Religious Thought, Theology and Philosophy of Religion Commons^™

A Short Dialogue: The Son Of Theophrastus’ Question Is Discussed In A Peripatetic Conversation Between Aristotle And Theophrastus And Nichomachus Among The School, Xavier Harrison

Aristos

No abstract provided.

An Aristotelian Model Of Education, Cecilia Hunt

Aristos

This paper explores a model of education that draws primarily on Aristotle’s philosophy and that of Thomas Aquinas. I discuss the way in which Aristotle’s understanding of education has the broad aim of human flourishing. I argue that an Aristotelian approach to education aims to help students to cultivate moral and intellectual virtue and to love learning, thereby helping students to become critical thinkers who know how to think deeply and live well. In this view, since learning is proper to human beings as rational animals, education is intrinsically valuable, not merely instrumentally valuable. For this reason, I suggest that …

How Does Aristotle’S Philosophical Position Enable The Pursuit And Attainment Of Eudaimonia?, Mia Rahi

Aristos

Philosophy is a broad and rich discipline, ranging from formal logic to epistemology and aesthetics. However, in Therapy of Desire, Martha Nussbaum claims that Ancient Western philosophers were largely concerned with the pursuit of human happiness and flourishing; that is, ‘eudaimonia.’ In this paper, Aristotle’s philosophical position regarding the human person will be examined in an attempt to explain how one is able to attain eudaimonia. His treatise on this topic is one that contains many different components but can be drawn back to the central question of ‘what is the telos of the human person?’ and how this …

Are Faith And Reason Reconcilable?, Joel Chan

Aristos

No abstract provided.

Hope Against Despair, Joel Martin

Aristos

There exists in this life, as a result of our fallen condition, a real temptation to the sin of despair. The purpose of this paper is to demonstrate why the theological virtue of hope is utterly essential for the Christian life and beatitude by analysing how it overcomes any and all temptations to despair. In order to achieve this end, this paper first defines what the theological virtue of hope consists of, explaining how it elevates man’s nature so as to desire, efficaciously, his final end: Supernatural beatitude. This paper then defines what exactly despair is, explaining how it results …

Divine Simplicity And Naming God, Michael Martin

Aristos

This essay explores the doctrine of divine simplicity (DDS) within the framework of classical theism, addressing its compatibility with the plurality of divine attributes. This essay outlines classical theistic arguments for God's existence that are essential to understanding DDS, and establishes that denial of either DDS or the proof of God's existence implicitly negates the other. The DDS maintains that God is absolutely simple, devoid of parts, and physical or metaphysical, affirming His utter transcendence. However, this essay highlights certain distinct attributes that can be logically assigned to God, such as goodness, knowledge, and power. Consequently, an objection emerges: if …

Religious Education: Necessary For Perfection, Daniel Skinner

Aristos

No abstract provided.

The Introduction To Being And Time, David Good

Aristos

The clearest summary of Heidegger’s thought in the Introduction to Being and Time is provided by Thomas Sheehan, who says:

Heidegger made the point by pressing his students on what it is they first encounter in their lived experience. Is it things? Objects? Values? No, he insisted, it is:

the meaningful [das Bedeutsame] – that’s what is primary, that’s what is immediately in your face without any detour through a mental grasp of the thing. When you live in the world of first-hand experience, everything comes at you loaded with meaning, all over the place and all the time. Everything …

“The Inner Form Of The Church:” The Mariology And Ecclesiology Of Erich Przywara, Danijel Uremovic

Aristos

In this paper, we will explore the link between the Mariology and ecclesiology of Polish-German theologian Erich Przywara, paying special attention to his designation of Mary as the “inner form of the Church.” Following a brief introduction to his doctrine of analogy, we will examine Przywara’s understanding of Mary’s formal-causal role in shaping the Church. To this end, we will consider three specific sites of his Mary-Church link, namely, Christ’s passion, Mary’s motherhood, and her nuptiality. We will then explore the implications of this three-fold link, and what it means for Przywara’s understanding of the Church. Finally, we will conclude …

Logos Ii Ethical Case Study: Virtue Ethics And The Cheating Partner, Rebecca Saleme

Aristos

No abstract provided.

Logos I Major Essay: In Defence Of Alasdair Macintyre On The Importance Of Catholic University Education, Laurel Hooper

Aristos

No abstract provided.

