Week 4: Philosophy and the Sacred — The Great Monotheisms, Augustine, Aquinas
Week of Mon, Sep 7 · week closes Sun, Sep 13
This week's items
- Philosophical Forum 2points in Canvas
- Week 4 Discussionpoints in Canvas
- Week 4 Quizpoints in Canvas
Exact due times are in Canvas. Late work is not accepted except for a documented emergency (doctor's note, funeral announcement) arranged case by case.
Read this week
- Confessions — St. Augustine (Books I–II, VII–VIII) — the pear theft is in Book II; the garden conversion in Book VIII
- Summa Theologica — St. Thomas Aquinas, Part I, Question 2 (the Five Ways) — Article 3 is the Five Ways
- Selections from the Bible and the Qur'an (as assigned in Canvas) — use the passages Prof. Wilkinson posts in the Week 4 module
Textbook chapters (Payne): Ch. 3: Ancient Philosophy · Ch. 4: The Rationalists
Know these cold
- The three great monotheisms — Judaism, Christianity, Islam — each hold that one God created the world and reveals moral law through scripture (Torah, Bible, Qur'an).
- Medieval philosophy asks whether faith and reason agree. Augustine: believe in order to understand. Aquinas: reason can prove God exists; revelation tells us what reason cannot.
- Augustine (354–430) wrote the Confessions as a prayer and autobiography. The pear theft: he stole pears he did not want, just for the thrill — his evidence that we sometimes choose wrong for its own sake.
- Augustine on evil: evil is not a thing God made; it is a privation — an absence or corruption of good, like darkness is the absence of light. Free will explains why we choose it.
- 'Our heart is restless until it rests in you' — Augustine's claim that human desire is only satisfied by God.
- Aquinas (1225–1274) wrote the Summa Theologica in question-objection-reply format — the scholastic method: state the objections first, then answer them.
- Aquinas' Five Ways to show God exists: (1) motion needs a first mover, (2) causes need a first cause, (3) contingent things need a necessary being, (4) degrees of goodness need a highest standard, (5) order in nature needs an intelligent designer.
- Reading scripture philosophically: ask what claim is being made, what reason or story supports it, and what follows for how to live — the same three questions you asked of Plato.
Discussion and forum — how to show up
Discussion post
- Lead with your claim about Augustine or Aquinas in one sentence.
- Quote a short line and explain the argument behind it in your own words.
- Connect to a real question about wrongdoing, purpose, or belief.
- Two replies: engage the argument, not the person's tradition.
Philosophical Forum 2 — faith, reason, and the problem of evil
- Thesis (1 sentence).
- Fair summary of the argument you are discussing, with a section reference.
- Reason 1 for your view.
- Reason 2 for your view.
- Best objection, stated in its strongest form.
- Your reply to the objection.
- One sentence: what evidence or argument would change your mind.
Netiquette from the syllabus: address ideas, not people. Complete sentences, correct spelling. Personal matters go to email, never the board.
Meerk's quiz — open the Week 4 gate
10 questions, no time limit. 85% on your first attempt in a 24-hour window opens the gate. Retakes inside the window are practice — they help you learn, they don't count. Work alone; the point is to know it, not to have seen it.
Stuck?
Raise your hand. Mr. James gets a message right away and can help you remotely. Nothing else is stored — just your last name, grade, and where you're stuck.
Dinner Table Question
Ask at home: Augustine stole pears he didn't even want, just for the thrill. Have you ever done something wrong just because you could? What did it teach you?
En español: Agustín robó peras que ni siquiera quería, solo por la emoción. ¿Alguna vez hiciste algo malo solo porque podías? ¿Qué te enseñó?