The Thomistic Institute

Thomas Aquinas: A Medieval Psychologist? | Fr. Cajetan Cuddy, O.P.

Jun 7, 2022
Ask episode
AI Snips
Chapters
Transcript
Episode notes
ANECDOTE

Nephew Shows Trust In Senses

  • Fr. Cajetan Cuddy uses his nephew Abraham licking an ice cream cone versus a pine cone to show children's direct trust in sense perception.
  • The example illustrates how even toddlers grasp external reality without philosophical skepticism.
INSIGHT

Soul Studied By Reason, Not Faith

  • Aquinas treats the human person as both bodily and spiritual and analyzes the soul using reason, not faith.
  • The soul is knowable because it manifests through the body and through intellective acts that are non-physical.
ANECDOTE

Child Reads Mother's Expressions

  • He recounts his niece telling the mother about being hit to show children's grasp of others' inner states via bodily signs.
  • The story illustrates how bodily expressions reveal the soul's states even to young children.
Get the Snipd Podcast app to discover more snips from this episode
Get the app