Thomas Aquinas on Self-Knowledge and the Nature of Thought

Abstract

Aquinas is usually thought to have a theory of "indirect" self-knowledge, according to which the mind only knows itself in a second-order act that reflects on a first-order act directed toward extramental objects.

Against this interpretation, I argue that for Aquinas, a form of self-awareness is already intrinsic to every intellectual act; one is aware of oneself in one's acts, as the acting subject. Aquinas derives this account of self-awareness from his metaphysics of the intellect, reviving a long tradition according to which all thinking is necessarily self-aware.

When & Where?

Wednesday, 21 January 2015, 3.15-5 pm
Faculty of Philosophy, Room Omega