The Thomistic Institute (The Thomistic Institute)

Professor Candace Vogler explores the concept of the highest good in philosophy, comparing views from John Stuart Mill, Immanuel Kant, and Thomas Aquinas, and examining how humans can orient themselves towards this ultimate goal.

This lecture was given on April 8th, 2024, at University of Rochester.

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About the Speaker:

Candace Vogler is the David B. and Clare E. Stern Professor of Philosophy at the University of Chicago. Her primary area of research is moral philosophy, with special emphasis on virtue and practical reason. She draws extensively from work by G. E. M. ('Elizabeth') Anscombe, St. Thomas Aquinas, and Immanuel Kant, and sometimes she teaches work by John Stuart Mill.  She also works on psychoanalysis (primarily Freudian work and the work of Jacques Lacan), and at the intersections of philosophy and literature and philosophy and film.  Vogler is interested in questions about the highest good, about sin, and about moral self-improvement.  

This lecture was delivered on October 6, 2018. It was part of an intellectual retreat entitled "Philosophical Realism and the Existence of God."

Professor Jeffrey Brower explores Aquinas's view of human nature, contrasting it with materialism and substance dualism, focusing on the relationship between body and soul and what happens at death.

This lecture was given on November 8th, 2023, at University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.

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About the Speaker:

Jeffrey E. Brower is Professor of Philosophy at Purdue University, where he serves as the faculty advisor for the Thomistic Institute. He specializes in medieval philosophy, metaphysics, and philosophical theology and especially enjoys working at the intersection of all three areas. He is the author of Aquinas’s Ontology of the Material World: Change, Hylomorphism, and Material Objects (Oxford University Press, 2014) and a contributor to The Oxford Handbook on Aquinas (Oxford University Press, 2012). His recent articles include “Aquinas on the Individuation of Substances,” Oxford Studies in Medieval Philosophy (2017) and “Aquinas on the Problem of Universals,” Philosophy and Phenomenological Research (2016).

Keywords: Aquinas, Cartesian Dualism, Death, Human Nature, Materialism, Naturalism, Soul, Substance Dualism, Trialism

This lecture was offered at Baylor on November 14th, 2018. For more information about upcoming TI events, visit: thomisticinstitute.org/events-1/

In this lecture, Erika Bachiochi discusses Catholic feminism, her encounter with St. John Paul II's Theology of the Body and her subsequent intellectual journey, and the historical roots of feminism in Christian thought, particularly focusing on the views of early feminists on abortion and chastity.

This lecture was given on October 29th, 2024, at Benedictine College.

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About the Speaker:

EPPC Fellow Erika Bachiochi is a legal scholar who works at the intersection of constitutional law, political theory, women’s history, and Catholic social teaching. She is also the editor-in-chief of Fairer Disputations, the online journal of the Mercy Otis Warren Initiative for Women in Civic Life and Thought at the School for Civic and Economic Thought and Leadership at ASU.

Keywords: Abortion, Catholic Feminism, Chastity, Christian Feminism, Elizabeth Blackwell, Evangelium Vitae, First Wave Feminism, John Paul II, Rights Of Women, Theology Of The Body

This lecture was given on September 17, 2019 at John Hopkins University.

Fr. Gregory Pine, O.P. serves presently as the Assistant Director for Campus Outreach with the Thomistic Institute in Washington, DC. He served previously as an associate pastor at St. Louis Bertrand Church in Louisville, KY where he also taught as an adjunct professor at Bellarmine University. Born and raised near Philadelphia, PA, he attended the Franciscan University of Steubenville, studying mathematics and humanities. Upon graduating, he entered the Order of Preachers in 2010. He was ordained a priest in 2016 and holds an STL from the Dominican House of Studies.

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This lecture was delivered by Chad Pecknold (Catholic University of America) to the MIT chapter of the Thomistic Institute on September 18, 2018.

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Fr. Bonaventure Chapman presents a philosophical exploration of ethics, drawing on Anscombe, Aristotle, and Aquinas to argue for moral absolutes grounded in human action itself, rather than solely relying on divine law.

This lecture was given on October 5th, 2024, at Dominican House of Studies.

