Abstract
dc:description.abstractThis dissertation draws on the philosophy of Thomas Aquinas to think through questions about sex and gender in light of contemporary thinking, particularly questions drawn from feminist and gender theory. In chapter two, I present the metaphysics of sex differentiation as an accidental difference between humans, and I propose that much of the social layering of sex that we call gender should belong to Aquinas’s category of habitus. In chapter three, I put in question whether taking up sex differentiation into a gender identity-shaping categorization actively promotes virtue development in children, or is outside the range of parental authority because it is not in the interests of the child’s flourishing as a human. In chapter four, I argue that a traditional natural law sexual morality as developed by Aquinas provides no moral basis for our gendered experience of erotic love. In chapter five, I argue that law and custom in Aquinas are cultural modes of promulgating the natural law; where these are flawed, the natural law will fail to be promulgated completely. I propose that gender in language and custom has exactly the kinds of effects that can be theorized to produce a preferencing of appetite over reason in human society and to create the conditions for widespread failure of knowledge of natural law. In chapter six, I outline a reading of Scripture and the patristic tradition that suggests that the narrative of salvation history has always been about bringing humanity to the point where we could see our gendered problem for ourselves.
Degree
thesis:*- Name thesis:degree_name
- Ph.D.
- Level thesis:degree_level
- Doctoral
- Grantor
- Baylor University.
- Year dc:date.issued
- 2026
Author and committee
dc:creator, dc:contributor.*- Author dc:creator
-
- Myers, Sarah Rachel, 1991-
- Advisor dc:contributor.advisor
-
- Ward, Thomas M.
Subjects
dc:subject × 4Rights
dc:rights- Statement dc:rights
-
- Baylor University works are protected by copyright. They may be viewed from this source for any purpose, but reproduction or distribution in any format is prohibited without written permission. Contact libraryquestions@baylor.edu for inquiries about permission.
- Language dc:language.iso
- en
Identifiers
dc:identifier.*- Handle dc:identifier.uri
- https://hdl.handle.net/2104/14767
- OAI identifier oai:identifier
- oai:baylor-ir.tdl.org:2104/14767