My colloquium given 27 April 2018 at the University of St. Thomas has been uploaded as an audio file in a variety of formats, available here. Or you can just listen to the soundcloud version:
Tag: Thomas Aquinas
What makes a person, a person? Of late, as it was in its inception, the term's legal significance has been brought into question. As it stands in U.S. law, all reality is classified into either that of a person or that of a thing; the former cannot be stripped of its rights' protections without due … Continue reading Natural Personhood
In an extended (and sometimes heated) discussion with colleagues at the Center for the Study of Digital Life, it was determined that one of the key things needed to advance in our work is a clear understanding of causality. I have, consequently, been at work in attempting to provide a stripped-down, simplified explanation of what … Continue reading Causality: a Rough Draft
From the introduction to my medieval philosophy class: There are two methods to study a chronological period of philosophy: one is primarily historical, and engages the thought of the time insofar as it is effected by political or social changes, such as the fall of the Roman Empire (beginning around 376ad with the Gothic invasions) … Continue reading What Makes Philosophy Medieval?
The following is from the introduction I give in my metaphysics course, last taught at the University of St. Thomas (TX) in Spring of 2016. It explains the germ of my Thomism as well as my rejection of modernism... in terms of metaphysics, at least. -- There are few topics which seem more unsuited to … Continue reading Why Study Metaphysics?
Last week, I received an email out of the blue from a complete stranger, asking me questions about God. It was sent with an earnest curiosity, and so I took the time to answer. Below is an edited version of the conversation, given some literary license and with his identity changed. -- Dear Professor … Continue reading God and God’s Ways
In yesterday morning's reads, I came across this piece by Charlie Huenemann, "Why philosophers should hang out at the humanists' parties" at Aeon Magazine, but delayed it until today. It is quite bad, altogether misconstrues the nature of philosophical reasoning, and demonstrates that having a PhD in philosophy does not mean you know what "philosophy" … Continue reading A Short: What is Philosophy?
I often wonder, when reading, how much work the author put into writing the work. I know that, in my own book-and-article-writing endeavors, what ends up on the page amounts to less than 1/10th of what I do elsewhere in the process (including all of the editing and revising, which is never less than 2/3rds … Continue reading On the Art of Annotation, etc.
In addition to my own work in Thomism, semiotics, and phenomenology, over the summer I became a Fellow with the Center for the Study of Digital Life (CSDL), where I have been helping in an on-going discussion with many others on the topic of perception. This discussion, carried on via Slack, has covered a wide range … Continue reading Perception
Below are the first five or so pages of my recently published dissertation, Ens Primum Cognitum in Thomas Aquinas and the Tradition (Brill: Boston, 2017). This passage explains, in brief, what the book is about and why I wrote it. I hope it does not sound too presumptuous to say that my intent, and my interpretation … Continue reading An excerpt from Ens Primum Cognitum
Semiotic Thomist 