Scotus Commission call for papers for 7th Centenary

This is a bit of a stretch for a Thomistic web site, but:

The Commissio internationalis scotistica is compiling a series of original scholarly articles on the Blessed John Duns Scotus and on the various aspects of the Scotism. The volume is intended to be an early contribution to the 7th centenary of Scotus’ death and also a homage to the memory of father César Saco, who unexpectedly died last February, after being a member of the Commissio scotistica for forty years.

Scholars who wish to participate, are kindly requested to send the proposed title of their article together with their address. On September 2005, we will give further details to those who have adhered to this initiative.

Contact address:

Martín Carbajo Núñez, ofm
Pontificia Università Antonianum
Via Merulana 124 b
00185 Roma (Italia)

E-mail: cnmartin@ofm.org / antonianumfacteol@ofm.org

Society for Medieval Logic and Metaphysics

I found this link a while back (as an offshoot from Gyula Klima’s fine personal web site), and simply forgot to post it:

The Society for Medieval Logic and Metaphysics (S.M.L.M.) is a network of scholars founded with the aim of fostering collaboration and research based on the recognition that:

• recovering the profound metaphysical insights of medieval thinkers for our own philosophical thought is highly desirable, and, despite the vast conceptual changes in the intervening period, is still possible;
• but this recovery is only possible if we carefully reflect on the logical framework in which those insights were articulated, given the paradigmatic differences between medieval and modern logical theories.

The Society’s web site is designed to serve the purpose of keeping each other up-to-date on our current projects, sharing recent results, discussing scholarly questions, and organizing meetings.

Medieval Tradition of Natural Law at Kalamazoo

Harvey Brown, in the Deptartment of Political Science at the University of Western Ontario, in London, Ontario (Canada) is calling for papers for the sessions devoted to the Medieval Tradition of Natural Law at the medievalists’ conference in Kalamazoo, Michigan for next spring (May 4-7, 2006). There will be two sessions:

1. Natural Law and Virtue
2. Natural Law as Ethics in Governance

Please send proposals to Harvey Brown by September 16, 2005 at: hbrown2@uwo.ca.

Proceedings from Dutch-Flemish SITA conference on Aquinas (from Sept. 2004)

The Dutch-Flemish section of the SITA (http://users.skynet.be/thomisme), presided over by Leo J. Elders svd, organized its first conference on September 25, 2004 at the former Abbey of Rolduc (the Netherlands). The topic of the conference was “The actuality of Saint Thomas Aquinas.”

The proceedings of this conference, together with other essays, are now published in the series ‘Doctor Humanitatis.’

This first publication contains 13 essays, written in Dutch, English and German. The president of the International SITA, Abelardo Lobato op, opens the volume with an article on themes of the ‘quaestiones quodlibetales’. The president of the Dutch-Flesmish section, Leo Elders svd, investigates the presence of Plato in the writings of Aquinas. Bonifacio Honings ocd (Rome) shows how the Catechism of the Catholic Church is deeply indebted to Aquinas moral theology. Romanus Cessario op writes about the influence of Aquinas on Mel Gibson’s ‘The Passion of the Christ’. The Dutch scholar Jozef Wissink, member of the ‘Thomas Instituut’ in Utrecht, articulates the highly interesting links between the mental state of dementia patients and Aquinas’ theory of knowledge, Victor Ravensloot argues for the validity of hylemorphism, David Berger talks about the actuality of the Tertia Pars of the Summa.

Next, the volume reprints an influential article by the late Dutch Dominican, Johannes van der Ploeg, who died in 2004, on the role of Scripture in Thomistic theology. The doctrine of God is the topic of the essay by Harm Goris, member of the well-known ‘Thomas Instituut’ in Utrecht. The Polish Thomist, Tadeusz Guz, compares the anthropology of Aquinas and Hegel. Jörgen Vijgen, Vice-President of the Dutch-Flemish section, investigates the role of philosophical reasoning in Aquinas’ articulation of the dogma of the resurrection of the body. The volume closes with a critical review of the recent French volume by the so-called ‘School of Toulouse’ on the actuality of Saint-Thomas.

De actualiteit van Sint-Thomas van Aquino, ed. J. Vijgen (Boekenplan, Hoofddorp, 2005), pp. 215 [ISBN 907179491-1] (Doctor Humanitatis I), can be ordered through the publisher’s website: http://www.boekenplan.nl.

