Medieval Group Lecture: 'Aquinas on the Soul after Death'

Dr Simon Hewitt (University of Leeds) will present a Medieval Group lecture titled 'Aquinas on the Soul after Death'.

Medieval Group

The Medieval Group is the oldest medieval studies-related association at the University and is run by a committee of volunteers from among the staff, postgraduate researchers, and Masters students in the Institute for Medieval Studies (IMS). The Group runs various events, from a seminar series to trips to sites of medieval interest, and invites speakers from a wide range of interdisciplinary topics.

Lectures and workshops are held in the Le Patourel Room (4.06) on the fourth floor of the Parkinson Building. Meetings start at 17:00 with tea and biscuits, with the speaker beginning promptly at 17:30. For further information, contact Melanie Brunner (M.Brunner@leeds.ac.uk). 

Upcoming lecture

Dr Simon Hewitt (Leverhulme Early Career Research Fellow in the School of Philosophy, Religion, and the History of Science, University of Leeds) will present the lecture 'Aquinas on the Soul after Death'. This talk will lay out Aquinas' philosophical anthropology and the issues around the post-morten soul. 

Hewitt explains that Aquinas has a profoundly non-dualistic account of the human person. To be human for him is to be an animal of a certain sort (namely a rational animal) and for a human being to possess a soul simply is for them to be alive in a distinctively human way. Far from being the 'real me', my soul can only be understood in relation to my animal embodied life.  This materialist anthropology sits in strong prima facie tension with Aquinas' belief that the separated soul survives death. 

No philosophical background is assumed. The talk will conclude by gesturing towards some solutions. 

The next event in the Medieval Group series is an event titled 'A Day in the Life of...Librarians', held on 29 April 2019.

All are welcome!