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About the Speaker:

Father Bonaventure Chapman, O.P. (Catholic University of America) was born and raised in Buffalo, NY. Father Bonaventure entered the Order of Preachers (Province of St. Joseph), in 2011 and was ordained a priest in 2017, having completed theology degrees at the Dominican House of Studies, as well as a Ph.L from The Catholic University of America. After teaching philosophy at Providence College, RI, he completed a Ph.D in philosophy at Catholic University in 2023 and joined the faculty of the School of Philosophy in Fall 2023. Father Bonaventure’s dissertation, “The Crusian Core of Kant’s Critical Project,” investigates the influence of philosophical Pietism, especially that of Christian August Crusius, on Immanuel Kant’s critical metaphysics and ethics. His primary research interest is eighteenth-century German philosophical Pietism as developed by Crusius and his beloved teacher Adolph Friedrich Hoffmann, and more broadly on early modern German metaphysics and ethics. For relaxation, Father Bonaventure serves as Assistant Student Master at the Dominican House of Studies, enjoys viewing great American art, sailing, and finding American toads whenever the opportunity presents itself.

Keywords: Action Theory, Anscombe, Aristotelian Ethics, Consequentialism, Divine Command Theory, Ethics, Moral Absolutes, Moral Philosophy, Philosophy of Action, Virtue

A lecture on September 15, 2016 at Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

This talk was offered on June 14th, 2018 as part of the Newburgh Summer Philosophy Workshop on "Aquinas on Divine Attributes."

This talk was offered at Duke University on March 7, 2019.

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Speaker Bio:

Dr. Paige Hochschild is a professor of historical and systematic theology at Mount St. Mary's University (MD), specializing in Augustine, Thomas Aquinas and the early Church. She also teaches philosophy courses at the Seminary at Mount St. Mary's. She has written a book on the place of memory in Augustine's theological anthropology, and publishes on the Church, education, tradition, 20th c. theological debates within the Church (Scripture, history; marriage).

Are you becoming a moral zombie? Join Fr. Gregory Pine, O.P. of Aquinas 101, Godsplaining, and Pints with Aquinas for an off-campus conversation with Fr. Anselm Ramelow, O.P. about artificial intelligence, why ChatGPT is damaging personal relationships in the classroom, how AI could be destroying virtue, and the eschatological implications of artificial intelligence.

You can watch this interview on YouTube here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xg8a_6nJzVA.

About the speaker:

Fr. Anselm Ramelow, O.P., a native of Germany, teaches philosophy at the Dominican School of Philosophy and Theology in Berkeley, California, where he is also currently the chair of the philosophy department. He is also a member of the Core Doctoral Faculty at the Graduate Theological Union in Berkeley and the Academy of Catholic Theology. He obtained his doctorate under Robert Spaemann in Munich on Leibniz and the Spanish Jesuits (Gott, Freiheit, Weltenwahl, Leiden: E. J. Brill, 1997) and did theological work on George Lindbeck and the question of a Thomist philosophy and theology of language (Beyond Modernism? - George Lindbeck and the Linguistic Turn in Theology, Neuried: Ars Una 2005). Other works include Thomas Aquinas: De veritate Q. 21-24; Translation and Commentary (Hamburg: Meiner, 2013) and God: Reason and Reality (Basic Philosophical Concepts) (Munich: Philosophia Verlag, 2014), as editor and contributor. Articles appeared in Historisches Wörterbuch der Philosophie, Archiv für Begriffsgeschichte, Nova et Vetera, American Catholic Philosophical Quarterly and Angelicum. Areas of research and teaching include Free Will, the History of Philosophy and Philosophical Aesthetics. He has worked on a philosophical approach to Miracles and other topics of the philosophy of religion, and more recently the philosophy of technology.

This project/publication was made possible through the support of Grant 63391 from the John Templeton Foundation. The opinions expressed in this publication are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views of the John Templeton Foundation.

This talk was given as part of the Thomistic Institute's livestream series. For more information on upcoming events, please visit our website: thomisticinstitute.org.

About the speaker:

Fr. Dominic Legge is the Director of the Thomistic Institute and an assistant professor in systematic theology at the Dominican House of Studies in Washington, D.C. he holds a JD from Yale Law School, a PhL from the School of Philosophy of the Catholic University of America, and a doctorate in Sacred Theology from the University of Fribourg. He entered the Order of preachers in 2001 and was ordained a priest in 2007. He practiced law for several years as a trial attorney for the US Department of Justice before becoming a Dominican. He is the author of The Trinitarian Christology of St. Thomas Aquinas.

This talk was offered on February 15th, 2019. For more info about upcoming TI events in North America check out, thomisticinstitute.org/events-1/

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Speaker Bio:

Thomas Joseph White, O.P., entered the Order of Preachers in 2003. His research and teaching have focused particularly on topics related to Thomistic metaphysics and Christology as well as Roman Catholic-Reformed ecumenical dialogue.

