Sophomores dispute medieval philosophy in ‘Disputatio’ to gain valuable skills for public life

“If God is infinite goodness, then why does evil exist?” This and other such questions were thrust upon sophomores at The University of Scranton recently.
            The students, members of the University’s Special Jesuit Liberal Arts (SJLA) Honors Program, had to dispute the findings of St. Thomas Aquinas through questions such as these in front of a panel of professors and an audience of upper-class SJLA Honors Program students. The “disputatio” served as an oral examination for the sophomores’ “Metaphysics” course.
            Daniel Haggerty, Ph.D., director of SJLA Honors Program and associate professor of philosophy, added the oral component this year to round out the other oral components of the program – between the ancient style of “The Trivium” and the modern style of “Philosophy of Conscience.”
            Dressed in his academic regalia, Dr. Haggerty and his colleagues questioned and challenged the logical abilities of his students. Fellow panelists included Duane Armitage, Ph.D., and Andrew LaZella, Ph.D., of the Philosophy Department; with Michael Bellafiore, S.J., and Patrick Clark, Ph.D., of the Theology Department. To add to the challenge, students were not previously acquainted with the examination questions or the other panelists.   
“Explaining what you know, orally, really tests what you understand,” Dr. Haggerty said. “Oral presentation requires and demonstrates a depth of understanding that, in some way, reaches further than written expression.”
The benefits of this assignment are far-reaching, Dr. Haggerty claimed, because these students have great potential to be future doctors, lawyers, diplomats and leaders. This exercise is another way of preparing them for interviews and public life.
“The questions that they face are more natural, more organic and unpredictable, just like the questions that they are going to face in life, if they go on to positions of leadership anywhere in society,” Dr. Haggerty explained. “Thinking in a logically ordered way on your feet is an incredibly valuable skill for public life.”

Catherine Erbicella ’14, Media, is a management major with a minor in philosophy and participant in the Special Jesuit Liberal Arts Honors Program and the Business Leadership Honors Program at The University of Scranton.