Aquinas: Philosophy & Theology

By helping to reintroduce Aristotle into the West, Thomas Aquinas provided understandings of topics in philosophy and theology as diverse as virtues, natural law, sacraments, free will, friendship, and the nature of theology that are still viable today. We will explore these and other selected topics as we study Aquinas’s life, works, and reception. With the assistance of introductory lectures and some secondary literature, we will closely examine selections from the Summa Theologia and other works. We will become comfortable reading the scholastic styles of disputation and commentary, understanding Aquinas’s use of Aristotelian terminology, and comprehending selected arguments of Aquinas. We will conclude by surveying the historical reception of Aquinas, and his continued relevance in contemporary debates.



Fr. Brandon Schneider is currently the Parish Administrator of St. Mary’s Catholic Church in Middlebury and outside advisor to the Newman Club. He received his STL from the Dominican House of Studies in Washington, DC.