On Wednesday, June 28, 2023, at 4 p.m., Friar Jesús Manuel RODRÍGUEZ MORALES of the Province of Our Lady of Guadalupe in Mexico defended his doctoral dissertation in philosophy, entitled: “The Genesis of Scotist Anthropology: Ratio seminalis and principium individuationis”. The defense took place in the Sant’Antonio Hall of the Pontifical Antonianum University (PUA) in Rome.
Before the defense, Professor Stéphane OPPES, the Dean of the Faculty of Philosophy and a member of the Examining Commission, greeted those present and gave a presentation on the candidate’s academic curriculum. In 2015, Friar Jesús Manuel graduated from the Franciscan University of Mexico majoring in philosophy. In 2019 he obtained a licentiate degree in philosophy from the PUA. In October of the same year he began his doctoral studies at the Faculty of Philosophy at the same university. Since 2020, he has been collaborating as a teaching assistant at the Catholic University of the Sacred Heart in Rome. He is currently a professor of the history of philosophy at the Pontifical Theological Faculty of St. Bonaventure (Seraphicum) in Rome.
The candidate began the presentation of his dissertation with a moment of prayer. During his presentation, Friar Jesús summarized the substantial elements of his research, with respect to the anthropological philosophy of Blessed John Duns Scotus. Friar Jesús’ work was based on the method of critical hermeneutics, leading him to fully translate the Latin texts into Spanish, in particular, the passages related to the theory of the ratio seminalis (Quaestiones Super Libros Metaphysicorum Aristotelis VII q. 12; Lectura II d. 18 q. 1-2) and principium individuationis (Ordinatio II d. 3 pars 1 q. 1-6). Based on this, Friar Jesús’ interpretation proposed a new interpretation of the theoretical principles of the doctrine of the “Subtle Doctor.”
After a report by the Supervising Professor, Professor Ernesto DEZZA, and the Co-Supervising Professor, Professor Francisco Javier CALPE MELENDRES, the candidate brilliantly answered the questions concerning the problems of knowing the singular, according to Scotus’ theory. Lastly, the final evaluation was presented by the third member of the Examining Commission, Professor Stéphane OPPES.
After a long and fruitful discussion, the Examining Commission withdrew to deliberate on the presentation and the results achieved by the candidate’s dissertation. The Secretary General of the University, Friar Pascal LUSHULI, proclaimed Friar Jesús Manuel a Doctor of Philosophy, with the grade of Summa cum laude and best wishes regarding the upcoming publication of his dissertation.
The academic event concluded with some words of thanks from the new doctor and an acknowlegement of all those who helped make this event possible. We offer our sincerest congratulations to our confrere Jesús for the high academic level he has achieved, and we hope that his life and studies in Franciscan philosophy will bear much fruit and that he will serve God and His Church with generosity and humility.
Friar Alejandro PALACIOS VÁZQUEZ
