Individual courses

This course will provide an overview of the history of philosophy in the Latin West during the millennium that stretches from the 6th century to the 15th century. This epoch , as everyone knows, is characterized by the decisive influence of Christian faith on the cultural and doctrinal life of the West. We should begin by noting that the Middle Ages, according to some, forms a parenthesis — something like a void — in the history o f philosophy. And in light of this, we should ask:  Can we be both Christians and genuine philosophers? Are faith and philosophy mutually exclusive, or not?

Seventh Lesson: Saint Bonaventure

Eighth Lesson: Saint Thomas Aquinas

Ninth Lesson: Radical Aristotelianism

Tenth Lesson: The Turning Point of 1277 and the Movement of Doctrine in the Late 13th century

Eleventh Lesson: John Duns Scotus

Twelfth Lesson: Doctrinal Life in the Order of Preachers in the 14 th Century

Thirteenth Lesson: William of Ockham and the Movement of Doctrine at the End of the Middle Ages

FIXEN020 Aesthetics is a wider term which includes all kinds of objects and experiences of art, beauty and life. There are many interconnected terms to the process of understanding and the enjoyment of beauty. Artistic experience, philosophy of art, philosophy of beauty, and philosophy of aesthetics are some of the different branches of aesthetics from a general perspective.

INT001 The first thing to say is that the New Testament is the second half of the Christian Bible, and follows the Old Testament and what Protestants call the Apocrypha – mostly intertestamental writings which continue to speak of God’s grace and his care for his people, the people of Israel. The New Testament is about Jesus, a Jew from Israel, who lived and died and was brought back to life again by God.

PH0007 This course seeks to introduce students to analytic philosophy. Students will be taken through some attempts at defining what analytic philosophy is, in particular how analytic philosophy understands philosophical problems and its own suggestions at approaching those problems. Then students will be led through an example of a debate in analytic philosophy. We will look at Strawson’s paper on referring and Russell’s response to it. The rest of the course will look at various topics considered proper to analytic philosophy.

Aquinas'notion of friendship and its relevance to eternal happiness. What is happiness? What is its nature and character both here and in the hereafter? Is it attainable? What is the nature and character of friendship? Is it possible? Why is it so integral to happiness, the goal of man, in such a way as to say no one can be called happy who is without friends?

This course introduces some of the key elements in Aristotle's thought. It will consider, among other things, Aristotle on language, logic, “first philosophy” or “wisdom”, and effective choice and action. In the appendices, Aristotle on language and logic in the Organon, on nature in the Physics, on “first philosophy” or “wisdom” in the Metaphysics, and on effective choice and action in the Nichomachean Ethics will be considered.

PH0008 Essential Questions of Philosophy in this very complete course about Being and Knowing.

This course aims to provide a first approach to biblical hebrew : the grammar courses are associated with biblical texts in order to immediatly apply the acquired knowledge.

Legal basis: enforcement of duty on investigators

Philosophical basis: emphasizes principles on which actions are based/justified

Moral basis: Determining which actions are good and allowed or bad and proscribed (in the context of research).

Investigators have a duty to ensure subjects give not only informed, but voluntary consent?

Concerned with restoring and strengthening bonds between professionals, patients and families, not simply dealing with principles like bioethics.
Uses cases and relies on the clinician-patient relationships/encounters in contributing to research on ethical issues

Bonaventure style is fashioned upon Holy Writings. He was a master of language and was called the Doctor Scripture evangelicae. He was able to adapt it perfectly to the the demands of his writings. He was simple and delicate. Sometimes his admiration can turn to imitation, and this explains the rhetorical character found in some passages, the abundance of superlatives, the length of sentences, etc.
In this course we will be able to discover the method and style of Bonaventure and how he used these to be able to spread the Gospel in a time of evangelical renewal which reached its height in the 13th century.
 

Law is a juridical system that organizes the social aspects of humankind. For that reason the
systematic oranization, the content and the governing principle of canon law and its different
branches should and do conform to how well the Church’s social dimension and social structures
are understood at each moment in time.

Catholic Social Teaching (also known as Catholic Social Doctrine) sums up the teachings of the Church on social justice issues. It promotes a vision of a just society that is grounded in the Sacred Scriptures and in the wisdom gathered from experience by the Christian community as it has responded to social, economic, and political issues throughout history.

