FS2466  AQUINAS, "ON BEING AND ESSENCE" (A.Y. 2023/2024)

• Accademic Unit

  Faculty of Philosphy

• Course

  Licentiate in Philosophy , Licenza in Filosofia con specializzazioen in Filosofia pratica, Licenza in Filosofia con specializzazione in Filosofia teoretica, Licenza in Filosofia con specializzazione in Filosofia della religione

Obiettivi: The objective of the seminar will be to give the student an appreciation of the philosophical basis of Aquinas’ metaphysics as well as his argument for God’s existence in Aquinas’ On Being and Essence.

Contenuti: St. Thomas Aquinas is famous for his metaphysical distinction between essence and existence as well as his so-called Five Ways to prove the existence of God as found in his Summa of Theology. But the philosophical basis for the distinction between essence and existence as well as his later formulated five ways as presented in the Summa is found in On Being and Essence a work written by Aquinas specifically for philosophy students and is generally understood as Aquinas’ only completely philosophical work. In this seminar we will go through and examine On Being and Essence as the basis of Aquinas metaphysics and his philosophical theology. We will focus on the concepts of being and essence, how these concepts arise and how the distinction between essence and existence in the beings of our experience can lead us to becoming aware of the existence of God, the sole being whose essence simply is existence.

Metodologia: The seminar will involve the students’ participation in preparing the material for each session, taking turns in presenting the material to the other members of the seminar and then leading discussion. The topics covered in the seminar will be the main topics of On Being and Essence: Being: essence, genus, species, and difference, essence as found in separate substance and in different beings.

Modalità di valutazione: The students will be evaluated on the quality of their participation (preparing the material, presenting the material as seminar leader and leading discussion) and in a six page paper on their own synthesis of the material covered in the seminar.

• Information
• Teachers
• Lesson schedule/Room
• Bibliography
• Calls

Information

• Semestre: 2° Semestre
• ECTS: 4

Teachers

Thomas Paul SHERMAN

Lesson schedule/Room

Semester	Day	From	To	Room	Floor	Building	Notes
2° Semestre	Lunedì	10.30	11.15	L103	1	Lucchesi
2° Semestre	Lunedì	11.30	12.15	L103	1	Lucchesi

Bibliography

• AQUINAS, On Being and Essence, Toronto, Pontifical Institute of Mediaeval Studies, 1983; J. BOBICK, Aquinas on Being and Essence A Translation and Interpretation, Notre Dame, 2007; G. KERR, Aquinas’ Way to God, Oxford, 2015.

  Textbooks in the Library

Calls

Date	Hours	Room	Exam	From Letter	To Letter	Note
Jun 3, 2024	.	.	Homework	A	Z	La data è indicativa, per la consegna dell'elaborato rispettare le scadenze e modalità previste.