Courses

COURSES (2024/2025)

Mariusz Tabaczek, O.P.

STB level

TE 3472 – Theology of Creation – STB – 3 ECTS

The course will address and discuss the most important aspects of scriptural exegesis and the dogmatic definition of creation and its crucial aspects such as: creatio ex nihilo, beginning of time and space, Trinity in creation, God-world relationship, divine action, creation and evolution, angels, anthropogenesis, theological anthropology (human condition before and after the original sin), theology of work, and ecology. Based on classical Aristotelian-Thomistic philosophy and theology and the teaching of the Magisterium of the Church, enriched with necessary references to contemporary science, the course is thought to help students develop a critical theological reflection and understanding of creation.

BIBLIOGRAPHY:

Haffner, Paul. Mystery of Creation. Leominster: Gracewing, 2010.

Hayes, Zachary. The Gift of Being: A Theology of Creation. Collegeville, Minn: Michael Glazier, 2001.

Morales, J. Creation Theology. Four Courts Press, Dublin, 2001. [El Misterio de la Creación. Ediciones Universidad de Navarra, Pamplona, 1994.]

Sagüés, Jose F. On God the Creator and Sanctifier. On Sins. Translated by Kenneth Baker. Saddle River, NJ: Keep the Faith, 2014. 5.

Schmaus, Michael. Dogma: God and Creation. London: Sheed and Ward, 1969

STL Level

tS 3355 – Creation and Contemporary Science – STL – 4 ECTS

The seminar will address some key questions concerning plausibility of the classical Aristotelian-Thomistic philosophical theology of creation in its encounter with natural sciences. It will refer to a broad range of topics, including: creatio ex nihilo and contemporary cosmology / divine action and modern and contemporary scientific notions of causation / God-world relationship in the context of scientifically-informed theology (process theology and panentheism) / creation and evolution / theological and biological anthropogenesis / technology and biotechnology / human enhancement and transhumanism / ecology. The background in natural science is welcomed but not required.

BIBLIOGRAPHY:

Barr, Stephen M. Modern Physics and Ancient Faith. University of Notre Dame Press, Notre Dame, Ind, 2003.

Dodds Michael J. Unlocking Divine Action: Contemporary Science and Thomas Aquinas. Catholic University of America Press, Washington D.C., 2012.

Peters, Ted, and Martin Hewlett, Evolution from Creation to New Creation: Conflict, Conversation, and Convergence. Nashville: Abingdon Press, 2003.

Southgate, Christopher (ed.). God, Humanity and the Cosmos – 3rd Edition: A Textbook in Science and Religion. T & T Clark, London and New York, 2011.

Thompson, Christopher J. The Joyful Mystery: Field Notes Toward a Green Thomism. Steubenville, Ohio: Emmaus Road Publishing, 2017.

tP 3354 – Creation and Evolution – STL – 4 ECTS

The course will address and discuss philosophical and theological repercussions of the theory of biological evolution, with a special emphasis on issues related to the classical Aristotelian-Thomistic tradition of metaphysics, ontology, and creation theology. The main themes will include: the possibility of the acceptance of the notion of species transformism on the side of the classical metaphysics and creation theology, the question of whether God creates through evolution, the relation among evolutionary biological and theological anthropogenesis, the question of relevance and plausibility of creationist and intelligent design (ID) movements, the history of the reception of the theory of evolution in the Catholic Church, the contemporary and future theological aspects of the evolution of the human species.

BIBLIOGRAPHY:

Austraico, Nicanor Pier Giorgio, James Brent, Thomas Davenport, and John Baptist. Thomistic Evolution: A Catholic Approach to Understanding Evolution in the Light of Faith. Tacoma, WA: Cluny Media, 2016.

Caruana Louis, ed. Darwin and Catholicism: The Past and Present Dynamics of a Cultural Encounter. T&T Clark, London and New York, 2009.

Fowler, Thomas B., and Daniel Kuebler. The Evolution Controversy: A Survey of Competing Theories. Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Academic, 2007.

Peters Ted and Martin Hewlett. Evolution from Creation to New Creation: Conflict, Conversation, and Convergence. Abingdon Press, Nashville, 2003.

Tabaczek, Mariusz. Theistic Evolution: A Contemporary Aristotelian-Thomistic Perspective. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2023.

Doctoral Level

SD 2543 – Seminar for Doctoral Students – 4 ECTS
The seminar provides the foundational principles and “tools” needed by the students so that they can undertake their doctoral projects and prepare themselves for their future doctoral defense.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

K L. Turabian. A manual for writers of terms papers, theses and dissertations (2007);

A. Fischer. Critical Thinking: An Introduction (2001), W. STRUNK, Jr.: The Elements of Style (2006);

P. Hafner: A Methodology for Term Papers and Theses (2000).

Thomas Davenport, O.P.