The aim is to explore some aspects of Christian-Muslim dialogue in Britain, against the climate of rising secularization of European societies and the changing dynamics of institutional religious channels in this context. It will also touch upon questions of faith, belonging and belief, after an in-depth analysis of the challenges secularism represents for inter-faith dialogue given the contemporary popularity of militant atheism.

In this first course on Christology we look primarily at the Jesus of the Gospels, particularly the Synoptic Gospels: his life, death, and resurrection.

In the previous course on Christology we have looked primarily at the Jesus of the Gospels, particularly the Synoptic Gospels: his life, death, and resurrection. We now will look more closely at how Jesus Christ, following upon his resurrection, and the disciples’ experience of the risen Jesus, gets handed on,-first within the New Testament itself by St. Paul and the Gospel of John,- but then later in the early Church picking up with those themes and developing them,- and also clarifying them in its conciliar teaching.

We have considered christologies in the New Testament, and in the early Church, as well as that of Thomas Aquinas as representative of the Middle Ages. How best to hand on the good news of who Jesus is gets re-thought throughout the centuries, always grounded in the previous Tradtion, but also respectful of new challenges. So in the twentieth century, thinking about Jesusfinds new contexts: Asia, Africa, Latin America, within feminist thought, within the context of religious pluralism. Christology, as all theology, confronts the challenge of inculturation. We present only a few efforts to think about Christology in these new contexts.

Christianity is an historical religion; it’s a religion about an historical event: Jesus' life, death and resurrection. But there may be conflicts between the pastoral and the historical points of view.

The present course covers the beginning of the modern period, from the 16 th to the 18 th century. This period, especially the 16 th century, is a turning point in the history of Western culture.

African Church History.

We will not engage on a history of the missionary movement in Africa but rather on a history of indigenous forms of Christianity – that is to say the forms of life inspired by Christianity that were accepted, adapted and spread by Africans.

To show the implications of normative theories for specific moral issues or contemporary debates on particular ethical issues.

To show the implications of normative theories for specific moral issues or contemporary debates on particular ethical issues.

DRT 011. The Universal Declaration of Human Rights (henceforth UDHR) is both a point of arrival and a point of departure regarding our contemporary understanding of human rights. As a point of arrival, the UDHR is the result of an attempt to collate the “wisdom of the ages,” in order to find the best way to ensure the protection of the rights of all—especially after the atrocities committed during the two world wars.

PH009 - This is a comprehensive and systematic course on the philosophy of David Hume – a prominent Scottish Enlightenment philosopher widely known for his influential system of philosophical empiricism, naturalism and scepticism. Based on his influential and extreme Empiricist ideas, Hume can be rightly considered as one of the most important philosophers of all time.

Divine Impassibility: A Thomistic Critique of Jürgen Moltmann’s Staurocentric Trinitarianism

Classical Christian doctrine has always affirmed divine impassibility, that is, God, in his divine nature, does not suffer. However, this doctrine has been subjected to criticism by some modern passibilist theologians. The thoughts of Saint Thomas Aquinas offer us insights in responding to such passibilist theologians, for divine compassion is grounded on divine impassibility.
 

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1215 marks an important new stage in the history of Prouilhe and the beginnings of the Order of Preachers. In order that he might have some ecclesiastical status in the diocese of Toulouse, Bishop Foulque appointed Dominic as parish priest at Fanjeaux in 1214.

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It begins with a study of the early legislation for Dominican nuns. This should be of interest to all students, given that these were the first Dominican women in the Order, and in the mid-13th century, the only Dominican women. The texts reproduced here laid the foundation for legislation for Dominican sisters for centuries to come.

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The parameters adopted for this Part correspond on the one hand to the preparations for the foundation of the monastery at Bologna in the last year of St Dominic’s life, and on the other to the halt brought to the expansion of all forms of monastic life by the plague that spread through Europe in the middle of the 14th century.

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Cura monialium means quite simply the care of the nuns. The texts presented in this Part show that this question was a major issue in the Dominican Order in the 13th century and indeed is still receiving attention from academics in secular universities in various countries of the world. IN163-6

Der berühmte katholische Theologe Matthias Joseph Scheeben (1838-1888) wird hier studiert in der Sichtweise des "Konstruktionsprinzips" seiner Theologie: Gottes Dreifaltigkeit.

