Neither Meat Machines nor Visible Angels:
The Human Person in Light of Neuroscience and Theological Anthropology

Fr. Ezra Sullivan, OP (Pontifical University of St. Thomas Aquinas, Rome)

Human behavior is best explained by neuroscience in dialogue with other disciplines, not least the philosophy and theological anthropology of Thomas Aquinas. After considering neuroscience from a Thomistic perspective, this lecture frames what can be known about the human person in light of Thomism, in particular through an analysis of the four causes. The result is a greater appreciation for the advantages of interdisciplinary work in the study of the human being, who is neither a meat machine nor a visible angel.

Lecture given on 7/17/26 at the Harvard Catholic Forum, St. Paul's Parish, Cambridge, MA.

Co-sponsored by the Society of Catholic Scientists; the Thomistic Institute at Harvard University; the Abigail Adams Institute; the Harvard Christian Alumni Society; the St. Benedict Institute at Hope College; the St. Kateri Institute at Williams College; the Institute of Theology, Imagination, and the Arts in the University of St Andrews (UK); the Lumen Christi Institute; the Catholic Community at Stanford; and the Guild of St. Luke (Boston).