In his Will there be Free Will in Heaven? Simon Gaine makes a groundbreaking philosophical analysis of eschatological issues as treated by medieval philosophers, which he uses to address contemporary concerns. This unit will use Gaine’s texts to interrogate medieval thinkers’ theories of the beatific vision. In particular it will examine the theories of Thomas Aquinas and John Duns Scotus, which are diametrically opposed on major points. The unit will consider each thinker’s view of the kind of freedom that is possible in heaven, where we will be without sin and without even the ability to sin. In order to provide a complete picture of the theories of human nature in relation to the beatific vision, the unit will also explore other aspects of each thinker’s theory of beatitude: whether we could attain beatitude by our natural resources alone without grace, whether all people of necessity have a desire for beatitude, and whether people could rightly seek annihilation to escape damnation.

Prerequisites

none

Requirements

3 hours per week

Assessment

Bibliography

• Gaine, Simon F. Will there be Free Will in Heaven? Freedom, Impeccability, and Beatitude. London: T. & T. Clark, 2003.
• Hoye, William J. Actualitas omnium actuum: Man’s Beatific Vision of God as Apprehended by Thomas Aquinas. Monographien zur philosophischen Forschung, vol. 116. Meisenheim am Glan: Hain, 1975.
• Prentice, Robert P. “The Degree and Mode of Liberty in the Beatitude of the Blessed.” In Deus et homo ad mentem I. Duns Scoti. Studia Scholastico-Scotistica 5, 327–42. Rome: Societas Internationalis Scotistica, 1972.
• ———. “The Voluntarism of Duns Scotus, as seen in his Comparison of the Intellect and the Will.” Franciscan Studies 28 (1968): 63–103.
• Ryan, John K., and Bonansea, Bernardine M., eds. John Duns Scotus, 1265–1965. Studies in Philosophy and the History of Philosophy, vol. 3. Washington, DC: Catholic University of America Press, 1965.
• Sileo, Leonardo, ed. Via Scoti: Methodologica ad Mentem Joannis Duns Scoti. Atti del Congresso Scotistico Internazionale Roma 9–11 March 1993. 2 vols. Rome: Edizioni Antonianum, 1995.
• Wolter, Allan B. The Philosophical Theology of John Duns Scotus. Edited by Marilyn McCord-Adams. Ithaca: Cornell University Press, 1990.