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. Jason Rheins

Department of Philosophy

Loyola University of Chicago

presenting

“Plato on the Necessity of Panpsychism for

Intelligent Design Arguments”

3:00-5:00 pm Friday, 4 December 2015

Marquette Hall 105

Click HERE* for video.






In this paper I will argue that Plato regarded a cosmological theory of panpsychism and psychic causation as necessary for any workable theory of intelligent design or any successful theological argument from design.  

 

It is well-known that Plato demands teleological explanations in cosmology and that he assigns a key role to divine intellect (nous) in accounting for the excellent design of plants and animals and the orderly motion of the heavenly bodies. He is also the author of the earliest known proofs for the existence of god(s). We should expect, then, that Plato would endorse arguments from design, especially given the fact that we find specimens of what are essentially design arguments in his (near) contemporaries. But we would only be half right: Plato does think that the cosmos offers ample evidence of divine intelligence to those who study the heavens carefully, however he does not think that design arguments or observations of the apparently rational design of the world are self-sufficient. Rather, he believes that a theory of psychic motion operative at a cosmic level is necessary to understand how intellect can rule the world and to resist the collapse into non-teleological, strictly physical cosmologies that ultimately undercut belief in the gods. In other words, Plato knows that his philosophical predecessors often recognized nous as being, in some sense, responsible for cosmic order; however, he regards panpsychism – the doctrine of the World-soul – to be the key innovation that allows him to succeed where they failed. If the Phaedo quips that "Anaxagoras made no use of his mind (nous)", then the Laws might joke that the man had no soul. I will defend and explain these interpretive claims primarily through reference to Plato's Philebus and Laws.



For further information the work of Prof. Rheins, see http://www.luc.edu/philosophy/jasonrheinsphd.shtml.