E-seminar on Practical Theology/Homiletics

From 20th April to 15th June 2020

By Emmanuel Dumont

E-seminar: Archaeology and the Bible  

From 7th October to 30th November 2019

by Hervé Tremblay 

E-seminar : Pastoral Theology

October 7th - November 30th, 2019

presented by David H. Pereyra

Philosophy and religious Studies Seminar

April 20th - June 15th, 2020

presented by Isaac Mutelo

This course will look at some issues of theological controversy between East and West (e.g. Filioque) and some areas of doctrine and practice traditionally distinctive of Eastern Christianity (e.g. theology of the icon), as well as areas of theology and church life that show especial vitality today. Through a variety of readings, including some patristic and liturgical texts, it will try to convey the connections between spiritual life and worship, theology, and the response of the Church to the world.

This course explores the mystery of the Church as seen in the light of Vatican II. The basic document is Lumen Gentium. The aim is to examine questions regarding origin, nature, structure, and mission of the Church. At the end of the course, the students will have a better understanding of the the nature, the structure, the work of the Church, and a better understanding of the ecclesiological teaching of the Second Vatican Council.
 

This course allows students to explore the Eastern Orthodox, Catholic and Protestant understandings, interpretations and uses of Scripture. The course introduces students to several contextual and traditional practices of hermeneutics in biblical studies. They will learn to read the Bible from various perspectives by engaging in a series of exegetical exercises and developing an exegetical study of selected biblical texts. Participants will also have an opportunity to explore the use of the Bible in pastoral setting: namely, how various approaches and readings impact social and ethical life of believing communities.

In the lives of the sains lifes " lives" the Christian vision of God, man, and the world which stand all​ out very clearly. Men can learn almost as much about the real meaning of Christianity from the legends of the saints produced within the tradition of the Church as from the authentic lives themselves. Through the reading and studying the lifes of the saints​ who arrived before us in the promised land​, we came to know how God works in the daily lives of Christians and how faith can be lived not only in good times but especially during persecution and suffering. This helps us to appreciate more our faith and make us grow in loving our brothers as part of God's providence.

As reasoned discourse about God ecumenical theology is focussing on God’s will for unity among Christians. In brief words we can even say: Ecumenical theology is theological reflection on the unity of the Church as it is willed by God. And as a way of reflection of the Christian faith on its own nature, ecumenical theology is dealing with the different theologies being in dialogue with one another in the ecumenical movement. Ecumenical theology tries to bring these different theologies into a dialogue.

PHI0009 Etymologically, the word Epistemology is derived from two Greek words episteme (knowledge) and logos (the science of knowledge). Thus the word ‘Epistemology’ would mean knowledge of knowledge or science of knowledge and is more commonly called a theory of knowledge. This philosophical term is commonly associated with the inquiry of truth and knowledge.

This course will take students through ethical discourse from the time of Plato to Aristotle, then to Kant and utilitarians. The principal aim of this course is to make students aware of the different traditions or approaches to ethics. Students can then be able to compare some of the most influential ethical theorists in human history.

Ethics, like philosophy, is in search of principles and universals. Ethics reflects on a particular human experience, namely, the experience of the good or of being good, and sets it in the context of the whole. One could also say that ethics reflects on what is the good and how our lives are oriented towards it

Distinctions need to be made regarding the subject of moral theology : first – as distinct from moral philosophy or ethics; second – as distinct from other theologica l studies.

Considering that the divine revelation always takes place in the form of symbols and within human experience, I also study O’Collins’ understanding of symbols and experience, and their relationship with the divine revelation.

How can we access the reality of revelation when both symbols and experience are historically, socially,and religiously conditioned and limited? What is the role of symbols in both the communication of the divine revelation by God and its experience by human beings?

There are many different spiritual pathways that were born in the Indian sub-continent: Buddhist, Jain, Sikh, for example, and others that came to India such as Christian and Muslim. Hindu spirituality which represents the spiritual quest of the vast majority of the people of India is rooted in the relentless and uninterrupted search of the seers from the Indian sub-continent.

In this course we look at the Hebrews’ arrival in the Promised Land and continue right up to the end of their existence as an independent nation when disaster overwhelmed them.

