebrew thought of his time” Additionally, there was an extant Hebrew understanding of NL that held it to be inextricably intertwined with creation, as John Paul II and Gula observes.

Quarta Via

by Brian Kemple

Draft only

We could, in examining the fourth way, identify a number of difficulties as to how it should be interpreted. We could... more We could, in examining the fourth way, identify a number of difficulties as to how it should be interpreted. We could ask how it is that truth admits of more or less; or nobility (or just what Thomas means by nobility, and whether or not it is distinct from goodness); or being; or how whatever is the “most” or maximum of any genus is supposed to be causal of everything else in that genus; whether it is a case of formal or efficient causality; whether it is an argument from participation; or whether or not the argument is undermined by the erroneous physics to which the Angelic Doctor appeals in his example of fire. Each issue is likely deserving of its own paper. Yet underneath all of these (except, perhaps, the meaning of nobility), there is one primary difficulty: the meanings of the “more or less” and the “maximum” by which they are denominated—for how we are to answer the above questions is dependent upon our understanding of these two key features of the argument.

Malthusian assumptions, Boserupian response in models of the transitions to agriculture

by Carsten Lemmen

In: "Society, Nature and History: The Legacy of Ester Boserup", Springer, Vienna (in press)

In the many transitions from foraging to agropastoralism it is debated whether the primary drivers are innovations in... more In the many transitions from foraging to agropastoralism it is debated whether the primary drivers are innovations in technology or increases of population. The driver discussion traditionally separates Malthusian (technology driven) from Boserupian (population driven) theories. I present a numerical model of the transitions to agriculture and discuss this model in the light of the population versus technology debate and in Boserup's analytical framework in development theory. Although my model is based on ecological –Neomalthusian– principles, the coevolutionary positive feedback relationship between technology and population results in a seemingly Boserupian response: innovation is greatest when population pressure is highest. This outcome is not only visible in the theory-driven reduced model, but is also present in a corresponding “real world” simulator which was tested against archaeological data, demonstrating the relevance and validity of the coevolutionary model. The lesson to be learned is that not all that acts Boserupian needs Boserup at its core.

L'autodifesa In Tommaso D'Aquino

by Mario Ricciardi

She's Touch, Smell, Sight, Taste, and Sound: Evidence for the “Common Sense” of Aristotle in Modern Neuroscience and the Application of that Understanding to Solving the Molyneux Problem

by Thomas Sundaram

No bibliography required for the class, all sources used cited in notes.

Foundational Personhood: On the Scholastic Understanding of Personhood Underlying Spaemann's Anthropology

by Thomas Sundaram

Suárez as a Scotist: the Portrait of the Doctor Eximius in Losada’s Commentary on the Soul”, in M. Sgarbi (ed.), Francisco Suárez and his Legacy. Milano, Vita e Pensiero, 2010, pp. 89-101.

by Anna Tropia

Greed and the Crisis

by Antti Kauppinen

Public lecture given at the Policy Institute, Trinity College Dublin, May 10, 2012.

Is the global economic crisis the result of a moral crisis? Yes, in part. If we distinguish between prudence or... more Is the global economic crisis the result of a moral crisis? Yes, in part. If we distinguish between prudence or healthy pursuit of self-interest and greed or excessive pursuit of material self-interest, untempered by what is due to others, and look at how the crisis came about, we can see that institutional and individual greed has indeed contributed to the problems we're facing. Had institutions and individuals constrained their maximization of profit in accordance with their proper social function and the requirements of fair competition, many ill-advised risks would have remained untaken. In the final section, I make a few proposals as to how to tame the daughters of avarice.

Reevaluating the historical evolution of double effect: Anscombe, Aquinas, and the principle of side-effects

by Eric Rovie

Objects of Intention: A Hylomorphic Critique of the 'New Natural Law Theory'

by Matthew O'Brien

Co-authored with Robert C. Koons, forthcoming in the American Catholic Philosophical Quarterly (Fall 2012) Vol. 86, Issue 4.

The “New Natural Law” Theory (NNL) of Germain Grisez, John Finnis, Joseph Boyle, and their collaborators offers a... more The “New Natural Law” Theory (NNL) of Germain Grisez, John Finnis, Joseph Boyle, and their collaborators offers a distinctive account of intentional action, which underlies a moral theory that aims to justify many aspects of traditional morality and Catholic doctrine.

In fact, we show that the NNL is committed to premises that entail the permissibility of many actions that are irreconcilable with traditional morality and Catholic doctrine, such as elective abortions. These consequences follow principally from two aspects of the NNL. The first aspect is its distinctive version of the planning theory of intention, in which adopting the 'first-person perspective' of an agent is a sufficient, and not merely necessary, condition for determining the nature of his intentional action; this planning theory rests upon an implicitly Cartesian conception of human behavior, in which behavior chosen by an agent has no intrinsic “intentionalness” apart from what he confers upon it as part of his plan. The second aspect is the NNL's distinctive account of basic human goods' incommensurability, according to which there is no common factor shared by basic human goods that allows them to be comparatively ranked in any way that directs practical deliberation.

