Inaugural philosophy workshop at Mount Saint Mary College

In a unique forum for analysis of perplexing questions of the day, the Catholic and Dominican Institute of Mount Saint Mary College, will host an inaugural philosophy workshop: Thomas Aquinas and Contemporary Philosophy, June 23-26, 2011, 330 Powell Avenue, Newburgh, N.Y. There is a very limited number of slots still available.

The Thomistic Institute, Dominican House of Studies, Washington, D.C., will co-sponsor the event.

Thomas Aquinas, an Italian priest in the Dominican Order of Preachers, was an influential philosopher and theologian. His interest in the relationship between faith and reason, and how they work together to reveal truth, is as relevant today as in the 13th century.

At the Thomas Aquinas and Contemporary Philosophy Workshop at Mount Saint Mary College, a session devoted to this debate will analyze Aquinas’s intriguing reconciliation of these seemingly opposed approaches to life, said Charles Zola, director of the Catholic and Dominican Institute and a philosophy professor at Mount Saint Mary College in Newburgh, N.Y.

Charles Morerod, OP, rector of the Pontifical University of St. Thomas Aquinas, known as the Angelicum in Rome, and Secretary of the International Theological Commission, will give the keynote address.

The workshop will feature a distinctive opportunity for participants to hear thought-provoking presentations and to meet informally with world-class Aquinas scholars for one-on-one conversations, something that may not occur at larger conferences.

Scholars, students and the general public will also benefit from discussions of Aquinas’s thoughts relating to the Jewish intellectual tradition, and human happiness as expressed in virtue ethics.

Other speakers include: James Brent, OP, The Catholic University of America, Washington, DC; Lawrence Dewan, OP, Dominican University College, Ottawa, Canada; Dr. Alfred J. Freddoso and Dr. John O’Callaghan, University of Notre Dame; Notre Dame, Ind.; Dr. Joshua Hochschild, Mount St. Mary’s University, Emmitsburg, Md.; Dr. Gyula Klima and Joseph Koterski, SJ, Fordham University, Bronx, N.Y.; and Thomas Joseph White, OP, director of the Thomistic Institute.

Mount Saint Mary College’s Catholic and Dominican Institute is rooted in the Catholic intellectual tradition. It promotes the college’s Dominican heritage; advances the Dominican charism of learning and service; provides a forum for discussion of contemporary ethical issues; and enhances Catholic and Jewish dialogue.

Guided by the college’s vision and mission statement, the Institute welcomes persons of varied faiths and acknowledges different religious traditions as essential to the college’s intellectual and spiritual life.

For information and reservations for the Thomas Aquinas and Contemporary Philosophy workshop, call 845-569-3467 or visit www.msmc.edu/CDI