An Essay on Theological Aesthetics in the Summa halensis

Thesis advisor: Boyd Taylor CoolmanMany vaunt the Summa halensis, conceived but not drafted entirely by Alexander of Hales, for its aesthetics. Few, however, read the text’s aesthetics theologically—as a teaching about God. This dissertation argues that Alexander’s aesthetics are deeply and inexorably theological. It takes as its keystone a passage in which Alexander identifies beauty with the “sacred order of the divine persons.” If beauty be a trinitarian structure instead of a divine attribute, then we should find beauty where we find Trinity. This dissertation trawls the massive Summa halensis for trinitarian beauty. And it finds beauty nearly everywhere. The result is a study of Alexander’s aesthetics that appreciates beauty beyond the constricted limits and categories of modern aesthetics.Thesis (PhD) — Boston College, 2018.Submitted to: Boston College. Graduate School of Arts and Sciences.Discipline: Theology