Aquinas on the Question: 'Whether God Exists?' | Prof. Gregory Doolan

The Thomistic Institute

Christianity, Society & Culture, Catholic Intellectual Tradition, Catholic, Philosophy, Religion & Spirituality, Thomism, Catholicism

4.8 • 729 Ratings

🗓️ 2 August 2024

⏱️ 58 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

Aquinas contends that although we cannot know God's essence, we can meaningfully ask and answer the question of His existence. Professor Doolan employs Aristotelian scientific methodology to reason from observable effects to a first cause, which he identifies as God.

This lecture was given on April 5th, 2024, at New York University.

For more information on upcoming events, visit us at thomisticinstitute.org/upcoming-events

About the Speaker:

Gregory T. Doolan received his B.A. in political theory from Georgetown University in 1993 and his Ph.D. in philosophy from The Catholic University of America in 2003. He taught philosophy at the Dominican House of Studies in Washington, D.C. from 2004–05 and joined the faculty of the School of Philosophy at the Catholic University of America in 2005. Dr. Doolan’s research interest is in the area of Aquinas’s metaphysics; in recent years, his focus has been on Aquinas’s semantic theory and his account of the Aristotelian categories of being. A native of Philadelphia, Dr. Doolan currently lives in Washington, D.C. with his wife and three children.

Transcript

Click on a timestamp to play from that location

0:00.0	Welcome to the Tomistic Institute podcast.
0:06.8	Our mission is to promote the Catholic intellectual tradition in the university, the church, and the wider public square.
0:13.1	The lectures on this podcast are organized by university students at Temistic Institute chapters around the world.
0:19.1	To learn more and to attend these events, visit us at to mystic institute.org.
0:26.1	We're launching a free new Aquinas 101 digital platform.
0:30.8	Dive into the world of St. Thomas Aquinas,
0:33.0	with a customized learning environment, certificates of achievement,
0:37.1	interactive elements,
0:38.1	and a redesigned digital Summa Theologiae featuring a side-by-side Latin to English translation.
0:45.8	To be notified when the platform goes live, sign up at go.comisticinstitute.org
0:52.3	slash new Aquinas 101. That's go.comisticistic institute.org slash new Aquinas 101.
0:55.1	That's go.comistic institute.org slash new Aquinas 101.
1:01.0	Calling all university students, immerse yourself in the ancient and medieval Roman intellectual
1:06.6	tradition while living in the eternal city.
1:10.0	Apply now for our spring 2025 study abroad program.
1:15.0	The deadline is August 15th and space is limited. Don't miss out. Apply today at tomistic institute.org
1:23.6	slash Rome. As the title of my talk indicates, I'm going to be speaking to you today about St. Thomas Aquinas on the question whether God exists.
1:35.7	And avoid keeping you all in suspense, I'm going to cut right to the chase. His answer is yes. But I suspect you already knew that.
1:44.7	If I were to leave the answer there,
1:47.9	not only would this likely be the shortest talk in the history of the Domestic Institute,
1:52.5	but the heart of the question would remain unanswered.
1:56.0	Because to pose a question such as this isn't simply to ask a factual point, such as,
	...

Please login to see the full transcript.

Previous episode | Next episode

Disclaimer: The podcast and artwork embedded on this page are from The Thomistic Institute, and are the property of its owner and not affiliated with or endorsed by Tapesearch.

Generated transcripts are the property of The Thomistic Institute and are distributed freely under the Fair Use doctrine. Transcripts generated by Tapesearch are not guaranteed to be accurate.