Lawrence Dewan Chair
Philosophy and Saint Thomas Aquinas
The philosophical and theological works of Thomas Aquinas have had a major and diverse impact on Western thought since the Middle Ages. After having been the thinker “imposed” in the eyes of some and “authorized” by Leo XIII and Vatican II in the eyes of others, Thomas Aquinas had a time of purgatory, far from the university. But now a renewal of Thomistic studies is underway: new perspectives allow us to revisit the corpus of this thinker and to detect its relevance for philosophy and theology, for ethics and social life as well as for general education in rigorous thinking in search of truth.
At the Dominican University College, the tradition of reading and thinking with recourse to Thomas Aquinas has been uninterrupted since its foundation (Rouleau, Lévesque, Mailloux, Régis who have left their mark on the academic, social and ethical life of Francophone Canada). For nearly thirty years, Dominican Father Lawrence Dewan has been the leading figure in this field, both at the Dominican University College and elsewhere in Canada, in the United States where he has taught, and in the world where he has travelled giving conferences and courses. He was particularly interested in the metaphysics and ethics of Thomas Aquinas. He was in constant dialogue with the great figures and currents of the Thomistic world and of modern philosophical reflection. He passed away in February 2015.
Brother Maxime Allard holds the Lawrence Dewan Chair.
Fr. Maxime Allard, Dominican, Holder of a Doctorate in theology from Laval University, he is a professor of philosophy and theology at the Dominican University College in Ottawa (Canada) and at the Centre des Études Institutionnelles des Dominicains in Lille (France). Specialized in theological ethics, philosophy of religion and political philosophy,