Marquette University & the Katholieke Universiteit Leuven Fall 2025
Professors Andrea A. Robiglio and Richard C. Taylor
Désiré-Joseph Cardinal Mercier (1851-1926) in the garden of the KUL Institute of Philosophy
Introduction to topic: (forthcoming)
Instuctors’ Office Hours:
Prof. Robiglio: forthcoming
Prof. Taylor: forthcoming
Course Learning Outcomes
By the end of the course, students will be able on their own to understand, interpret, and comment on Aquinas’s philosophical writing, as well as orient themselves in the technical terminology and grasp the meaning and structure of the debated issues, some cases in the context of the Arabic philosophical tradition important to the development of the thought of Aquinas. This includes the development of these skills:
- identifying, summarizing, ‘reconstructing’ the arguments;
- engaging with sophisticated interpretations of problematic textual passages, making use of the primary and secondary sources and interpretive categories implied in them and looking for further conceptual paradigms to uncover the hidden assumptions of the reasoning;
- arguing analytically and historically for or against explanations of the debated issues as they have been presented in the literature;
- conceiving their own argumentative reflection and organizing it according to a concrete and intellectually insightful structure, expressing such an outline in a well-written and possibly elegant paper.
Course Grading and Work Expectations; Due Dates (forthcoming)
Chronology of the Works of Thomas Aquinas
A Chronology of the Works of Albertus Magnus
Some Resources (forthcoming)
Videos and Notes on the Arabic Tradition (forthcoming)
Students who are unable to attend a class in person but would like to connect to the class in live video should contact Prof. Taylor at richard.taylor@kuleuven.be or richard.taylor@marquette.edu at least 30 minutes before the start of class. He will provide the link.
Classes 28 August – 18 September: MU only. Introductions to Aristotle, the Arabic Tradition and Aquinas
Classes 25 September – 4 December: MU & KUL
Classes 11-18 December: KUL only.
Procedures: Student Class Presentations Starting 18 October : Assignments for Presenters and Other Students
Student Presenter teams of 2-3 students will be assigned to prepare presentations on texts and topics assigned by the instructors. Presentations will be made at class weekly followed by discussion and questions for an hour or a bit more.
(1) Instructions for Student Presenter teams:
From their research on the assigned texts & other relevant sources and each topic team of presenters is to provide by the Tuesday before class a handout of no more than 6 single spaced pages plus a 2 page bibliography. This is to be sent to the instructors via email before 23h59 on Tuesday. On Thursday the student presenter team will make a summary oral presentation of 10-15 minutes (no more) which will be followed by comments by the instructors and then general discussion by the class. There will be 1-2 team presentations for each class 16 October – 4 December, with the exception of 30 October.
(2) Instructions for Other Class Students: All students are expected to study the selected primary texts and the handout provided by the presenters. Those students not presenting in the class are expected to read carefully key selections of the texts indicated by the Instructors and to come to class with two or more written questions on the texts, topics and Student team presentations.
Regular Format For Thursday Student Presentations: 9-9:10 (10 min) Profs Robiglio & Taylor Framing Topics; 9:10-10:00 (A) Presentation & Discussion; 10:00-10:10 Break; 10:10-11:00 (B) Presentation & Discussion; 11:00-11:30 Broader or Extended Discussion; then finally Preview for Next Class
Course Meetings (tentative. Precise content for each class forthcoming in Summer.)
(1) 28 August MU only. Human knowing in the Greek Tradition. Link
(2) 4 September MU only. Human knowing in the Arabic Tradition. Link
(3) 11 Sept MU only. Human knowing in the 13th century. Link
(4) 18 Sept MU only: More on Human knowing in the 13th century and Aquinas. Link
(5) 25 Sept MU & KUL
(6) 2 October
(7) 9 Oct
(8) 16 Oct Prof. Taylor at KUL (tentative)
(9) 23 Oct Student presentations begin
(10) 30 Oct
(11) 6 Nov
(12) 13 Nov
(13) 20 Nov
(14) 27 Nov Thanksgiving. KUL students only.
(15) 4 December. Last MU class
(16) 11 Dec KUL short paper presentations
(17) 18 Dec KUL short paper presentations