CLOSED St. Thomas on the Human Person

High School Level | This course is completed

High School Level

Thursday, September 8, 2016-Thursday, December 15, 2016

4:00 PM-5:00 PM EDT on Th

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$215.00

CLOSED
Total classes: 12
Class dates: Thursdays, September 8 to December 15, 2016. No class October 13 or November 24 for Thanksgiving.
Starting time: 4:00 PM Eastern (3:00 Central; 2:00 Mountain; 1:00 Pacific)
Duration: 55 minutes
Prerequisite: none
Suggested grade level: 11th to 12th grade.
Suggested credit: 1 full semester Philosophy
Instructor: Jean Rioux, Ph.D.
Course description: St. Thomas' account of the human person expounds upon what philosophers and theologians from ancient times to his day have said about ourselves and our unique place in God's universe. While Thomas discusses and references his views on human nature in nearly all his works, his ex professo treatment of the question can be found in questions 75 through 89 of the first part of his Summa Theologiae. While the context of this treatise is theological, Thomas' consideration includes an extended and integrated philosophical account of what we are, what we can expect of life, and why. Addressing issues as wide-ranging as whether and to what degree we can really know the world about us, upon what basis we can stake our claim to free action, and whether we can certainly know, as Socrates is to have said, that "our souls will truly exist in another world!", Thomas brings his brilliance to bear upon a discussion and resolution of life's most important questions.

  • Homework: Homework for each session will consist, first, of a close reading of the assigned materials, using online class preparation software designed by Dr. Rioux. Written assignments will consist of students' careful, short-essay responses to two or three prompts covering the last class' material, graded by Dr. Rioux. Students should expect to spend 3 to 4 hours outside of class time on the reading and assignments each week.
  • Course materials: Thomas Aquinas, Summa Theologiae, Prima Pars, questions 75-89 (selections) | materials will be provided by the instructor as a freely-downloadable PDF file.
Rioux, Jean

Dr. Rioux teaches philosophy. Dr. Rioux is an award-winning professor and chair of the philosophy department at Benedictine College, where he has taught for almost 30 years. A graduate of Thomas Aquinas College, he earned his M.A. and Ph.D. in philosophy from the Center for Thomistic Studies in Houston. Specializing in the thought of Aristotle and Thomas Aquinas, he has published textbooks in logic and natural philosophy, and articles in the philosophy of mathematics; a book on Thomas Aquinas' philosophy of mathematics is in the works. He and Benedictine's chair of theology regularly offer great books classes in philosophy and theology. Dr. Rioux and his wife, Maria, raise their children in a farmhouse in rural Kansas. They have been designing their own curricula and educating their children at home for over 25 years.