Phil 6640: Aquinas

Exam 2 (20%): 2 hours

Below are questions for Exam 2. Only three (3) of these four (4) questions will appear on the exam. You will be required to answer two (2) questions on the exam. NOTE: Your answer must be preceded by a short outline of the answer.

Answers are expected to be lengthy and complete as befits a graduate level class. You will have 75 minutes to write. You should plan on a full 37.5 minutes of writing for each question. It is expected that your answer will have been prepared thoroughly in advance of the exam.

Since you are being provided with the questions in advance, this exam is not meant to be a simple rehearsal of class discussions but rather an exercise requiring further research and critical reflection. Answers will be graded on clarity of expression and insightfulness of philosophical argumentation as well as on factual accuracy.

1. Does Aquinas prove the existence of God in his On Being and Essence? If so, what is that proof? If not, what is he doing in that work?

2. Provide a detailed critical analysis of the Third Way from the famous Five Ways of proving the existence of God by Aquinas. In your response take into account the analysis of Wippel in the assigned readings.

3. How can the distinction of essence and existence in the metaphysics of Thomas Aquinas be known to be a real distinction? Is it necessary to appeal to revelation or theology to prove it or can it be known by natural reason? Evaluate this teaching and explain your view of its philosophical cogency in some detail. Be certain to explain exactly what a “real distinction” is.

4. What is Aquinas’s doctrine of analogy? In your explanation take into account the analysis of Wippel in the assigned readings.