COLLOQUIUM ON THE ANCIENTS

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The dialectic operative in modern and contemporary cultures and in the academy can only be adequately addressed through the careful study of the ancient philosophers and theologians. The importance of both contemplative ( theoria) and practical (phronesis) wisdom was foundational for ancient thinkers. Consequently, they insisted that the study of metaphysics and ethics should guide the speculative and practical sciences in their efforts to assist man’s living the good life. However, th e great Greek and Lat in philosophers could not adequately explain why so few live by what is highest in them, namely, their reason. They subsequently tended to ascribe this failure to something in human nature. By contrast, the Greek and Latin fathers recognized how faith in God ’s creation, the fall, and man’s redemption by the Incarnate Word of God enlightened reason. The fathers understood that sin and disordered desire were not part of created human nature but a result of a sinful rejection of friendship with God, a proud desi re to be like God. Readings will be chosen to explore how naturally acquired and supernaturally infused wisdom come together in the developments of the Biblical Word of God, the doctrinal concerns of the fathers that the Word of God is true, and the speculative interests of the medieval schoolmen in showing how the true Word of God both enlightens human reason and is intelligible in the divinely revealed teachings of the Catholic faith. (Variable credit; may repeat for credit) THEO 692 COLLOQUIUM ON THE MODERNS Following upon THEO 591/691, this course studies the momentous shift from wisdom to power that Machiavelli initiated and the fateful consequences this has had on all modern cultures. In the modern classics treated in this course one encounters ever more fateful rejections of the pre -modern philosophical and theological traditions’ shared understanding of reason as what is highest and most divine in man. The modern authors studied here characteristically view reason as a tool that allows man to impose his wi ll upon things. As such, the wisdom, both human and divine, of the ancients is routinely dismissed as empty utopianism. Gone is the attunement of the human mind to the whole in metaphysics; gone is the retention of high intellectual and moral standards of excellence despite the frequent occurrence of human failings; gone is the acknowledgement of the integrity and intelligibility of the divinely created whole; gone is respect for the teleological orde ring of nature. In their place, the emancipated human wil l is increasingly seen as the measure of all things. At the same time, there are genuine achievements that also occur in the modern period. For example, the achievements of modern science flatly contradict the nihilism and relativism embraced by Nietzsche and Heidegger. Thus , this course ends by examining contemporary Catholic thinkers who seek to rekindle our awareness of reason as what is highest and most divine in us: Pope John Paul II reasserting the importance of reason, metaphysics, and the light of f aith; Pope Benedict XVI rescuing eros thanks to charity and calling attention to the Hellenic patrimony intrinsic to Christian and Catholic traditions. At the dawn of the third millennium of Catholicism it is imperative that theologians set out to integrate science and scholarship with wisdom and holiness. (Variable credit; may repeat for credit) THEO 695 SPECIAL TOPICS With the approval of the program director, courses may be offered on special topics.