Papers by Blake Dutton
Augustiniana (73) 1, 1-29, 2023
Among the aims of Augustine’s Soliloquia – a dialogue between Augustine and himself in the guise ... more Among the aims of Augustine’s Soliloquia – a dialogue between Augustine and himself in the guise of Reason – is to establish that the soul is immortal. This aim is accomplished by Reason, who presents Augustine with a proof of the immortality of the soul that has come to be known as the ‘in-subiecto’ proof. After discussing the motivation that underlies it, the paper gives a simple presentation of the proof as a deductive argument and examines its premises one by one in an effort to clarify their meaning and lay bare their justification. It then identifies two problems that the proof faces. These are: (i) in its appeal to the presence of the discipline of disputation in the soul to establish the soul’s immortality, the proof equivocates in its treatment of that discipline, and (ii) in its identification of the discipline of disputation with truth, the proof implausibly suggests that (a) the discipline of disputation is that by which all true things are true and that (b) God (who is also identified with truth) is ontologically dependent on the soul. The objective in identifying these problems is not to pass judgment on the proof. Rather, it is to foster philosophical in addition to exegetical understanding of it.
History of Philosophy & Logical Analysis, 2020
In The Quantity of the Soul, Augustine puts forward the view that the soul is immaterial and that... more In The Quantity of the Soul, Augustine puts forward the view that the soul is immaterial and that its quantity (quantitas) must be understood in terms of power rather than spatial extension. Against this view, his friend and interlocutor Evodius raises an important objection, The Objection from Touch, which argues that the soul’s exercise of tactile sensation requires that it be extended through the parts of the body. This paper examines Evodius’s objection and Augustine’s response to it. Particular attention is given to certain features of Augustine’s theory of sensation that this exchange reveals, especially his view that the eyes undergo passion-at-a-distance or are acted on at a place where they are not present.
Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy, 2003
Full length encyclopedia article that focuses on the Ethics.
The Modern Schoolman, 1993
William Mann, ed., Augustine's Confessions: Philosophy in Autobiography (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2014)
Continuum Encyclopedia of British Philosophy, 2006
Medieval Philosophy and Theology, 2001
Medieval Philosophy and Theology, 1996
American Catholic Philosophical Quarterly, 1993
Journal of the History of Philosophy, 1996
Journal of the History of Philosophy, 1999
British Journal for the History of Philosophy, 2003
Books by Blake Dutton
Cornell University Press, 2016
Book Reviews by Blake Dutton
Journal of the History of Philosophy, 2002
118 JOURNAL OF THE HISTORY OF PHILOSOPHY 40:1 JANUARY 2002 Philo taught both ethics and rhetoric.... more 118 JOURNAL OF THE HISTORY OF PHILOSOPHY 40:1 JANUARY 2002 Philo taught both ethics and rhetoric. Brittain reconstructs Philo's positive ethics from an Eclogue of Stobaeus. It was not a dogmatic theory, he says, but rather something analo-gous to Empiricist ...
Journal of the History of Philosophy, 2003
Philosophical Books, 1995
Page 1. Rationality and Theistic Belief An Essay on Reformed Epistemology MARKS. MCLEOD CORNELL S... more Page 1. Rationality and Theistic Belief An Essay on Reformed Epistemology MARKS. MCLEOD CORNELL STUDIES IN THE PHILOSOPHY OF RELIGION Page 2. Page 3. Page 4. Rationality and Theistic Belief An Essay on Reformed ...
Journal of the History of Philosophy, 2000
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Papers by Blake Dutton
Books by Blake Dutton
Book Reviews by Blake Dutton