Philosophy - Model Syllabus
PH 498 A Senior Thesis and Defense
Fall 2008-Spring 2009
John Macias
Thesis Proposal for 2008-2009
A. Topic and rationale
The question for this thesis will be whether or not man can be said to have free-will in light of Divine causality. The problem of human freedom arises, in the case of the intended treatment, from the arguments for God’s existence presented by St. Thomas Aquinas in his Summa Contra Gentiles. The first argument which Aquinas gives for the existence of God is based on the assumption that, in an ordered series, there cannot be an infinite regress among movers and things moved. Ultimately, for Aquinas, the cause of all motion must end in the Unmoved Mover. This Unmoved Mover he calls God.
The question of human freedom enters when one considers how man can truly choose anything if God is the ultimate cause of everything. Aquinas shows that God must be the cause of all motion. How then can anything be said to be a free choice? This truly shows the importance of this question. Human freedom is a vitally important issue, because this has bearing upon any talk of ethics or natural law. If man is not free, then any description of how one ought to live becomes pointless. Man must be able to choose how he lives. Any kind of moral philosophy or ethics is irrational if man is not free. For if man cannot freely choose to do or not do, what is the purpose of punishment or reward? It would seem that society punishes and rewards those who could not have done otherwise. This clearly has seriously theological implications. The idea that man is free is a basic principle of Catholicism. It is in the cases of Heaven and Hell that free will is of such importance. Once again, if man is not free, everlasting punishment or blessedness becomes irrational. What is the point of rewarding or punishing man for that which he could not have done otherwise? This is the problem facing free-will in the light of Divine causality.
A problem may also arise if free-will is overly emphasized. If one were to staunchly maintain that man is the ultimate first cause of his actions, an absurdity would result. For if man truly were the first mover of himself, he would either have to be doing the same action eternally, or be in potentiality and actuality in regards to the same thing at the same time. The second option is easily refuted, for it results in an explicit contradiction. Nothing can be in act and potency to the same thing at the same time. This violates the Law of Non-Contradiction. Thus there is nothing left but to admit that man cannot be the first cause of his actions. There must be an outside cause of all our actions. This, however, brings the situation back to the beginning issue of how does man truly have free-will if all his actions are ultimately caused by God.
B. Possible Sources
Aquinas, St. Thomas
The issue arises first and foremost in:
Summa Theologica PP Q.19, a.8; PP Q.83, a.1.
Contra Gentiles I, 85; II, 30.
Parallel passages:
De Malo Q.6; Q.16, a.7.
De Veritate Q.23, a.5, Q.24 a.1.2.
Metaphy VI, lect. 3
Periherm I, lect. 14.
Quodl 11, Q.3; 12, Q.3.
Commentators:
Cajetan, Tommaso de Vio Cardinal. Summa Theologica (Leonine Edition), Summa totius theologiae.
Garrigou-Lagrange, Reginald. The One God; God: His Existence and His Nature.
John of St. Thomas. Cursus theologicus in Summam theologicam; Cursus philosophicus thomisticus secundum exactam veram.
C. Dr. Jean Rioux, thesis director
D. Timeline
1. meetings from beginning of Fall semester until the end of the first quarter: every 2 weeks, weekly thereafter.
2. reading finished two weeks before the end of the Fall semester
3. outline due by the end of the fall semester
4. first rough draft due three weeks into the Spring semester, second rough draft (if needed) due three weeks later, final draft due March. 17th 2009, defense date 1 April 2009 (Discovery Day).
E. John Macias
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