Zoom:

Join Prof. Michael Wahl (Providence College) and other students to discuss happiness as presented by Thomas Aquinas in the Summa Theologiae. The group will meet on Mondays between October 28 and November 18 to discuss short readings on the reading group’s theme.

Description:

In his treatise on happiness, Aquinas raises several questions about the top candidates for human happiness: power, pleasure, weath, and honor. This treatise explores arguments for and against these well known goals of human striving. This reading group will explore selected articles from the first five questions of the Prima Secundae of the Summa. These questions introduce Aquinas’s moral theology, which is principally about the pursuit of beatitude, or happiness. Students taking this course will explore what "happiness" means for Aquinas, what makes one happy, and whether perfect happiness is possible and how to obtain it.

Readings:

• ST I-II, q. 1, aa. 1, 4, 7

• ST I-II, q. 2, aa. 1, 2, 4, 5, 8

• ST I-II, q. 3, aa. 1, 2, 8

  ST I-II, q. 5, aa. 2, 3, 5

When? Mondays between October 28 and November 18

What time? 7:30-8:30 pm ET

Where? Zoom

Who can apply? Undergraduate Students

Application Deadline? October 21

Space is limited. These reading groups are intentionally small to facilitate good discussion. If you are admitted, please be diligent in attending. Additionally, if you are not admitted to this group, we encourage you to apply to other groups later in the semester.