The University of Toronto Colloquium in Mediaeval Philosophy 2005

The University of Toronto Colloquium in Mediaeval Philosophy for 2005 will take place from September 23-24, 2005, at the University of St Michael’s College. The colloquium is sponsored by the Department of Philosophy, Department of Classics, and Centre for Medieval Studies, University of Toronto; University of St. Michael’s College; Pontifical Institute of Mediaeval Studies. Its organizers are: Deborah Black, Peter King, Martin Pickave. All sessions will be held in Alumni Hall, Room 400 (St. Michael’s College, 121 St. Joseph Street). The sessions are free and open to the public.

Friday, 23 September:

4:30 - 6:30 opening remarks

SESSION I: Chair, Jennifer Ashworth (University of Waterloo)

• Scott MacDonald (Cornell University): “Aquinas on Prudence: From Personal Virtue to Natural Law”
• Thomas Williams (University of Southern Florida), commentary

6:30 reception

Saturday, 24 September:

10:00 - 12:00

SESSION II: Chair, Robert Pasnau (University of Colorado, Boulder)

• Richard Cross (Oxford University): “Scotus on Substance and Identity”
• Timothy Noone (Catholic University of America), commentary

lunch break

2:30 - 4:30

SESSION III: Chair, Jack Zupko (Emory University)

• Claude Panaccio (Universite de Quebec a Montreal): “Ockham on Conceptual Similitudes”
• Gyula Klima (Fordham University), commentary

7:00 Conference Dinner (reservation required)

If you plan to attend please let us know: medieval.philosophy@utoronto.ca. Accomodations: The Quality Hotel Midtown (to be rebranded as the Holiday Inn Midtown) in Toronto, located next to the St. George campus, is offering rooms at a reduced rate for the conference if you reserve before August 23rd: call (416)-968-0010, and use the Group ID #102835 or the Group name “Toronto Colloquium in Mediaeval Philosophy”.

A new blog about "Le manuscrit médiéval"

A sign that the end-times are upon us (): Jean Luc Deuffic, of pecia fame, now has a blog devoted to the medieval manuscript. Check it out here. Really, really neat. And packed with links to other resources in medieval textual production and paleography.

3rd annual Midwestern Conference in Medieval Philosophy (Marquette University)

The Third Annual Midwestern Conference in Medieval Philosophy will be held at the Marquette University in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, 16-17 September 2005. The conference is intended to provide a formal occasion and central location for philosophers and scholars of the Midwest region (and elsewhere!) to present and discuss their current work in medieval philosophy. Plans are for 9-10 sessions with 75 minutes allotted for presentation and discussion. If you wish to present, please send a title of the proposed paper to Richard Taylor at richard.taylor@marquette.edu. Conference sessions will take place in the Raynor Library Friday and Saturday 16-17 September, 2005.

Arrangements have been made for a block of 12 reserved rooms just a few blocks down the avenue from Marquette University at:

The Holiday Inn Milwaukee City Center
611 West Wisconsin Avenue
Milwaukee, WI 53203. Tel. 1-414-273-2950
Rate: $89/nt. single or double

Reservation deadline: August 15, 2005

Conference Website: http://homepage.mac.com/mistertea/Personal32.html.

Chronical for Higher Education job-listings in RSS

The people in the Careers Section of the Chronicle for Higher Education have made the contents of their job-listings available on-line, which you can access by clicking here. In addition, they’ve also made those listings available in an RSS newsfeed. Here are the addresses for the philosophy newsfeed, and the religion newsfeed:

• Philosophy: http://chronicle.com/jobs/100/500/5000/rss.xml
• Religion: http://chronicle.com/jobs/100/500/6000/rss.xml

You’ll be getting these items one week later, I believe, than those who subscribe to the on-line service or to the Chronicle itelf. But since the due-dates for applications are usually a month or two in the offing, you’re not suffering for it.

Update on 2005-05-31 15:11 by Mark Johnson

As of this writing (May 31, 2005) the RSS link to the Philosophy section is broken. I’ll post a follow-up when it’s working.

Update on 2005-06-01 11:55 by Mark Johnson

Okay, the philosophy RSS feed is now working. Phew.