He is the author of Wisdom in the Face of Modernity: A Study in Thomistic Natural Theology (Sapientia Press, 2009), The Incarnate Lord: A Thomistic Study in Christology (The Catholic University of America Press, 2015), Exodus (Brazos Press, 2016), and The Light of Christ: An Introduction to Catholicism (The Catholic University of America Press, 2017). He has edited several books, and is co-editor of the theological journal Nova et Vetera (English edition). In 2011 he was appointed an ordinary member of the Pontifical Academy of St. Thomas Aquinas. He is currently teaching at the Angelicum in Rome and is the Director of the Thomistic Institute at the Angelcum.

This lecture was given at Saint Louis University on November 11, 2020.

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About the Speaker:

Michael Dauphinais, Ph.D. is Professor and Chair of the Theology Department at Ave Maria University in Ave Maria, Florida. Professor Dauphinais holds a B.S.E. from Duke University, an M.T.S. from Duke Divinity School, and a Ph.D. from the University of Notre Dame. He has co-authored Knowing the Love of Christ: An Introduction to the Theology of Thomas Aquinas and Holy People, Holy Land: A Theological Introduction to the Bible. He has co-edited multiple volumes as well as numerous articles and chapters in books dedicated to theology and exegesis in Aquinas and other topics relating to Catholic theology. Professor Dauphinais previously served as Vice President for Academic Affairs and Dean of Faculty. His favorite courses are C.S. Lewis, Triune God, and the Colloquium on Ancients and Moderns. He also enjoys riding horses and running.

Sister Catherine Joseph Droste explores St. Catherine of Siena's teaching on the "cell of self-knowledge," emphasizing its importance for spiritual growth and virtue. She explains that this cell is an interior, spiritual space where one gains knowledge of both self and God, highlighting the necessity of entering this cell regularly through prayer and reflection. She also touches on the challenges of self-knowledge and the importance of perseverance.

This lecture was given on July 11th, 2024, at Stonyhurst College.

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About the Speaker:

Sister Catherine Joseph Droste, O.P. is a Professor Straordinaria of theology at the Pontifical University of St. Thomas Aquinas (Angelicum), where she has also served as Vice Dean, Dean of the Faculty of Theology, and Director of Collaboration. Her areas of research include virtues and the moral life, the ecclesiology of religious life, and the theology of St. Catherine of Siena. She is a native of Iowa and a member of the Congregation of Dominican Sisters of St. Cecilia, Nashville, Tennessee. Her studies include an MA (history – Middle Tennessee State University), M.Ed (Administration – Marymount University), STB, STL, STD (Angelicum).

This lecture was offered at Vanderbilt Medical School on May 9th, 2019. For more information about upcoming TI events, visit: thomisticinstitute.org/events-1

Event Description:

The Christian virtue of hope orients persons toward the God-given happiness promised in heaven: indeed, toward God himself. But how does this hope take shape in our lives now? This lecture will explore how the sacraments of Jesus Christ are means toward heavenly bliss. The Catholic sacraments are instruments of hope. Indeed, they give a taste of heaven on earth. The lecture will give special attention to how these Catholic realities apply to patients as well as to medical personnel in their professional and personal lives.

About the Speaker:

Fr. Dominic Langevin is an assistant professor of systematic theology at the Dominican House of Studies in Washington, DC, and editor in chief of the journal The Thomist. He specializes in sacramental theology. He did his undergraduate studies at Yale University and his doctoral studies at the University of Fribourg, Switzerland. He entered the Order of Friars Preachers in 1998 and was ordained a priest in 2005. He was formerly assigned as a parochial vicar at St. Thomas Aquinas University Parish in Charlottesville, Virginia, serving the University of Virginia.

This lecture was given on December 1st, 2023, at New York University.

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About the Speaker:

Fr. Jordan Schmidt was born in Fargo, ND, and attended St. John’s University in Collegeville, MN for his undergraduate studies. After entering the Order of Preachers, he came to Washington DC to study theology, graduating from the PFIC in 2009 with an STB/MDiv in theology, and from CUA in 2012 with an STL in biblical theology. Upon his ordination to the priesthood, he was appointed associate pastor of St Mary’s parish in New Haven, CT where he served until 2013. Fr. Jordan next returned to the Dominican House of Studies in Washington, DC to pursue doctoral studies at CUA. Since earning his PhD in biblical studies in 2018, he has been teaching various courses in Sacred Scripture at the PFIC.

This talk was given as part of the Thomistic Institute's Advent livestream series. For more information on upcoming events, please visit our website: thomisticinstitute.org.

