Ep. #98 – The Multiplicity of Divine Ideas w/ Dr. Doolan

by John DeRosa · Published May 25, 2020 · Updated May 25, 2020

Summary

What are divine ideas? How should we understand Aquinas’ talk of the multiplicity of divine ideas? How does that jive with the doctrine of divine simplicity? What would Aquinas think of an Augustinian-style proof? Dr. Gregory T. Doolan joins the show to answer these questions and more.

Guest Bio

Gregory T. Doolan received his B.A. in political theory from Georgetown University in 1993 and his Ph.D. in philosophy from The Catholic University of America in 2003. He taught philosophy at the Dominican House of Studies in Washington, D.C. from 2004–05 and joined the faculty of the School of Philosophy at the Catholic University of America in 2005. Dr. Doolan’s research interest is in the area of Aquinas’s metaphysics; in recent years, his focus has been on Aquinas’s account of the Aristotelian categories of being. Dr. Doolan currently lives in Washington, D.C. with his wife and three children. He’s also the author of Aquinas on the Divine Ideas as Exemplar Causes.

Show Outline

In the first segment, Dr. Doolan gives some information about his philosophical background. He talks about what it was like to learn from Dominicans like Fr. Lawrence Dewan.

In the next segment, we discuss what is meant by “ideas” and “divine ideas.” In particular, I ask Dr. Doolan to explain how all of that is consistent with Aquinas’ doctrine of divine simplicity. Additionally, he distinguishes talk of the multiplicity of divine attributes from the multiplicity of divine ideas.

In the final segment, I ask Dr. Doolan about Augustinian-style arguments and what Aquinas may have thought about the procedure. He also comments briefly on mathematical truths.