Colloquium on Aquinas and the theology of religions (Institut Saint-Thomas d’Aquin: Toulouse, France)

Saint Thomas d’Aquin et la théologie des religions

Colloque, les 13 et 14 mai 2005 à l’Institut catholique de Toulouse

Sous la présidence de M^gr Émile Marcus (archevêque de Toulouse)

Organisé par la Revue thomiste / Institut Saint-Thomas d’Aquin

La théologie des religions, c’est-à-dire l’intelligence dans la foi du rôle des religions non chrétiennes dans le dessein de Dieu, est reconnue comme un défi majeur pour la théologie chrétienne du xxi ^e siècle. Elle est rendue urgente par l’expérience désormais quotidienne que les chrétiens font de la pluralité des religions. Elle engage les thèmes les plus décisifs de la foi et de la théologie : le salut, l’unicité de la médiation du Christ, le rôle de l’ é glise… La tradition thomiste peut-elle apporter quelque lumière dans ce débat? Pour y répondre, l’Institut Saint-Thomas d’Aquin de Toulouse et la Revue thomiste organisent un colloque qui interrogera tout d’abord saint Thomas lui-même. Quels sont les grands principes de sa théologie susceptibles de fonder une théologie des religions ? Qu’en est-il, dans l’œuvre de saint Thomas, de la question plus précise du statut religieux des non-chrétiens, avant comme après la venue du Christ ?

A sa suite, la tradition thomiste, ancienne ou plus récente, n’a cessé d’actualiser cette réflexion. Aujourd’hui encore, à la lumière des principes de saint Thomas, ce colloque tentera de proposer quelques orientations pour une théologie, ouverte et critique, des religions non chrétiennes.

L’ensemble des conférences et débats se déroulera à l’Institut catholique de Toulouse (31 rue de la Fonderie, 31068 Toulouse).

Pontifical Academy of Saint Thomas Aquinas publishes 2003 conference proceedings

From the Secretary of the Pontifical Academy of Saint Thomas Aquinas:

The Pontifical Academy of Saint Thomas Aquinas is proud to announce the publication of the first and second volume of the Proceedings of the International Conference on “Christian Humanism in the Third Millennium: The Perspective of Thomas Aquinas”. The first volume is 1010 pages long and contains the Anthropological and Historical Sections. The second volume is 1011 pages long and contains the Christological, Metaphysical, Moral and Scientific Sections. Each volume costs USD 39 or Euro 29.65 - or the equivalent in the currency of your country - including postage but excluding bank charges. Methods of payment:

1. (Cheapest way) By cheque made out to Pontificia Accademia di San Tommaso and sent by mail to the following address: Pontificia Accademia di San Tommaso, Casina Pio IV, V-00120 Vatican City.
2. Bank transfer to: Account no. 1000 / 00009396; Owner: Pontificia Accademia di San Tommaso; Bank: San Paolo Imi; Agency: 06016; Address: Stazione Termini Binario 1, 00185 Roma, Italia; IBAN IT15 R010 2503 2511 0000 0009 396; BIC IBSPITTM

Payment can be made in dollars or in euros or in the equivalent amount in your country’s currency. After making the payment, please send me an email stating how many copies of the second volume you require and your full address. We will send out the books as soon as we have received notice of payment.

Volume III will be ready shortly. Please send an email to past@acdscience.va and you will be notified of its publication.

Of course, if you have someone in Italy who can make the payment for you or come directly to our Pontifical Academy in order to save on bank charges, we will then be more than happy to send you the books.

Three lectures by Philipp Rosemann on Peter Lombard's Sentences

Boy I wish I were in the South Bend/Notre Dame area for this. Philipp Rosemann, from the University of Dallas, is giving the Broadview Press Lectures: “Rethinking the Middle Ages” (Sponsored by the Medieval Institute at Notre Dame, the Humanistic Studies Program (St. Mary’s College), and the Broadview Press) on April 12, 13, and 14, in the Medieval Institute Reading Room, 715 Hesburgh Library, at the University of Notre Dame. The three lectures, all concerning “The Story of a Great Medieval Book: Peter Lombard’s Sentences,” are:

1. “From the Sentences to Abbreviations and Glosses” Tuesday, 12 April, 5:00 p.m.
2. “The 13th-Century Age of the Commentary” Wednesday , 13 April, 5:00 p.m.
3. “The 14th-Century Movement Away from the Sentences” Thursday,14 April, 5:00 p.m.

A reception will follow the lecture on April 14.