About the speaker:

Fr. Corbett grew up in Columbus, Ohio, and came to know the Dominicans through family members in the Order, through St. Patrick’s Parish, and through attending Providence College, from which he graduated in 1973 with a B.A. in Political Science. Fr. Corbett joined the Dominicans in the summer of 1974 and was ordained a priest on May 12th, 1980. He completed his Licentiate in Sacred Theology in 1981 and began to teach moral theology as well as the Development of Western Civilization at Providence College. Three years later he began his doctoral studies under Servais Pinckaers, O.P., at the University of Fribourg in Switzerland and was awarded his Ph.D. after completing his dissertation on the theology of virtue in the thought of Thomas Aquinas. Fr. Corbett was appointed to the Faculty of the Pontifical College Josephinum in Columbus, Ohio, in 1991, and spent the next seven years teaching various courses in moral theology, as well as offering retreats, spiritual direction, and personal formation for seminarians.

Joining the Pontifical Faculty of the Immaculate Conception in the Fall of 1998, Fr. Corbett teaches in the area of fundamental moral theology and the theology of the virtues, covering material from the Prima Secundae and the Secunda Secundae in four sequential courses. He also offers seminars in Thomistic Action Theory, Contemporary Interpretations of Natural Law, as well as a seminar in the thought of Charles Taylor and Alasdair MacIntyre. He is interested in developing courses on the Ethics of Homicide, as well as on the Development of Casuistry in the Catholic Church.

This lecture was given on June 29th, 2024, at The Dominican House of Studies.

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About the Speaker:

Fr. Dominic Legge is the Director of the Thomistic Institute and Associate Professor in Systematic Theology at the Pontifical Faculty of the Immaculate Conception in Washington, D.C.  He is an Ordinary Member of the Pontifical Academy of St. Thomas Aquinas, and holds a J.D. from Yale Law School, a Ph.L. from the School of Philosophy of the Catholic University of America, and a doctorate in Sacred Theology from the University of Fribourg in Switzerland. He entered the Order of Preachers in 2001, after having practiced constitutional law for several years as a trial attorney for the U.S. Department of Justice. He has also taught at The Catholic University of America Law School and at Providence College. He is the author of The Trinitarian Christology of St. Thomas Aquinas (Oxford University Press, 2017).

This lecture was given on November 5th, 2018 at UC Berkeley. For more information about upcoming TI events, check out: thomisticinstitute.org/events-1/

About the speaker:

Michael J. Dodds, O.P., is Professor of Philosophy and Systematic Theology at the Dominican School of Philosophy and Theology at the Graduate Theological Union, Berkeley, California. After undergraduate studies at Seattle University, he entered the Order of Preachers in 1970 and was ordained in 1977. He then taught for three years at St. Mary’s College, Moraga, California, before doing his doctoral studies at the University of Fribourg, Switzerland, from which he graduated summa cum laude in 1986. He has served as Academic Dean of the Dominican School of Philosophy and Theology, Convener of the Theology Area at the Graduate Theological Union, and Regent of Studies and Vicar Provincial of the Western Dominican Province. He is the author of The Unchanging God of Love: Thomas Aquinas and Contemporary Theology on Divine Immutability (2008), and Unlocking Divine Action: Contemporary Science and Thomas Aquinas (2012), both from The Catholic University of America Press.

Professor Rik Van Nieuwenhove explores Thomas Aquinas's concept of contemplation, emphasizing its intellective nature, self-transcendent character, and relationship to charity, while discussing its significance in modern life.

This lecture was given on November 28th, 2024, at University of St. Andrews.

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About the Speaker:

Rik Van Nieuwenhove lectures in Medieval Thought at Durham University, UK. He has published scholarly articles on medieval theology and spirituality, theology of the Trinity, and soteriology. His books include: Introduction to Medieval Theology (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2012); Jan van Ruusbroec. Mystical Theologian of the Trinity (IN: University of Notre Dame Press, 2003); Introduction to the Trinity (with D. Marmion) (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2011); and he is editor of The Theology of Thomas Aquinas (with J. Wawrykow) (IN: University of Notre Dame Press, 2005); and Late Medieval Mysticism of the Low Countries (with R. Faesen & H. Rolfson) (NJ: Paulist Press, 2008). Presently he is researching the topic of contemplation in Thomas Aquinas.

Keywords: Charity, Christian Love, Contemplation, Divine Names, Gratuitousness, Intellective Understanding, Modern Philosophy, Reason, Self-Transcendence, Thomas Aquinas

This lecture was offered at Williams College on September 19th, 2018 by Professor Gloria Frost.