This journey of discovery is inspired by the German scholar, Martin Noth, who in 1943 ce advanced the theory that a number of Old Testament books originally made up one larger work. The books in question were Deuteronomy, Joshua, Judges, 1 & 2 Samuel and 1 & 2 Kings. There is certainly a continuity of theme and style to be found in these writings. The biblical author clearly gathered together some pre-existing traditions, placed them skillfully within his own constructed framework, and added bridging material to give the appearance of a unified text. The older material was used to convey a particular understanding of Israel’s history.

In contemporary terms, the overarching agenda of a biblical author is called a 'meta-narrative'. This term is used to describe the framework within which much of modern history is told. Recognition of such meta-narratives is one positive feature of the post-modern age in which we live today. In recognising the over-arching concerns of the Deuteronomist historian, we must be aware of our tendency to impose or substitute other meta-narratives onto the text, meta-narratives such as ‘salvation history’, ‘covenant theology’, ‘messianic progression’ or others.

Deuteronomy has been looked at briefly as a whole. In its depiction of the Hebrews’ journey through the wilderness, it set the scene and supplied the basic theological vision which animated and shaped the presentation of the rest of the material. It seems clear that the first three chapters of Deuteronomy have been added specifically to make it an introduction to this period of history taken as a whole. It is in these first three chapters that the crucial issue of the people’s fidelity to Yahweh is raised – crucial because it is the condition of their continued possession of the promised land.

Like all movements, ecumenism had its beginnings and thus it has a history to be studied. History helps us to see the evolution and growth of The ecumenical movement in seeking to recover the apostolic sense of the early church for unity in diversity while it confronts the frustrations, difficulties, and ironies of the modern pluralistic world. It is a lively reassessment of the historical sources and destiny of what followers perceive to be the one, holy, catholic, and apostolic church of Jesus Christ.

PH0003 The main objective of this unit is to get an above all understanding of what Indian Philosophy is and in what circumstances it has developed. Though Indian Philosophy has developed in different parts of India it has many common characteristics hence the student is likely to know a few important ones. Furthermore, one should have a basic understanding of what Indian philosophy is accused of.

PH0005 By Studying this particular unit one must be able to understand what is the meaning of Upaniṣad, how it was developed from Vedas and what are its main teachings and how they reach their logical culmination in the identity of the self and the Brahman. One must also be able to understand the Upaniṣadic view point of bondage and liberation along with the cosmogony and puruṣārtas.

The main objective of the conclusion is to introduce the students to the different systems of Indian Philosophy as it deals with various philosophical thoughts of several traditions originated in Indian Subcontinent.

DRT019. This course examines the general principles of international criminal law, providing a practical and theoretical framework for the rules, concepts and legal constructs key to the subject. Jurisprudence will be included to assist the student to fully understand the core concept of international criminal law.

DRT012. The course seeks to explain the concept, nature and history of International Humanitarian Law (“IHL”) in such a manner that the student will become familiar with its operations in international law. Some concrete case studies will be included to assist the student to fully understand the core concept of IHL.
Wars have been waged from time immemorial and its practice continues to change over time. Our interest in this module is the law regulating conflicts.

DRT 017. This course intends to provide students with an overview of international law and the structure of the international legal system. In many cases, it oversimplifies the law by summarising key principles in less than one page in order to provide the student with an overview that will enhance further study of the topic.

This course gives a survey on the Catholic tradition by examining a series of documents like Lumen Gentium and other documents of Vatican II to show that the Catholic Church does not possess one rite only, but that she embraces all the ancient rites of Christendom and thus her unity consists not in a mechanical uniformity of all her parts, but on the contrary, in their variety, according in one principle and vivified by it. The readings of the documents enable to see the Church’s intent to move always in the direction of unity.

Etymologically, the word "Epistemology", from the Greek, means the science of knowledge. It is an investigation of knowledge and its problems. A synonymous term is Criteriology which again from the Greek means to distinguish or judge. It deals with testin g knowledge to find truth or detect error.

The modern epistemological problem has two aspects:

1. The opposition between science and philosophy or truth and error. We find this basically in Descartes and Kant.

2. The conflict between science and science or that of contemporary and classic physics and not an opposition between science and philosophy or truth and error.

We derive our inspiration from at least two distinct traditions: the Jewish and the Christian. It is important that we should be aware of this! A whole set of questions are implied here. What is the relationship between God and the Jewish traditi on, God and Jesus, God and the church?