
La conoscenza del “caso” secondo san Tommaso d’Aquino | Lorella Congiunti
Nov 26, 2025
Lorella Congiunti, a philosopher specializing in Thomistic thought, dives into the intriguing intersection of chance and providence as seen through the lens of Thomas Aquinas. She unpacks the multifaceted nature of 'chance,' contrasting it with probability and discussing its cultural significance. Exploring determinism, biology, and cosmology, Lorella argues that chance plays a vital role in understanding human experience. She highlights how Aquinas integrates chance within divine governance, offering insights relevant to contemporary debates on the nature of existence.
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Three Senses Of 'Casus' And Limits Of Probability
- Lorella Congiunti distinguishes three senses of 'casus': grammatical, specific, and fortuitous, and focuses on the fortuitous as unexpected events.
- She shows multiple disciplines attempt to circumscribe chance but mathematics only captures probability, not true case.
Probability Doesn't Exhaust Chance
- Congiunti reviews historical mathematical work on games and probability showing statisticians still skirt the ontological 'case'.
- She cites Giovanni Pistone: 'case' is not a scientific term but a philosophical-metaphysical margin of science.
Science Vs Determinism: Chance Reappears
- She contrasts determinism (Laplace's demon) with scientific recognition of aleatory phenomena across physics and cosmology.
- Contemporary debates (e.g., origin of order vs. chance) show chance is invoked where science and philosophy overlap.







