PHL 3306 Nature and Knowledge
In this course, seminarians build on the introduction to natural philosophy undertaken in PHL 3305. In addition, they consider the nature of knowledge in light of the human abilities to sense and to understand physical reality. The study of natural philosophy begun in the previous semester is extended in this course by considering the following: changing conceptions of nature and the cosmos; the interplay between natural philosophy and other approaches to nature, especially empirical science; apparent challenges to natural philosophy, especially evolution, materialism, and a technological worldview. These natural philosophical considerations lead into considerations of the human ability to know nature, with regard to both its sensibility and its intelligibility. Seminarians thus become familiar with "epistemological realism" rooted in the thought of Thomas Aquinas, with an emphasis on knowing as an amplified mode of existing. The course concludes with considerations of the activity of teaching and of the relationship between knowledge and faith.
Offered
Spring