Seamus O'Neill
Seamus O’Neill is Associate Professor of Ancient and Medieval Philosophy at The Memorial University of Newfoundland. Dr. O’Neill’s main philosophical interests are Ancient and Medieval Philosophy generally, Metaphysics, and the Philosophy of Religion. His current research deals with St. Augustine and other thinkers such as Plotinus, Boethius, St. Thomas Aquinas, and St. Bonaventure and their relation to the Neoplatonic tradition, specifically concerning the question of human/divine mediation. He is co-editor of 'Neoplatonic Demons and Angels' (Brill, 2018), and has published articles and book chapters on figures such as St. Augustine, Porphyry, Iamblichus, Boethius, St. Anselm, St. Thomas Aquinas, and Dante, and on the history of Platonic thought, demonology, the problem of evil, and the relation between ancient and scholastic thought and contemporary philosophical trends. His recent SSHRC grant was entitled, "Reconstructing the Demonology of St. Augustine" (2014-2017). Currently, he is writing a book-length manuscript on the results of this research while working on the demonology of St. Thomas Aquinas and its philosophical import. Dr. O’Neill regularly teaches undergraduate and graduate courses on Plato, Aristotle, Boethius, Dante, Neoplatonic thought, and the histories of Ancient and Medieval Philosophy, and has also taught courses on Greek and Roman myth and drama, and the Latin language.
Supervisors: Prof. Wayne J. Hankey
Phone: 709-864-8332
Address: Memorial University of Newfoundland
St. John's, NL
A1C 5S7
Office: AA 3100
Supervisors: Prof. Wayne J. Hankey
Phone: 709-864-8332
Address: Memorial University of Newfoundland
St. John's, NL
A1C 5S7
Office: AA 3100
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Edited Volumes by Seamus O'Neill
Published Papers by Seamus O'Neill
Augustine is well-known for advocating a ‘privation theory’ of evil. In Confessions, he writes that “evil has no existence except as a privation of good, down to that level which is altogether without being.” The problem with privation theories of evil generally is that they do not provide a robust enough account of the activity and power of evil to cause the very real ef- fects for which experience demands a rational explanation. For Augustine, however, privation alone does not fully account for evil in all of its manifestations. The privation account of evil receives much scholarly treatment, but it is only part of the complete Augustinian picture. This paper outlines four accounts of evil in Augustine : evil as privation, as parasitic on being, as perversion of the will, and as conflict of interest. Each deals with a kind of evil, but none alone provides a complete account. Taken together, however, with their differences in mind, Augus- tine’s explanation of evil is shown to be much more sophisticated and comprehensive than is often recognised when one limits one’s understanding of Augustine’s conception of evil to the privation theory alone.
Book Chapters by Seamus O'Neill
Book Reviews by Seamus O'Neill
Augustine is well-known for advocating a ‘privation theory’ of evil. In Confessions, he writes that “evil has no existence except as a privation of good, down to that level which is altogether without being.” The problem with privation theories of evil generally is that they do not provide a robust enough account of the activity and power of evil to cause the very real ef- fects for which experience demands a rational explanation. For Augustine, however, privation alone does not fully account for evil in all of its manifestations. The privation account of evil receives much scholarly treatment, but it is only part of the complete Augustinian picture. This paper outlines four accounts of evil in Augustine : evil as privation, as parasitic on being, as perversion of the will, and as conflict of interest. Each deals with a kind of evil, but none alone provides a complete account. Taken together, however, with their differences in mind, Augus- tine’s explanation of evil is shown to be much more sophisticated and comprehensive than is often recognised when one limits one’s understanding of Augustine’s conception of evil to the privation theory alone.