S H M S A LU M N A
Catherine Peters
C O N N E C T S P H I LO S O P H Y W I T H T H E R E A L W O R L D
I
completed my BA in philosophy at Sacred Heart Major Seminary in 2012, after which I began graduate
studies at the Center for Thomistic Studies at the University of St. Thomas in Houston, Texas. I earned
my MA in philosophy in 2014 and am now finishing my PhD in philosophy. My dissertation investigates the
meaning of “nature” in the Physics of the Healing, one of the most important works of Avicenna, a medieval
Persian thinker, who was one of the major sources for Thomas Aquinas. I have just accepted a tenure-track
position at Loyola Marymount University in Los Angeles, where I will be assistant professor of Medieval
Philosophy, with a particular focus on medieval Arabic thought.
I first encountered philosophy at
SHMS, where I received a rigorous and
systematic training in the Catholic philo-
sophical tradition. While I had never for-
mally studied philosophy (in fact, had only
vague ideas of what it was!) I was immedi-
ately drawn to it in Fr. Berg’s Ancient and
Medieval philosophy course and, within a
month of beginning my studies, I started
to think about graduate school. While I
loved philosophy, though, I was torn be-
tween pursuing it instead of theology or a
more “practical” area (such as medicine),
which I thought would be of more imme-
diate service to other people. While think-
ing though these options I realized, first,
that many of the theological problems and
evangelization difficulties that I saw were
caused or exacerbated by philosophical
mistakes and second, that philosophy was
indispensible for human life even if not im-
mediately ‘practical’ because everyone is,
in some way, called to ask and try to an-
swer the questions that philosophy poses.
It was in realizing both of these things
that I came to see my own pursuit of phi-
losophy as a way to serve other people, one
that is important to the task of the New
Evangelization. How are we supposed to
understand how Christ is the Way, the
Truth, and the Life, if there is no such
thing as truth? How are we to defend the
Church’s moral teachings if we do not
know what the human being is, or of what
human flourishing consists? I often call to
mind Thomas Aquinas’ claim that “faith
presupposes natural knowledge as grace
presupposes nature, and as perfection pre-
supposes what can be perfected.” (ST I, 2)
The New Evangelization is strengthened
when we have a better foundation of natu-
ral knowledge and laying this foundation
is one of philosophy’s tasks.
Both as a student and now as an instruc-
tor I have come to realize the importance
of making philosophy accessible to others.
It is not enough to recite what I know; it
must be made intelligible and relevant.
Philosophy offers powerful tools for think-
ing clearly and precisely, but it must be
communicated. My earliest practice in try-
ing to do this was tutoring my classmates
at SHMS, an experience I drew on when
“The splendor of truth
shines forth in all the
works of the Creator and,
in a special way, in man,
created in the image and
likeness of God.”
- S t . J ohn P aul II
teaching The Philosophy of Nature at St.
Mary’s Seminary.
It was a privilege to lead my own class
with the seminarians here in Houston
and it was a joy to see them connect what
we discussed to their theological studies
and vocations. The opportunity to teach
The Philosophy of the Human Person at UST
was equally invigorating as it allowed me
to speak with students of diverse back-
grounds and interests. Teaching this sub-
ject reminded me of John Paul II’s ex-
hortation, “The splendor of truth shines
forth in all the works of the Creator and,
in a special way, in man, created in the im-
age and likeness of God.”
It was a delight for us, differences not-
withstanding, to seek answers to funda-
mental questions about human nature
and life. Of course, all this starts with
the basic philosophy courses as taught at
schools such as SHMS. I know that it is
sometimes hard for beginning students to
see the connections between these classes
and real life, but I can assure them, those
connections do exist and they are very
much worth developing. I have missed
teaching in the last year as I have focused
on finishing my dissertation, but I am ea-
ger to be back in the classroom at LMU
this coming fall.
Catherine Peters earned a Bachelor of Arts from
Sacred Heart Major Seminary in 2012.
shms.edu
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