Each year, the Catholic and Dominican Institute hosts an annual
Philosophy Workshop at the College.
The Second Annual Philosophy Workshop
The Second Annual Philosophy Workshop: Thomas Aquinas and the
Mind/Body Problem was held at Mount Saint Mary College from June
21–24, 2012.
This event was co-sponsored by the Catholic and Dominican
Institute at the Mount and the Thomistic Institute at the Dominican
House of Studies in Washington, DC.
Contemporary philosophies of mind commonly approach the problem
of the relation of the mind to the body by recourse to a variety of
modern theories (e.g., physicalism vs. dualism, eliminativism vs.
reductive materialism). The thinking of Aquinas, however, presents
an elegant and profound alternative to much that is currently on
offer. How does Aquinas understand the human person both as body
and as soul? What is his hylomorphic conception of the human being?
How does his study of the diverse faculties of the human person
(intellectual powers, free will, passions, physiological living
processes) permit an illuminating account of human life? This
conference explored Aquinas' understanding of the person by a
diversity of philosophical approaches, asking the question of the
perennial relevance of his contribution.
The first day of the conference was devoted especially to
graduate students, either in philosophy or adjacent disciplines.
The second and third days of the event combined presentations by
philosophers with times of discussion and debate.
Presenters:
- Msgr. Charles Morerod, OP, Bishop of Lausanne, Geneva and
Fribourg, Switzerland
- Candace Vogler, PhD, University of Chicago
- William Carroll, PhD, Oxford University
- Michael Gorman, PhD, The Catholic University of America
- James Brent, OP, The Catholic University of America
- John O’Callaghan, PhD, University of Notre Dame
- Alfred Freddoso, PhD, University of Notre Dame
Download the brochure from this
workshop.
The Inaugural Philosophy Workshop
From June 23-26, 2011 the Catholic and Dominican Institute, in
conjunction with the Thomistic Institute of the Dominican House of
Studies in Washington, DC, held the Inaugural Philosophy Workshop:
Thomas Aquinas and Contemporary Philosophy.
The workshop brought together scholars and students interested
in philosophy, especially the work of Thomas Aquinas. The four-day
event was an international conference with scholars from Italy,
Switzerland, England, Spain, Germany, and Canada. Many prestigious
universities were represented such as the Angelicum, Notre Dame,
Fordham, Yale, Princeton, Duke, and The Catholic University of
America. Participants came from across our country from the states
of Washington, California, Connecticut, Massachusetts, North
Carolina, Virginia, Wisconsin, Tennessee, Maryland, New Jersey,
Pennsylvania, Indiana, and Washington, D.C.
Presenters were Fr. James Brent, OP (The Catholic University of
America); Fr. Lawrence Dewan, OP (Dominican Institute of Ottawa);
Dr. Alfred Freddoso (University of Notre Dame); Dr. Gyula Klima
(Fordham University); Dr. Joshua Hochschild (Mount St. Mary’s
University, Emmitsburg); Fr. Joseph Koterski, SJ (Fordham
University); Fr. Charles Morerod, OP (Angelicum, Rome); Dr. John
O’Callaghan (University of Notre Dame); and Fr. Thomas Joseph
White, OP (Thomistic Institute, Washington, D.C.)