Topics in Medieval Philosophy

Existence: The (Serious) Case of God

Does God exist? What does “God exists” mean? Is God existence or being itself? If God is existence or being itself, can He be a person? Is God’s being timeless? How perfect is God’s perfect being? If God is a timeless and perfect being, can He be a person? Can a timeless and perfect being think? Does God love? The course aims to analyse and discuss the answers given to these questions in Jewish, Islamic and Christian medieval philosophy.

Bibliography

• Aristotle, Metaphysics, Book 12. Translated by Hugh Tredennick. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 1935.
• Philo, On Flight and Finding. On the Change of Names. On Dreams. Translated by F. H. Colson, G. H. Whitaker. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 1934.
• Book of Causes: Liber De Causis (English and Latin Edition. Milwaukee: Marquette University Press, 1984.  Moses Maimonides, The Guide of the Perplexed, ed. S. Pines. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1963.
• Avicenna, The Metaphysics of “The Healing”, ed.  M.E. Marmura, Brigham Young University Press, Provo, Utah 2005.
• Thomas Aquinas, Selected Writings, ed. T. McDermott, Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1993.