PHIL 835 Aquinas on Evil
A close reading of Aquinas's Disputed questions on evil. This disputation of Aquinas's late career addresses ontological, ethical, theological, and psychological dimensions of the problem of evil. The focus is on philosophical issues and on philosophical aspects of theological issues. Is evil something? What causes it? (Q.1) What specifies an act as, for example, theft, and therefore as a sin? (Q.2) Can one do evil in full knowledge of the good? (Q.3) What is the psychological basis for free choice, and is free choice compatible with determinism? (Q.6) How are sins connected with other sins (Q.7-15, on the capital vices) How could the angels, who had perfect knowledge and no inclination to evil, sin, and what makes their decision irreversible? (Q.16).