Roberta A. Baranowski is the Assistant Director of the Medieval Institute. Her contact information is:

University of Notre Dame
715 Hesburgh Library
Notre Dame, IN 46556
574-631-8304 (telephone)
574-631-8644 (fax)
rbaranow@ND.EDU

3rd International Conference of the Thomas Instituut te Utrecht: Call for papers

THOMAS INSTITUUT TE UTRECHT
Heidelberglaan 2
Utrecht / The Netherlands

DIVINE TRANSCENDENCE AND IMMANENCE IN THE THOUGHT OF THOMAS AQUINAS CONFERENCE 15- 17 DECEMBER 2005

CALL FOR PAPERS - CALL FOR PAPERS - CALL FOR PAPERS

From 15 to 17 December 2005 the Thomas Instituut te Utrecht will organize an international conference on the thought of Thomas Aquinas for the third time. The Thomas Instituut te Utrecht is an institute of the Catholic Theological University at Utrecht (NL) and the Tilburg Faculty of Theology (NL). Its members are theologians, philosophers and historians from several universities and institutes in the Netherlands. Its main aim is to promote both individual and collective research into Thomas Aquinas. One of the ways by which the Institute tries to achieve this is by organizing an international conference every five years. For the year 2005 the subject will be :

Divine Transcendence and Immanence in the Thought of Thomas Aquinas.

An influential, but rather debatable, interpretation of Thomas Aquinas’ lasting contribution to human culture focuses on the distinction between the natural and the supernatural. Such a distinction may serve the interests of human autonomy, human rationality, the development of the sciences and the dialogue with non-Christian partners. But it also serves to marginalize church and religion, in response to important cultural forces, and to deeply secularise human understanding of self and society. Over the past decades, however, both philosophers and theologians have formulated an interpretation of Aquinas that is quite different. It focuses on the Christian and theological thrust of Aquinas’ authorship, and is in search of both God’s presence and absence in our world. There is no absolute, clear-cut opposition or simple contrast between God and the human world, nor can God be reduced to the latter. This is a negative formula. How can we best approach this negative formula? Are there any good strategies to elucidate it, and what would they look like? How can Aquinas be of help in recognizing and interpreting God’s presence in our world?

In a three-day conference, scholars from different disciplines and different countries of the world will devote their attention to this challenge. For this, we have selected four areas: Aquinas’ understanding of God, his teaching on creation and on grace and life eternal, and his approach to Christ and his sacraments.

The conference will be held from Thursday, 15 December until Saturday, 17 December 2005 in the conference-center ISVW at Leusden (near Utrecht, NL). Main speakers will be Conor Cunningham (Nottingham), Harm Goris (Utrecht), Bruce Marshall (Dallas), Herwi Rikhof (Utrecht), Gregory Rocca (Berkeley), Hans-Christian Schmidbaur (Lugano), Henk Schoot (Utrecht) and Rudi te Velde (Amsterdam/Tilburg).

They will speak about one of four subject areas: Aquinas’

· understanding of God;

• teaching on creation;
• teaching on grace and life eternal;
• approach to Christ and his sacraments.

The main lectures will be followed by parallel paper sessions, which also will focus on these four subject areas. We kindly invite scholars from different disciplines and different countries of the world to send in proposals for papers, which will take approx. 25 minutes. Conference languages are: English, German and French.

Proposals must be submitted by 1 June 2005 . Please send a short abstract (approx. 400 words) to:

Dr. Cristina Pumplun (Secretary of Studies)
PO Box 80101
NL-3508 TC Utrecht

E-mail: cpumplun@ktu.nl  

fax: +31 30 2533665; tel. +31 30 2533129

Registrationcosts: € 270, including accommodation and registration fee.

Fees must be paid in advance. Payment by credit card is possible. For special requests for concessions please contact the Secretary of Studies at the above address.

The conference committee will inform you before 1 August 2005 if your proposal has been accepted. The conference committee will select a number of papers for publication in the proceedings. If you think your contribution qualifies for publication, please have a full version (approx. 15 pages) ready by January 2006.

Please contact the Secretary of Studies, dr. Cristina Pumplun, for further information.

You can also have a look on our website: http://www.thomasinstitute.org

We look forward to your proposals,

Yours sincerely,

Prof. dr. Herwi Rikhof
Director of the Thomas Instituut at Utrecht

Dr. Cristina Pumplun
Secretary of Studies of the Thomas Instituut te Utrecht

For more information, go to the Thomas Instituut te Utrecht’s web site.