LIVESTREAM

The Thomistic Institute presents a livestreamed lecture by Fr. Brian Chrzastek, O.P. of the Dominican House of Studies titled “Human Sensation in Galileo and Aquinas: Is Cognition Strictly Material?”

Wednesday, Oct. 13

7:00 pm ET

This lecture will be livestreamed through YouTube and Facebook.

About the Lecture: In the chapter devoted to “Copuscularianism,’ in his Assayer, Galileo describes human sensibility in terms of the four physical elements of the Aristotelian tradition. This bears a striking resemblance to Aquinas’ discussion of the same considerations in his Summa Theologiae (Ia., 78, 3). Perhaps the main difference is that where Galileo, foreshadowing a trend that is evident in Locke and others, is intent on reducing sensibility to purely material terms. St. Thomas, by contrast, while granting the material aspect of human cognition, is intent to articulate its spiritual nature. This lecture will explore the philosophical breath of Aquinas’ approach as a critique of Galileo’s alternative.

About the Speaker:

Fr. Chrzastek joined the Pontifical Faculty in 2002 to teach Philosophy at the Dominican House of Studies, specializing in logic, epistemology, and modern philosophy. He completed his doctoral studies at Loyola University Chicago in the area of the history of modern thought. His dissertation is entitled, “Kant’s Transcendental Account of Empirical Cognition.”