Knowledge and Immortality from Plato to Aquinas

(3 Credit Hours) · Undergraduate

Can we ever be certain of any of our beliefs? Do we experience the world around us, or do we just experience chemical reactions in our brains? Is there life after death? When people claim to see or experience God, should we take these claims seriously? Ancient and medieval philosophers thought the answers to these questions could be acquired through an adequate understanding of the human soul. This class will explore how Plato, Aristotle, Augustine, Avicenna, Averroes, Albert the Great, and Thomas Aquinas used their theories of soul to address these issues. Attention will be given both to the religious and historical background of various thinkers and to their relevance today.