"Good Teacher, What Must I Do to Inherit Eternal Life?" - Medieval Theories of Beatitude (AP9122C)

Postgraduate, 24.0 points

Content

In his Will there be Free Will in Heaven? (Continuum, 2003) Simon Gaine makes a groundbreaking philosophical analysis of eschatological issues as treated by medieval philosophers, which he uses to address contemporary concerns. This unit will use Gaine’s texts to interrogate medieval thinkers' theories of the beatific vision. In particular it will examine the theories of Thomas Aquinas and John Duns Scotus, which are diametrically opposed on major points. The unit will consider each thinkers’ view of the kind of freedom that is possible in heaven, where we will be without sin and without even the ability to sin. In order to provide a complete picture of the theories of human nature in relation to the beatific vision, the unit will also explore other aspects of each thinker’s theory of beatitude: whether we could attain beatitude by our natural resources alone without grace, whether all people of necessity have a desire for beatitude, and whether people could rightly seek annihilation to escape damnation.

Unit code: AP9122C

Unit status: Archived (New unit)

Points: 24.0

Unit level: Postgraduate Elective

Unit discipline: Philosophy

Delivery Mode: Face to Face

Proposing College: Catholic Theological College

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Learning outcomes

1.

Demonstrate an ability to read the selected primary texts carefully in relation to their purpose and context, and subject their implications to rigorous assessment
2.

Explain how arguments and positions for a given topic are subtly modified by the different medieval literary genres in which the arguments appear (e.g. quaestiones, summae, sentences, commentaries
3.

Critically expound and evaluate the salient theories, terminology and arguments of the philosophers studied in the course
4.

Analyse and critically interpret the topics studied within the wider framework of the Christian philosophical tradition, especially the philosophical outlooks of the great medieval religious orders
5.

Formulate hypotheses concerning the difficulties and trade-offs faced by the medieval accounts of the beatific vision and critically evaluate how they can be generalised to any account of the beatific vision
6.

Develop a research topic in a critical, rigorous, sustained and self-directed manner, in accord with the methodologies and conventions of advanced research in medieval philosophy

Pedagogy

Seminars

Indicative Bibliography

  • Bos, Egbert P., ed. John Duns Scotus: Renewal of Philosophy: Acts of the Third Symposium Organized by the Dutch Society for Medieval Philosophy Medium Aevum, May 23 and 24, 1996. Elemeta. Schriften zur Philosophie und ihrer Problemgeschichte; band 72. Amsterdam: Rudolphi, 1998.
  • Celano, Anthony J. “The Concept of Worldly Beatitude in the Writings of Thomas Aquinas.” Journal of the History of Ideas 25. (1987): 215-26.
  • Gaine, Simon Francis. Will there Be Free Will in Heaven? Freedom, Impeccability, and Beatitude London and New York: T. & T. Clark, 2003.
  • Hoye, William J. Actualitas omnium actuum: Man's Beatific Vision of God as Apprehended by Thomas Aquinas. Monographien zur philosophischen Forschung, 116. Hain: Meisenheim am Glan, 1975.
  • McCord Adams, Marilyn. “Duns Scotus on the Will as Rational Potency”. Via Scoti: Methodologica ad mentem Joannis Duns Scoti, (ed. by Leonardo Sileo). Rome: PAA-Edizioni Antonianum, (1995): 839-854.
  • Peter, Carl J. Participated Eternity in the Vision of God: A Study of the Opinion of Thomas Aquinas and his Commentators on the Duration of the Acts of Glory. Rome: Gregorian University Press, 1964.
  • Prentice, Robert P. “The Degree and Mode of Liberty in the Beatitude of the Blessed”. Deus et homo ad mentem I. Duns Scoti. Studia Scholastico-Scotistica 5. Rome: Societas Internationalis Scotistica, (1972): 327-42.
  • −−−. “The Voluntarism of Duns Scotus, as Seen in his Comparison of the Intellect and the Will.”Franciscan Studies 28. (1968): 63-103.
  • Ryan, John K., and Bernardine M. Bonansea., eds. John Duns Scotus, 1265-1965. Studies in Philosophy and the History of Philosophy. Washington: Catholic University of America Press, 1965.
  • Wolter, Allan B. The Philosophical Theology of John Duns Scotus. Ithaca: Cornell University Press, 1990.

Assessment

Type Description Word count Weight (%)
Essay

Option 1: 1 X 6000 word essay 100% Week 16

Or

Option 2: 1 X 2000 word essay 40% Week 6 Option 2: 1 X 4,000 word essay 60% Week 16

 0 100.0
Approvals

Unit approved for the University of Divinity by John Capper on 1 Nov, 2014

Unit record last updated: 2019-09-02 16:27:43 +1000