Seminar 6: The Human Person I
De Chardin, P. (1966) Man's Place in the Universe: reflections on complexity. In "The Vision of the Past." Collins, London, Chapter 15, pp. 216-233.
Stoeger, W. J. (1998) The Immanent Directionality of the Evolutionary Process, and its Relationship to Teleology, In "Evolutionary and Molecular Biology: Scientific Perspectives on Divine Action." R.J. Rusell, W.R. Stoeger, S.J. and F.J. Ayala (eds.). Vatican Observatory Publications, Vatican City State, Center for Theology and the Natural Sciene, Berkely, California, pp. 163-190.
Stoeger, W. J. , S.J. (1999 ) The Mind-Brain Problem, The Laws of Nature and Constitutive Relationships. In "Neuroscience and the Person: Scientific Perspectives on Divine Action," R. J. Russell, N. Murphy, T. C. Meyering, and M. A. Arbib (eds.) Vatican Observatory Publications, Vatican City, pp. 129–146.
Shutte, A. The Vanishing Agent. Lecture Notes pp. 1-7.
Assignment to come.
Seminar 7:
The Human Person II (see supplement for readings)Ayala, F.J. (1998) Human nature: One evolutionist's view. In "Whatever happened to the soul? Scientific and theological portraits of human nature. W. S. Brown, N Murphy and H.N. Murray (eds). Fortress Press, pp. 31-48.
Brown, W.S. (1998) Cognitive contributions to soul. Ibid. pp. 99-126.
Murphy, N. (1998) Human nature; Historical, scientific, and religious issues. Ibid. pp. 1-30.
In most religious traditions the uniqueness of human beings in relation to the other animals have been emphasised. In Christianity, for example, it is often claim that humans are unique because they were created in the image of God, because only humans have a soul, because humans are rational, self-conscious animals, or because humans possess a free will while the other animals act in an instinctive way. These claims have great moral significance since they provide the basis for maintaining the inalienable dignity of every human being. From a scientific perspective there is much that suggests that human uniqueness is a matter of degree - humans have a great deal in common with other livings things. How, then, should human distinctiveness be described and moral significance of such a description be assessed?
Seminar 8: Philosophy of Religion
Schillebeeckx, E. (19) The Sorrow of God’s Concealment. pp. 78-89.
Shutte, A. Religion. Lecture Notes pp. 1 – 22.
Moore, S. (1982) What is self-awareness? In "The Inner Loneliness." Crossroad, New York, pp. 7-19.
Assignment to come.
Note: the assignments are preparatory to the seminar and must be handed in by midday on the Monday preceding the seminar.
