Paper Proposal Submission Form

We welcome proposals pertaining to any aspect of the conference theme. Possible topics may include:

• The definition of virtue and questions that arise from virtue as a habit of the soul: How does virtue perfect the powers of the soul? How is virtue related to happiness? What is the relation between the different kinds of virtue (practical and theoretical, natural and supernatural)? How, and why, does St. Thomas distinguish between acquired and infused moral virtues? Why are certain virtues ordered toward the common good in a special way (e.g., legal justice in the natural order and charity in the supernatural order)? What are the advantages and disadvantages of a moral philosophy (or moral theology) that focuses on the virtues as opposed to the precepts?
• The definition of law and questions that arise from the elements of that definition: What is the relation between law as a work of reason and a compulsive power? How, and to what degree, can law be said to move reason — by teaching — and to what degree does it move the passions and emotions? How is law related to punishment or, more broadly, to the use of compulsive force? What gives law its authority, and how should we think about the relation between the whole multitude as an origin or source of authority and those who are entrusted by the community to make law, execute law, or judge according to the law? How is law promulgated, and can law be promulgated in different ways?
• The division of law into kinds (e.g., eternal law, natural law, human law, divine law) and questions that focus on peculiar features of the different kinds of law: How does the eternal law govern rational creatures as opposed to irrational creatures? Is the eternal law insofar as it governs irrational creatures the same as the “laws of nature” considered by modern natural science? Does knowledge of the natural law require an explicit knowledge of God as its author? What sort of order is found among the precepts of the natural law? How is human law related to the precepts of the natural law? What are the limitations of the power of human law, and what are the reasons why human law is limited? Why is a divinely revealed law necessary to compensate for the defects or limitations of human law? What is the relation between the different kinds of divine law (e.g., how is the Mosaic law related to the New Law, the law of grace)?
• Questions that arise from the definition of the common good and different kinds of common goods: What exactly is meant by the common good? What does it mean to say that the end of law is the common good? What is the relation between the political common good and the common good of the whole universe? What about the relation between the political common good and the common good of the heavenly city? Does St. Thomas’s teaching on law and the common good presuppose or imply some kind of integration of church and state, or papal and political authority? If so, in what circumstances and to what degree? Are the theoretical or contemplative virtues ordered toward a common good and, if so, how do they differ from the way in which the moral virtues are ordered toward a common good?

Preference will be given to paper proposals that fit under the conference theme and engage directly with the text of St. Thomas. Most presenters should plan on roughly 20-25 minutes reading time, with additional time for Q&A.

Please submit a titled, 500-word abstract by February 19, 2024. Authors will be notified by February 29, 2024.

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