In adjudicating between two opposite errors of political (and thus anthropological) philosophy, Jacque Maritain capitalizes on the distinction between our material individuality and our personhood. These are not, as he points out, two separate realities, but two aspects of one reality. By the fact of our materiality, we are individuals: needy, fragile, and insufficient of … Continue reading On Maritain’s Person and the Common Good
Aristotle does not begin his treatise On the Soul by declaring that we are made in the image of God. Rather, he begins with the stunningly obvious observation that among all of the things which exist, we distinguish those which live from those which do not. Each of those things which live (plants, animals, and human beings) … Continue reading This is what we call a Soul
Judges 16:23-31 “Our god has delivered Samson, our enemy, into our hands,” said the Philistines. But Samson prayed and received the Spirit of God. He stretched forth his arms and allowed the Temple of Dagon to crush him, that he might bring down that house, so that the house of Israel might rise. Continue reading Samson and the Cross
If God had not filled the air with birds, with clouds, with life, if he had left the space between earth and highest heaven empty, we might never have raised our hearts or imaginations to them. Because the world in all its manifold hierarchies and stratus’s, in every facet, is peopled or filled distinctively with … Continue reading A World for our Hearts and Minds
Annotated Bibliography This serves as partial fulfillment for PHS 611: Classical Logic and Epistemology, taught by Dr. Philippe Yates, Spring 2018 Continue reading Annotated Bibliography for a Presentation on The Two Tables from an Aristotelian Perspective
In some sense, we all need to escape from subjectivity. We all experience different forms of self enclosure and alienation. Whether we fail to make friends as children (or as adults), whether our interior experience fails to harmonize with reality, or reality fails to harmonize with our interior needs, whether we experience rejection personally or … Continue reading Descartes Failed Escape Plan
Wonder (θαυμάζειν) for both Aristotle and for Plato was the beginning of Philosophy (cf. Theaetetus & Metaphysics). This distinctive mark of authentic philosophy serves to: A. Distinguish philosophy from the arts and sciences The arts and sciences begin from need. How can I feed my family or move this rock? The sciences may move on … Continue reading Wonder as the Beginning