Lex Orandi, Lex Credendi: Eschatological Teachings In The Prayers Of A Funeral Mass, Carolyn Lewis

Aristos

In light of twenty-first century secularization, and with the liturgical revisions following the Second Vatican Council, some lament that the true eschatological doctrines of the Catholic faith are no longer evident in the Funeral Mass. This would then miscarry the axiom Lex Orandi, Lex Credendi, exposing significant shortcomings within these liturgical revisions. This paper analyses the propers of the Funeral Mass, in order to assess which eschatological teachings are evident in those prayers. Examined first are the Christocentric salvific teachings, considering the hopeful Paschal focus of the Funeral Mass. Representations of the nature of the afterlife are then analysed, …

What Roles Do Reason And Revelation Play In The Knowledge Of The Trinity, According To St Thomas Aquinas?, Matthew Anslow

Aristos

The Holy Trinity is viewed, within the Catholic tradition, as “the central mystery of the Christian faith and life.” Given the importance of the doctrine, this paper explores to what extent, and by what means, humans are capable of knowledge of the Trinity. It summarises Thomas Aquinas’ account of the knowledge of the Trinity, beginning with an outline of Aquinas’ understanding of the place of revelation and reason in the knowledge of God in general. From there, the paper notes Aquinas’ denial of the ability of human reason to discern the Trinity before turning to his primary reason for this …

Religious Education? Tell Me Why! An Essay On The Philosophy Of Education, Lydia Hyland

Aristos

By first considering the nature of religious knowledge, I will discuss whether religious education should be part of every person’s education. In examining the aims of all education and human development in classical and Christian philosophy, we may explore how education in a Catholic context impels us to cultivate a person’s wholistic nature. I will aim to demonstrate how this occurs through fully embracing his spiritual dimension: encouraging, instilling, and modelling a lifelong desire and concurrently fostering a spiritual-intellectual capacity for right relationship with the divine (and, therein, with others and the world around them.) In so doing, educators help …

The Church As Lumen Christi Et Sal Terrae, Harry Mcclifty

Aristos

No abstract provided.

An Exegetical Analysis Of The Johannine Jesus’S Son-Father Relationship In The Fourth Gospel With The Theological Significance And Implications In Contemporary Context, Jing Yih Hsieh

Theses

This exegetical study focuses on the distinctive characteristics of the Johannine Jesus’s unique cognitive perception, his claims of equality with God in the language of oneness in the Son-Father relationship in the Fourth Gospel, and with theological significance and implications in contemporary context.

Contrasting Two Ideas Of The Human Person, Social Constructionism And Realism, By Their Similarities In Idolatry And Iconography, Mary Daher

Aristos

This essay will seek to contrast two ideas of human person, social constructionism and realism, through assessing similarities found in their aesthetic notions of idolatry and iconography, respectively.

The essay will explore Michel Foucault’s social constructionism and Aristotle’s realism; in particular, how their ontological conclusion stems from their epistemological framework. The essay will consider what is meant by iconography and idolatry, relying on Jean-Luc Marion’s God Without Being[1] to show how idolatry mirrors social constructionism and how iconography mirrors realism, evincing the contrast between them.

In Defence Of Moral Realism: Examining Harry J. Gensler’S Critique Of Cultural Relativism And Subjectivism, Anja Yousif

Aristos

This paper will explore the nature of morality by providing a critique of cultural relativism and subjectivism and then arguing that moral realism provides a more coherent account of the nature of morality.

The claim that moral realism provides a more coherent account of the nature of morality than cultural relativism or subjectivism is based on the arguments from moral progress, moral disagreement and moral semantics; and moral experience.

The Taste And Perfume Of The Virgin: Mary And The Nuptial Meaning Of Eucharistic Sacramentality, Noel Custodio

Aristos

If we are to understand the Eucharist as the Body of Christ, it is necessary to explore how Mary’s own body participates in the Eucharistic mystery. Such a discussion was prominent during the Middle Ages, but today there is very little attention given to the relationship between Mary and the the Eucharist.

This paper will explore this subject through the lens of a theology of the sacramental principle. By examining recent papal documents as well as John Paul II’s Theology of the Body, this paper will argue that Mary is the perfect fulfilment of the sacramental principle. The sacramental principle …

Why Is Love Considered The Greatest Of The Theological Virtues?, Harry Mcclifty

Aristos

This paper will, after providing a succinct yet necessary definition of Christian caritas, offer three reasons for why love is considered to be the greatest of the theological virtues. First, upon attainment of eternal beatitude in heaven, caritas is not abandoned like faith and hope, but finds it fulfillment. Secondly, caritas is the only theological virtue which is chiefly concerned with the salvation of one’s neighbour. And thirdly, caritas enables man to live out the commandments of God in their fullness, thereby beginning the process of his divinization.

Kuhn The Contextualist?, Iñaki Xavier Larrauri Pertierra

Aristos

According to Kuhn’s account of the nature of scientific paradigms, how one experiences the world varies drastically from one context to another depending on the accepted paradigm of the context in question. In other words, one’s pre-existing conceptual structure concerning the world not only acts as an epistemological framework for its possible understanding, but also fundamentally affects the phenomenological observations of the world as something; this latter function of the conceptual structure motivates the view that mature scientific paradigms/theories and the data of scientific observation/experimentation are essentially two sides of the same coin.