The entailments of these two aspects of the NNL, we argue, amount to a reductio ad absurdum. Pace the proponents of the NNL account, we sketch an alternative hylomorphic conception of intentional action that avoids untoward moral implications by grounding human agency in the exercise of basic powers that are either (a) essential constituents of human nature or (b) acquired through participation in social practices. This conception of intentional action provides a stronger foundation for natural law theory.

“‘Can We Talk Theologically?’ – A Reply”

by Bruce Paolozzi

Conference proceedings, Thinking The Medieval Legacy For Contemporary Theology: An Encounter Between Medieval Thought And Postmodern Challenges, University of Notre Dame Press, Forthcoming.

" Malum culpae est in actu voluntatis": Il ruolo della volontà nell'azione umana nelle Quaestiones disputatae De malo di Tommaso d'Aquino

by Lorenza Tromboni

From Sense to Choice—A Thomistic Approach to the Contemporary Temptation of Pornography

by Benjamin Winter

The advent of the internet has brought tremendous new possibilities and problems for contemporary society.... more The advent of the internet has brought tremendous new possibilities and problems for contemporary society. Specifically, the church has struggled to confront the accessibility of pornography on the web. Because radical technological development has made this unique temptation possible, preexistent theological frameworks are difficult to utilize when making a case for its immorality. This paper focuses on the philosophy of St. Thomas Aquinas, whose theory of the passions exposes the inner workings of lust. I systematically analyze the various faculties of the soul involved in the choice to click a link to pornography by tracing the origin of temptation from the passive potencies (sense powers) to its culmination in the sensitive appetite. I conclude that when reason alone cannot curb appetitive passions, moral virtue must be imbued in the sensitive appetite through the formation of ethical (virtuous) habits that direct one's soul towards the ultimate good of eternal life.

Concepts in Aristotle and Aquinas: Implications for current theoretical approaches in the psychology of concepts

by Christina Gagne

Spalding, T. L. & Gagné, C. L. (2012, March). Concepts in Aristotle and Aquinas: Implications for current theoretical approaches in the psychology of concepts. Talk presented at the Midwinter Meeting of the Society for Theoretical and Philosophical Psychology (Div. 24 of the American Psychological Association). Austin, TX.

A Response to Marcus Pound's "Theology, Psychoanalysis and Trauma"

by Merrick Anthoney Drake

La "Disputa sull'Annunciazione" di Visgnola e l'iconografia in Italia di Alberto Magno

by Corinna Tania Gallori

published in "Memorie Domenicane", 40, 2009 (2010), pp. 343-371

In the church of Santa Maria Annunciata in Visgnola, Como, there is an early sixteenth century canvas showing the... more In the church of Santa Maria Annunciata in Visgnola, Como, there is an early sixteenth century canvas showing the German Dominican Albert the Great (d. 1280) teaching from a pulpit. In the sixteenth century Albert was highly respected as a wise and holy man, however he was not yet a saint. His depiction on such a canvas is quite unusal in Italy. Moreover, the iconography of Visgnola's painting is not common.
This paper aims to reconstruct the religious context which generated Visgnola's painting, and its ties with the most important Dominican church in the area of Como's lake: San Giovanni Pedemonte.

Anatomy of a Cargo Cult: Virginity, Relic Envy, and Hallowed Boxes

by Ryan Byrne

Resurrecting the Brother of Jesus, eds. Ryan Byrne and Bernadette McNary-Zak (University of North Carolina Press, 2009) pp. 137-186

Tolkien and Thomas: Examining the Relationship between St Thomas Aquinas and J.R.R. Tolkien

by Amber Lee Baker

basic abstract/thesis proposal

Santo Tomás de Aquino y el Motor Inmóvil - Aquinas and the Unmoved Mover

by David Torrijos-Castrillejo

"Revista Española de Filosofía Medieval," 18 (2011) 123-135

Alexander of Aphrodisias understood the Aristotle´s Unmoved Mover as efficient cause only to the extent that it is the... more Alexander of Aphrodisias understood the Aristotle´s Unmoved Mover as efficient cause only to the extent that it is the final cause of heaven, which by moving strives to imitate the divine rest. Aquinas seems to agree with him. However his interpretation is original and philosophically more satisfactory: God is the efficient cause of the world, not only as creator, but also as it´s ruler. In this way God is also the final cause.

Debió de ser Alejandro de Afrodisia quien introdujo la idea de que el motor inmóvil de Aristóteles era causa eficiente sólo en la medida en que fuera la causa final del alma del cielo que, moviéndose, aspiraba a imitar la quietud divina. Santo Tomás de Aquino parece estar de acuerdo. Sin embargo, su solución es original y logra dar una explicación filosóficamente más coherente: Dios es causa eficiente del mundo no sólo como creador, sino también como su gobernante. Por esa misma razón es también causa final.