The ordering of the cosmos and of man by God toward Himself is an essential item of the Christian faith which is strengthened when man’s faculty of reason recognizes this order through philosophical reflection. This course, which assumes little prior knowledge of philosophy, covers the basic principles of the philosophy of nature and man, including basic principles of metaphysics. Such a philosophy, developed by Aristotle and clarified by St Thomas Aquinas, provides students of theology the rational tools and framework to deepen their understanding of revealed truths.
Some of the lectures refer to the Master of Sacred Arts program for which some of this material was originally created. This material is appropriate to this course too and so the decision was made to keep it intact.
If you are interested in auditing this course please email efroula@pontifex.university
The Philosophy of Nature
.

.
PHILOSOPHY OF NATURE AND MAN SYLLABUS
Texts for the course:
- Dodds, M. The Philosophy of Nature. Available at Lulu.com. Paperback: http://bit.ly/2DvBxuD eBook: http://bit.ly/2CjBV2d
- Dodds, M. Philosophical Anthropology. Available at Lulu.com. Paperback: http://bit.ly/2liVspW
- Searle, John. Minds, Brains, and Science. Harvard University Press. Available on Amazon.com
- Clarke, W. Norris. Person and Being. Marquette University Press. Available on Amazon.com
- Readings assignments for selected texts from Aristotle and St. Thomas Aquinas are available free online at http://classics.mit.edu/Browse/browse-Aristotle.html and http://dhspriory.org/thomas.
- Other reading assignments will be provided in each lesson’s folder as downloadable material.
PHILOSOPHY OF NATURE AND MAN SYLLABUS
Introduction to the course
- Introduction to the philosophical approach
- First principles of accidental change
- Substantial change
- Prime matter
- Substantial form
- Platonic forms
- Ancient philosophical accounts of nature
- Substances: reductionism and emergentism versus hylomorphism
- Elements and the doctrine of “virtual presence” part 1
- Elements and the doctrine of “virtual presence” part 2
- Nature
- Principles of causality
- REVIEW!
- Quantity and motion
- Scientific challenges I
- Scientific challenges II
- Life I
- Life II
- The soul
- Vegetative life
- Vegetative life and cells
- Knowledge
- Sense knowledge I
- Colors and reality
- Internal senses I
- Sense appetite
- The Intellect I
- The intellect II
- The intellect III
- The will I
- The will II
- Review
- Artificial intelligence, mind and brain
- Artificial intelligence, mind, and brain
- The human soul and its immortality
- The origin of the human soul and being
- Biological evolution
- Person and Being I
- Person and Being II
- Person and Being III
- Person and Being IV
- SPECIAL TOPIC I: Natural philosophy and the artist
- SPECIAL TOPIC II: The Creative imagination
- SPECIAL TOPIC III: Health
.
If you are looking to enroll in the Masters degree in Sacred Arts please complete the application and we will contact you shortly.
If you are a professor interested in joining our faculty or an institution interested in partnering please email our Provost: dclayton@pontifex.university
If you would like to Audit this course, then Contact Us here.
Here is the class outline: