Thomas Pfau will discuss his book Minding the Modern: Human Agency, Intellectual Traditions, and Responsible Knowledge (Notre Dame, 2013) in a colloquy April 17 at Nashotah House Theological Seminary. The free colloquy will begin at 3 p.m. Registration is required, as space is limited.
Minding the Modern is a detailed study of modernity, the nature of human agency, and contemporary study of the humanities. Pfau outlines the eclipse of Aristotelian philosophy as it pertains to knowledge and action, and explores the consequences of this development for humanistic reflection and inquiry.
The book includes extended critical discussions of a considerable range of figures, including Aristotle, Augustine, Aquinas, Ockham, Hobbes, and Schopenhauer. Pfau employs the work of Coleridge, Newman, and others in recovering viable accounts of agency, judgment, and understanding.
Pfau is Professor of English at Duke University. He holds secondary appointments in Duke Divinity School and in Germanic languages and literature.