PHIL 929 Aquinas's Commentary on the De hebdomadibus
This course will consist of a slow reading of Thomas Aquinas's Exposition on Boethius's De hebdomadibus. In this commentary work, Aquinas follows Boethius in examining the question of how created substances are good inasmuch as they exist, despite the fact that they are not substantial goods - for only God is good by his very essence. In looking at Aquinas's own answer to this question, this course will examine such themes as his account of participation, his doctrine of the real distinction between essence and esse, his metaphysics of goodness, and his use of semantics principles as a tool for such metaphysical investigations. Some familiarity with both Latin and Aquinas's metaphysics is recommended, but not required.