My Dinner Party Paper

1964 Words4 Pages

Introduction
I chose Akbar the Mughal Emperor, Procopius, and Thomas Aquinas as my three to attend a dinner party. I knew I wanted to write about knowledge. Originally, I wanted to include the Queen of Sheba as a member of the dinner party, but I questioned whether I would be able to include enough about this character. My first choice was Thomas Aquinas, because he focused on reason as a way to acquire knowledge. This means that knowledge is internal for him. One section in the Summa Theologica is the “Gift of Knowledge”. I also wanted to play with Aquinas’ writing style. I chose Akbar because he invited so many diverse scholars to speak about a wide array of topics. I use his character to discuss the ways we use knowledge. My final choice was Procopius. I chose Procopius instead of the Queen of Sheba, so I could bring up how we present our knowledge and how our knowledge evolves. Procopius wrote The Secret History and the History of the Wars. These works have alternate views of Justinian, that evolved with events during that time period. My goal is to find a conclusion from these about the value of knowledge, how knowledge is used, and how knowledge is presented.
Thomas Aquinas was born the 13th century in Italy. At fifteen, Thomas Aquinas was sent to the University of Naples. During this time, he was exposed to Aristotle. Although Aquinas did not agree with many of Aristotle’s arguments, he fell in love with his style of argument. It was also during this time he learned to use this method to preach, with other Dominicans. He went on to study with other friars in Cologne. Then, he was sent onto Paris where he settled the strike between the papal authority and the professors who taught Aristotle. In 1260, he wrote his master...

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...writers? Looks were exchanged, pages were ripped out, and who knows what was kept from this document. Having a record is the best way to present the gift of knowledge, so that we can make the world better but so much is affected by the surrounding situation. Our knowledge is fallible.”

Works Cited

Aquinas, Thomas. "Of the Gift of Knowledge." In Summa Theologica, by Thomas Aquinas, 423-424. n.d.
Evans, J.A.S. "Justinian and the Historian Procopius." Greece and Rome, 1970: 218-223.
McCabe, Herbert. On Aquinas. New York: Burns and Oates, 2008.
Monserrate, S.J., Trans. Hoylands, S.J. The Commentary of Father Monserrate, S.J. On his Journey to the Court of Akbar. London: Milford, 1922.
Procopius, and translated by Richard Atwater. The Secret History. Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press, 1961.
Sayre, Henry. The Humanities: Part 2. New Jersey: Prentice Hall, 2012.

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