During the last week of May 2016, we were honored to receive a visit from Professor Eleonore Stump, the Robert H. Henle Professor at Saint Louis University (USA), where she has taught since 1992. She has an extensive list of publications in the areas of Philosophy of Religion, Contemporary Metaphysics, and Medieval Philosophy. She is a past President of the Society of Christian Philosophers, the American Catholic Philosophical Association, and the American Philosophical Association (Central Division); and is a member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. She has delivered the prestigious Gifford Lectures (Aberdeen, 2003), Wilde Lectures (Oxford, 2006), and Stewart Lectures (Princeton, 2009).
Professor Stump participated in the closing meeting of the Cluster Group led by Dr. Mariano Asla and Dr. Omar Pivetta, entitled “Human Disgrace and Divine Grace in Suffering,” which explored the issue of human suffering throughout 2015. The group was funded by the John Templeton Foundation as part of the “Special Divine Action” Project at the Iam Ramsey Centre (University of Oxford). This meeting took place on Monday, May 23, and focused on a Thomistic approach to the problem of human suffering.
On Tuesday, May 24, Professor [Name] delivered an open lecture at the Faculty of Biomedical Sciences entitled “The Problem of Evil and the Desires of the Heart.” Approximately 80 people attended, including students and professors from the University's Nursing, Medicine, and Psychology programs, as well as researchers, philosophers, and teachers from various educational institutions, and staff from the Good Samaritan Hospice. The lecture video can be viewed here.
On Thursday, the 26th, Eleonore Stump led the first meeting of the "Person, Mind, and Brain" Seminar at the Institute of Philosophy. This seminar will alternate between scientific and philosophical perspectives, aiming for an interdisciplinary understanding of the human person. On this occasion, Professor Stump spoke about "Mind-reading, Empathy, and the Knowledge of Persons," addressing the ability to read others' intentions, the function of mirror neurons, and how this ability is affected in individuals with autism. The text of her presentation, translated into Spanish, can be found here.
