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Thomas Aquinas on Self-Knowledge and the Nature of Thought

Lecture by Therese Scarpelli Cory (University of Notre Dame), organized by the Department of the History of Philosophy

Abstract

Aquinas is usually thought to have a theory of "indirect" self-knowledge, according to which the mind only knows itself in a second-order act that reflects on a first-order act directed toward extramental objects.

Against this interpretation, I argue that for Aquinas, a form of self-awareness is already intrinsic to every intellectual act; one is aware of oneself in one's acts, as the acting subject. Aquinas derives this account of self-awareness from his metaphysics of the intellect, reviving a long tradition according to which all thinking is necessarily self-aware.

When & Where?

Wednesday, 21 January 2015, 3.15-5 pm
Faculty of Philosophy, Room Omega

Last modified:17 September 2020 5.27 p.m.