PHIL 881 Aquinas on Divine Ideas
A consideration of Aquinas's doctrine of the divine ideas, with a focus on their role as causal principles. This course will examine how, for Aquinas, the divine ideas play an integral role in accounting for the existence and order of the created universe. After looking at the historical influences on his doctrine, the course will consider his arguments for the existence of the divine ideas, his defense of their multiplicity, and his view of their role as exemplar causes. Some familiarity both with Latin and with Aquinas's metaphysics is recommended for this course, although neither is required.