Conference on the Soul at Thomas Aquinas College (Deadline now February 15)

The Thomistic Summer Conference at Thomas Aquinas College (California campus) has issued its call for papers on the theme of “The Soul in the Philosophy and Theology of St. Thomas.” The conference will take place June 15–18, 2023, at the West Coast campus of Thomas Aquinas College. Its featured speakers are Steven J. Jensen, Michael A. Augros, Marie I. George, and John J. Goyette.

From the call for papers:

We welcome proposals pertaining to any aspect of the conference theme. Possible topics may include:

  • The nature of the soul and its powers: the soul as substantial form; the union of the soul and the body; the soul as a principle of life in generation; the order found in the powers of the soul—intellect, sensation, and nutrition; what it means to say that all knowledge begins with the senses; the distinction between the agent intellect and the possible intellect

  • Proofs for the existence, immateriality, and immortality of the human soul

  • The importance of the soul and its habits and powers in ethics and political philosophy

  • The human soul in sacred theology: the soul as an image of God and of the persons of the Trinity; the effect of original sin on the soul and its powers; the relation between the soul and sanctifying grace and the supernatural virtues; the human soul’s relation to the body and the importance of the resurrection; the knowledge of the separated soul

  • The study of the soul in the biological sciences (e.g., neuroscience, evolutionary theory) or the behavioral sciences (e.g., psychology), and how this relates to, or differs from, the study of the soul in philosophy and theology

Preference will be given to paper proposals that fit under the conference theme and engage directly with the text of St. Thomas.

Please submit a titled, 500-word abstract by February 15, 2023. Authors will be notified by February 28, 2023.