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An Essay on Theological Aesthetics in the Summa halensis

Thesis advisor: Boyd Taylor Coolman / Many vaunt the Summa halensis, conceived but not drafted entirely by Alexander of Hales, for its aesthetics. Few, however, read the text’s aesthetics theologically—as a teaching about God. This dissertation argues that Alexander’s aesthetics are deeply and inexorably theological. It takes as its keystone a passage in which Alexander identifies beauty with the “sacred order of the divine persons.” If beauty be a trinitarian structure instead of a divine attribute, then we should find beauty where we find Trinity. This dissertation trawls the massive Summa halensis for trinitarian beauty. And it finds beauty nearly everywhere. The result is a study of Alexander’s aesthetics that appreciates beauty beyond the constricted limits and categories of modern aesthetics. / Thesis (PhD) — Boston College, 2018. / Submitted to: Boston College. Graduate School of Arts and Sciences. / Discipline: Theology.

Identiferoai:union.ndltd.org:BOSTON/oai:dlib.bc.edu:bc-ir_108255
Date January 2018
CreatorsCoyle, Justin Shaun
PublisherBoston College
Source SetsBoston College
LanguageEnglish
Detected LanguageEnglish
TypeText, thesis
Formatelectronic, application/pdf
RightsCopyright is held by the author, with all rights reserved, unless otherwise noted.

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