THE MIDWEST SEMINAR IN ANCIENT AND MEDIEVAL PHILOSOPHY
 
 

Marquette University Faculty Participants: Owen Goldin (Ancient), Susanne Foster (Ancient, Ethics), John Jones (Medieval Social Thought, Neoplatonism), James South (Late Medieval & Renaissance), Andrew Tallon (NeoThomism, phenomenology), Richard C. Taylor (Medieval Latin & Arabic), Roland Teske, S.J., (Medieval, Augustine, Philosophy of Religion), David Twetten (Medieval, Aquinas) and others from Marquette and other regional universities.


Recent visiting participants in the seminar have included Suzanne Stern-Gillet (Bolton Institute), Alfred Ivry (New York University), Thomas Williams (University of Iowa), Eugene Garver (Saint John's University), Patricia Curd (Purdue University), Cristina D'Ancona (Università di Padova), John Sisko (College of William and Mary), Jeffrey E. Brower (Purdue University), Mary J. Sirridge (Lousiana State University), Richard Tierney (University of Wisconsin at Milwaukee), Kenneth Seeskin (Northwestern University), Ruth Glassner (Hebrew University, Mt. Scopus, Jerusalem), Steven Harvey (Bar Ilan University), Ray Weiss (University of Wisconsin at Milwaukee), Hye-Kyung Kim (University of Wisconsin at Green Bay), Lorraine Pangle (University of Texas at Austin), Josep Puig Montada (Universidad Complutense de Madrid), Roslyn Weiss (Lehigh University), Helen Lang (Villanova University), Andrew Payne, Universityof St. Joseph, Daniel Frank, Purdue University, Andreas Speer, Thomas Institut, Cologne, Carlos Fraenkel, McGill University, Sarah Pessin, University of Denver, and others.


DIRECTIONS AND MAPS:

- For directions to the Marquette Campus, see http://www.marquette.edu/contact/directions/

- For information on the Raynor Library and nearby parking see

http://www.marquette.edu/contact/finder/raynor.shtml.

- For information on the Alumni Memorial Union (AMU) and its location, see

http://www.marquette.edu/contact/finder/union.shtml

- For information on Cudahy Hall and its location, see

http://www.marquette.edu/contact/finder/cudahy.shtml

- For a map of the Marquette University campus, see http://www.marquette.edu/contact/CampusMap.pdf

- For a map of downtown Milwaukee, see

http://www.wisconline.com/counties/milwaukee/map-downtown.html


Send requests for information to:

Richard C. Taylor, Department of Philosophy, Marquette University

Email: mistertea@mac.com or Richard.Taylor@Marquette.edu.

Telephone: (414)-288-5649, Fax: (414)288-3010


SOME VALUABLE LINKS


Aquinas and the Arabs: A Project in Medieval Philosophy:

http://web.mac.com/mistertea/iWeb/Aquinas%20&%20the%20Arabs/Aquinas%20&%20the%20Arabs.html


Marquette University Philosophy Department: http://www.marquette.edu/phil/

 

Marquette University

Milwaukee, Wisconsin

St Joan of Arc Chapel

The Marquette University Midwest Seminar in Ancient and Medieval Philosophy is pleased to host

Prof. Dr. Gerd Van Riel

De Wulf-Manson Centre for Ancient, Medieval and Renaissance Philosophy, Institute of Philosophy

Katholieke Universiteit Leuven, Belgium

presenting

“Augustine’s Wisdom. From Philosophy to Scripture”

3:30-5:30 pm Tuesday 20 October 2015

Raynor Memorial Library, room 330b

Click HERE* for video.









Prof. Dr. Gerd Van Riel is full professor of philosophy and vice dean for research as well as program director of the POC Master of Philosophy (MPhil) & Doctoral Programme at the Institute of Philosophy, KULeuven. He was also recently made three-year Francqui Research Professor at KUL for the academic years 2015-2018.

For information on his research topics and publications, click HERE.


Presentation abstract:

    Augustine’s thought, divine wisdom (sapientia) is narrowly linked to Gods creative design (sometimes referred to as ars Dei), which underlies, among others, Augustine’s famous epistemological doctrine of illumination. The role of divine wisdom is not confined, however, to the act and the knowledge of creation. It has, first and foremost, moral repercussions, and as sapientia is one of the main virtues in ancient philosophy, the moral meaning of wisdom needs to be read against the backdrop of Augustine’s reliance upon his pagan predecessors.

   The aim of this presentation is to unravel the conditions and circumstances of the transformation of pagan sapientia in Augustine’s hands. In his early philosophical works, he molds a definition of wisdom that remains very close to pagan thought. Yet at a certain moment of Augustine’s life (around 392 AD), this analysis is taken up from a different angle: a Christological reading of sapientia. Christ is now seen, with the words of the Apostle Paul, as “God’s power and wisdom” (uirtus et sapientia Dei, 1 Cor 1:24). The earlier pagan analyses are now reconsidered, starting from the basic premise that the human soul is not capable of attaining virtue out of itself. One could call this an “externalization” of virtue, which is now opposed to the moral autonomy and autarky as proclaimed by pagan philosophy. This exteriorization entails that wisdom can only be attained through Christ, who, as God’s eternal wisdom from the beginning of creation, manifests himself as the “right aim of all human striving” (rectus finis omnis intentionis animae). At the same time, however, Augustine uses pagan patterns to argue that Christianity presents a better way of life. It guarantees happiness, based on a better scale of the virtues than the ones produced by the pagans.