Why Study Philosophy

Why Study Philosophy By Nicholas Duncan

For a man that already has a college degree, the seminarian process involves six additonal years of study, two years of philosophy and four years of theology. Parishioners are often surprised to find out how much time we dedicate to philosophy. When men apply to seminary, most do not know they will be studying philosophy at all. You might ask, couldn’t we save a lot of time and money if we just removed philosophy from the curriculum, shortening the time they spend in seminary so that they can return to the diocese and minister to the people?

From the early days of the Church, philosophy has always been part of the formation of priests. Most of the early Fathers of the Church, and even St. Paul, were philosophers or received training in philosophy. Philosophy is considered the “handmaiden” of theology, a tool used to serve theology. Similar to how arithmetic is the handmaiden (servant) of algebra. You must learn the basics of addition, subtraction, multiplication and division before you can apply this knowledge revealing the higher truths of more advanced math. A seminarian must learn the principles of philosophy: logic, language, dialectics and argumentation before they can advance to the divine truths of theology. This has traditionally been one of the main reasons theologians have studied philosophy prior to theology.

The argument can be made that the study of philosophy is even more important today than it was in the early days of the Church. The early Church struggled with questions of theology: What is the nature of the trinity? How to reconcile Christ’s divine and human natures? How can bread and wine become the actual Body and Blood of Jesus? And they used tools from philosophy to prove, define, and explain these

truths that we know through faith. Today, the concerns facing the Church and all of contemporary society are often not theological concerns but are philosophical in nature: Is human nature distinct from animals? Has science disproved the existence of God? Can there be more than one Truth? How many genders are there? People struggling with these concerns are often swayed by arguments from reason not through faith.

The philosophy curriculum at a Catholic seminary is not what you would find at your average college campus. Most universities begin their programs at the start of the Modern Period with Rene Descartes from the 17th century and his famous “Cogito ergo sum: I think therefore I am.” In this statement Descartes turns away from the universe to focus on himself. He throws out all of the philosophical knowledge gained over the last 2,000 years, and rejects the idea that anything exists for a reason. Most philosophers follow his principles and those from the philosophers that follow his tradition of jettisoning with the past treating the philosophy of antiquity as a novelty while ignoring the notion that the medieval period produced any philosophy at all.

In Catholic seminaries we study the moderns but we began our study with Thales of Miletus the first philosopher of record who died in the 6th century B.C. and end with the Post-Modern period of today, encompassing the entire tradition of Western Philosophy. The Church requires that an emphasis is placed on the philosophy of Aristotle from ancient Greece and St. Thomas Aquinas from the 13th century. Vatican II describes the philosophy of St. Thomas as the “Perennial Philosophy.” This school of philosophical thought is known as Realism; the belief that the objects we encounter in the world actually exist, that truth can be known, and that we can categorize particular things by what they have in common, their characteristics and qualities.

My study of philosophy has helped me discern the truth around me, distinguish between valid and invalid arguments, given me an understanding of ethics, what it is to be human, the use of philosophy in science, and most importantly it has strengthened my relationship/understanding of God.

If you would like more information on the priesthood, contact Fr. Jerry Daigle: jdaigle@dioshpt.org, or call 318-868-4441.