What is interesting, then, is that even …

Divine Impassibility: A Comparison Of Weinandy's And Culpepper's Perspectives On Whether God Suffers, Elizabeth Flynn

Aristos

From being generally regarded as a philosophical and theological impossibility, since the late nineteenth century the idea that God suffers has become popular and attractive among a vast array of Christian theologians. Due to this shift, many theologians no longer see the need to argue for it and divine passibility has even been called the ‘new orthodoxy.’ The matter has not yet been laid to rest and is made more complex because the terms ‘suffering’ and ‘impassibility’ are used with a variety of connotations.

At the heart of the debate is the desire to assert God’s personalised love for all …

An Examination Of The Significance Of The Trinitarian Theology Of St. Augustine, Zolt Salontai

Aristos

Despite the noble efforts of modern Christian theologians in attempting to revive popular level interest in the classical Christian doctrine of the Trinity, there has been within the everyday praxis of the individual Christian a discernible neglect and ignorance of this cardinal doctrine. However, with the 20^th century advent of Freudian and Jungian psychology, a new opportunity has arisen for a Trinitarian revival in the popular consciousness of the faithful.

Due to an increasing level of interest in the notion of understanding the conscious and unconscious cognitive processes that govern the human psyche, there arose an indubitable opportunity for …

Two Prosōpa, One Prosōpon; The Christology Of Nestorius Of Constantinople, Danijel Uremovic

Aristos

This paper will outline the controversy of Nestorius versus Cyril concerning the enumeration of persons in the Incarnate Christ. Key terms of the debate will be identified with the aim of establishing their meaning according to Nestorius. It will then be argued that Nestorius of the Bazaar remained committed to the basic tenets of orthodox Christianity as his commitment to true and complete natures (fully God, fully man), a single unified subject (a single Person in Christ), and a mutual use of attributes formed the basis of his Christology, even if their theological reconciliation came short of a complete and …

Applying Deontology To Determine What Ought To Be Done, Thalia Raymond

Aristos

This paper will broadly outline the theory of deontology with a specific focus on how the categorical imperative can be applied in moral decision making.

The theory will then be applied to an issue to determine what course of action is consistent with the theory.

Two strengths and two weaknesses that can be found in the literature will be considered and how the theory of deontology can be applied in a future teaching career to make ethical decisions will be discussed.

Logos I - Philosophy And The Nature Of Morality: The Abolition Of Man, C.S. Lewis, Lucie Steiner

Aristos

C.S. Lewis’ objective stance on ethics is argued to be superior to the moral sentimentalism of David Hume, because if there is not agreement on what constitutes moral action, then there is no basis for argument over the existence of moral law.

Aquinas’ De Malo And The Ostensibly Problematic Status Of Natural Evil As Privation, Iñaki Xavier Larrauri Pertierra

Aristos

Arguments concerning the nature of natural evil vary in their conclusions depending on the particular approach with which they commence inquiry; one of the most contested conclusions regards evil as privation, sourcing its justification primarily from Aquinas’ metaphysical conception of good as being and evil as non-being. It should be of no surprise, then, that the dismissal of natural evil’s privative nature comes about when the understanding of natural evil favours a phenomenological approach rather than a metaphysical one. Proponents of said dismissal generally centre their claims around the notion of pain and suffering as substantially contentful – as in, …

Pentateuch Exegesis: Pericope: Leviticus 8, Rebekah Walsh

Aristos

This exegesis will argue that the selection and consecration of the Levites followed a process of divine and human preparation. The transformation that occurs through the carrying out of the rite of ordination and through the new office, as priests for the Lord, is a notable example of God’s mercy and faithfulness to his people, to whom he offers a means of atonement for sin and the possibility of holiness for the people.

Logos Ii - Virtue Ethics And Political Corruption: An Ethical Case Study, Nicholas Potter

Aristos

This ethical case study will apply virtue ethics in moral decision making. It is argued that exposing corruption defends virtue and protects the good life by demonstrating a commitment to honesty and truth. Virtuous behaviour allows us to live socially and undermines the attempts of dishonest individuals to secure a comfortable life immorally.

On The Knowledge Of God And The Metaphysics Of Aquinas, Tom Green

Aristos

Thomas Aquinas argues in his seminal work, the Summa Theologiae, that one can come to know the existence of God through rational argumentation alone. As a theologian writing a work of theology, he makes his demonstrations concerning God’s existence from the point of view of his Christian faith. And in this, it will be argued, Aquinas is not necessarily mistaken. For his project is to present a grand scheme of reality and man’s place within it. Philosophers have often tried the same, and, like Aquinas, their attempts have been made from a certain point of view. That, it will …