STB level

FE1019 – Epistomology I – STB – 3 ECTS

After some brief historical framing of the question of knowledge. This course will provide a thorough grounding and exposition of a Thomistic theory of knowledge, rooted in Thomistic metaphysics and anthropology. This will seek to answer, from a Thomistic perspective: What is knowledge? What does it mean for knowledge to be true? and What true knowledge can be certainly known?

BIBLIOGRAPHY:

Aquinas, Summa Theologiae. Benzinger Bros., 1920.

Aristotle, The Basic Works of Aristotle. Edited by Richard McKeon, Random House, 2002.

Regis, Epistemology. MacMillan, 1959.

FE 1006 – Philosophy of Nature I – STB – 3 ECTS

This course aims to answer fundamental questions about physical nature. What are the common principles and causes underlying all natural things? It emphasizes the perennial notions of natural philosophy in the Aristotelian-Thomistic tradition, while engaging with issues and concerns from contemporary science. It will analyze the phenomenon of change in mobile beings using concepts of act and potency. Next it studies the notions of substance and accidents. Lastly, we examine the notions of form and matter more generally and the hylomorphic synthesis.

BIBLIOGRAPHY:

Aristotle, Categories, Physics.

J. Bobik, Aquinas on Matter and Form and the Elements. Notre Dame Press, 1998.

W. A. Wallace, The Modelling of Nature. Catholic University of America Press, 1996.

D. McInerny, The Philosophy of Nature. The Alquin Press, 2001.

M. Dodds, The Philosophy of Nature. Western Dominican Province, 2010.

FE 2158 – Sciences and Philosophy – STB – 5 ECTS

TThis course aims to answer various fundamental questions about contemporary science and philosophy. What is science? How is it related to philosophy and, specifically, the philosophy of nature? We will explain the compatibility and mutual enrichment that should exist between the practice and claims of science and philosophy. Beginning with a historical overview of the development of modern science. We will then consider the philosophical questions raised by the success of science, as well as some of its historical dead ends. Finally, we will investigate the ways science seems to challenge certain aspects of the Aristotelian-Thomistic philosophy of nature, and even raise issues for Christian faith more broadly, presenting arguments for broader compatibility.

BIBLIOGRAPHY:

J. Ladyman, Understanding the Philosophy of Science. Routledge Press, 2002.

L. Principe, The Scientific Revolution: A Very Short Introduction. Oxford University Press, 2011.

W. A. Wallace, The Modelling of Nature. Catholic University of America Press, 1996.

R. Numbers, Galileo Goes to Jail and Other Myths About Science and Religion. Harvard University Press, 2010.

FE 2012 – Philosophy of Nature II – STB – 3 ECTS

TThis course continues the investigation of Aristotelian-Thomistic notions of natural philosophy and their relationship with experimental sciences. We will study the four causes, with a particular focus on efficient and final causality. Then we will look at the Thomistic account of motion and its related aspects of action and passion. We will then turn to issues surrounding time, space, infinity, and the continuity and divisibility of physical bodies. We will conclude with a discussion of whether and how philosophy of nature, in a contemporary context, can discover non-material non-physical realities.

BIBLIOGRAPHY:

Aristotle, Categories, Physics.

G. Frost. Aquinas on Efficient Causality and Causal Powers. Cambridge University Press, 2022.

W. A. Wallace, The Modelling of Nature. Catholic University of America Press, 1996.

D. McInerney, The Philosophy of Nature. The Alquin Press, 2001.

M. Dodds, The Philosophy of Nature. Western Dominican Province, 2010.

FE 2028 –Epistemology II – STB – 3 ECTS

This course complements the Epistemology I course by continuing the discussion of This course begins with a brief historical survey of the philosophy of knowledge. Then, building on the Thomistic grounding presented in Epistemology I, it seeks to engage with contemporary questions and debates in Epistemology. This includes questions around certainty and demonstration in contemporary science and philosophy, Thomistic responses to skepticism, and where a Thomistic epistemology fits in the taxonomy of contemporary Epistemology

BIBLIOGRAPHY:

N. Lemos, An Introduction to the Theory of Knowledge. Cambridge University Press, 2007.

J. Greco, Putting Skeptics in Their Place: The Nature of Skeptical Arguments and Their Role in Philosophical Inquiry. Cambridge University Press, 2000.

E. Stump, Aquinas. Routledge Press, 2003.

W. A. Wallace, The Modelling of Nature. Catholic University of America Press, 1996.