Lyceum Institute Faculty Fellow John Boyer gave a lecture for the Thomistic Institute on 18 July 2024 of this year concerning the “Ontological Status of Light and Color in St. Thomas Aquinas”. Prof. Boyer’s discussion focuses on the role of light in the operations of vision.
While many might discard the physical theories of antiquity as being outdated and inaccurate as to the mechanisms in question, there are (I would argue), two key reasons that their study is important. The first is that their principles are sound, even when they mistake the nature and function of the mechanism, and by better grasping these principles we better understand even the more-accurate discoveries of recent centuries. The second is that these discussions—particularly of so important a faculty as vision—help us better understand their noetic theories.
Prof. Boyer’s exposition of Aquinas here constitutes a valuable contribution to our understanding in both regards. Listen here!
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