This course examines the concepts central to the ancient and medieval tradition that begins with Aristotle and reaches its zenith in the 13th and 14th century in the thought of Aquinas, Scotus and Ockham. Topics addressed will include: substance, the categories, the four causes, logic and deduction, the definition of the soul, the kind of good proper to the human being, and the different functions of the mind in Aristotelian psychology. Understanding the meaning of each in the history of philosophy provides a backdrop for understanding the deployment of the same language in a theological context, both within the medieval church context and now. Authors studied may include Aristotle, Avicenna, Averroes (Ibn Rushd), Thomas Aquinas, John Duns Scotus, William of Ockham, Paul VI, and John Paul II.