Do Trees Have Souls? | Prof. Joshua Hochschild

<p>Professor Hochschild explores the question of whether trees have souls through the lens of Aristotelian biology, emphasizing the importance of empirical observation and questioning modern biology's approach.</p><p><br /></p><p>This lecture was given on September 13th, 2024, at University of North Florida.</p><p><br /></p><p>For more information on upcoming events, visit us at <a href="https://dashboard.cohostpodcasting.com/shows/fedb9eb7-b992-446b-be01-01cd62afd823/episodes/thomisticinstitute.org/upcoming-events" target="_blank">thomisticinstitute.org/upcoming-events</a>.</p><p><br /></p><p>About the Speaker:</p><p><br /></p><p><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0); background-color: transparent;">Joshua Hochschild is Professor of Philosophy at Mount St. Mary’s University, where he also served six years as the inaugural Dean of the College of Liberal Arts. His primary research is in medieval logic, metaphysics, and ethics, with broad interest in liberal education and the continuing relevance of the Catholic intellectual tradition. He is the author of </span><em style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0); background-color: transparent;">The Semantics of Analogy: Rereading Cajetan’s De Nominum Analogia</em><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0); background-color: transparent;"> (2010), translator of Claude Panaccio’s </span><em style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0); background-color: transparent;">Mental Language: From Plato to William of Ockham </em><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0); background-color: transparent;">(2017), and co-author of </span><em style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0); background-color: transparent;">A Mind at Peace: Reclaiming an Ordered Soul in the Age of Distraction </em><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0); background-color: transparent;">(2017). His writing has appeared in </span><em style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0); background-color: transparent;">First Things, Commonweal, Modern Age</em><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0); background-color: transparent;"> and the </span><em style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0); background-color: transparent;">Wall Street Journal.</em><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0); background-color: transparent;"> For 2020-21 he served as President of the American Catholic Philosophical Association.</span></p><p><br /></p><p><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0); background-color: transparent;">Keywords: </span>Aristotelian Biology, Aristotle, Empirical Observation, Natural Philosophy, Nature, Plant Souls, Soul, Thomas Aquinas, Trees</p>