Aquinas on Connaturality and Education

Connatural knowledge is knowledge readily acquired by beings possessing a certain nature. For instance, dogs have knowledge of a scent-world exceeding that of human beings, not because humans lack noses, but because dogs are by nature better suited to process olfaction. As various ethicists have arg...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: MOONEY, T. Brian, NOWACKI, Mark
Format: text
Language:English
Published: Institutional Knowledge at Singapore Management University 2012
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Online Access:https://ink.library.smu.edu.sg/soss_research/1215
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-007-5261-0_3
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Institution: Singapore Management University
Language: English
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Summary:Connatural knowledge is knowledge readily acquired by beings possessing a certain nature. For instance, dogs have knowledge of a scent-world exceeding that of human beings, not because humans lack noses, but because dogs are by nature better suited to process olfaction. As various ethicists have argued, possession of the virtues involves a sort of connatural knowing. Here, connatural knowledge emerges as a knowledge by inclination which systematically tracks the specific moral interests we humans possess precisely because we are human. In this essay we explore the importance of connaturality for moral education.