About the speaker:

Gloria Frost is an associate professor of philosophy at the University of St. Thomas in St. Paul, MN. Her areas of research are medieval philosophy, metaphysics, philosophy of religion, and the history of science. She is an assistant editor for the American Catholic Philosophical Quarterly and on the executive councils for the American Catholic Philosophical Association and the Society for Medieval and Renaissance Philosophy. She is married to Jake Frost, author of "Catholic Dad" and the "Happy Jar," and they have four children.

The hand-out referenced in the lecture is available at tinyurl.com/suqmdda.

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Father Andrew Hofer, O.P., grew up as the youngest of ten children on a Kansas farm. He entered the Dominican Province of St. Joseph in 1995 and professed simple vows the following year. He made his profession of solemn vows in the Great Jubilee Year of 2000, and was ordained a deacon in 2001 and a priest in 2002.

Father Andrew is on sabbatical in fall 2019 as a visiting lector at the Blackfriars Studium, Oxford and in spring 2020 as a visiting fellow at Yale Divinity School. During this sabbatical, he is at work on a book tentatively titled Patristic Preaching: The Word of God Becoming Flesh, funded by the Calvin Institute of Christian Worship’s Teacher-Scholar grant.

This lecture was given at Mississippi State University on February 20, 2020.

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Joseph Trabbic is associate professor of philosophy at Ave Maria University, where he has taught since 2006. He earned his PhD in philosophy from Fordham University in 2008. His areas of interest include Aquinas, continental philosophy, metaphysics, philosophy of religion, and political philosophy. He has published his work in various academic journals, including Religious Studies, The Heythrop Journal, and New Blackfriars.

This lecture was given to the University of Virginia on February 11, 2021.

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About the speaker:

Andrew Abela is the founding dean of the Busch School of Business and at The Catholic University of America, in Washington, D.C. His research on the integrity of the marketing process, including marketing ethics, Catholic Social Doctrine, and internal communication, has been published in several academic journals, including the Journal of Marketing, the Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science, the Journal of Business Ethics, and the Journal of Markets & Morality, and in two books. He is the co-editor of A Catechism for Business, from Catholic University Press, and winner of the 2009 Novak Award, a $10,000 prize given by the Acton Institute for “significant contributions to the study of the relationship between religion and economic liberty.”Dr. Abela also provides consulting and training in internal communications; recent clients of his include Microsoft Corporation, JPMorganChase, and the Corporate Executive Board. Prior to his academic career, he spent several years in industry as brand manager at Procter & Gamble, management consultant with McKinsey & Company, and Managing Director of the Marketing Leadership Council of the Corporate Executive Board. He holds a B.Sc. from the University of Toronto, an MBA from the Institute for Management Development (IMD) in Switzerland, and a Ph.D. in Marketing and Ethics from the Darden Business School at the University of Virginia. He and his wife, Kathleen, live in Great Falls, Virginia with their six children.

Professor Michael Foley discusses how to "drink like a saint" by outlining five principles: moderation, gratitude, memory, merriment, and ritual.

This lecture was given on March 9th, 2024, at Our Lady of Corpus Christi Retreat Center.

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About the Speaker:

Michael Foley is a Catholic theologian, a Professor of Patristics at Baylor University, and the author of over 400 articles and seventeen books, including the Politically Incorrect Guide to Christianity, Drinking with the Saints, and Dining with the Saints. He can speak on a wide variety of topics touching upon Catholicism, culture, and liturgy.

A lecture on November 5, 2016 at New York University.

This retreat conference was given at the Fall 2019 Intellectual Retreat "Dante and Aquinas: The Theological Vision of the Divine Comedy" held at the Moody Center on 20-22 September 2019.

Presenters at this retreat were Fr. Gregory Pine, OP (Thomistic Institute), Dr. Robert Royal (Faith and Reason Institute), and Fr. Albert Trudel, OP (Pontifical Faculty of the Immaculate Conception).

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This lecture was given at the University of Kansas on November 14, 2019.

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Dr. Matthew Ramage is Associate Professor of Theology at Benedictine College in Atchison, KS. He is author, coauthor, or cotranslator of several books, including Dark Passages of the Bible: Engaging Scripture with Benedict XVI and Thomas Aquinas (Catholic University of America Press, 2013) and Jesus, Interpreted: Benedict XVI, Bart Ehrman, and the Historical Truth of the Gospels (CUA Press, 2017). Dr. Ramage's articles have appeared in a variety of scholarly journals including Nova et Vetera, Scripta Theologica, Cithara, and Homiletic and Pastoral Review as well as popular online venues such as Strange Notions, The Gregorian Institute, and Crisis. Dr. Ramage has been interviewed by news outlets including the National Catholic Register and First Things and has made periodic appearances on the EWTN programs Catholic Answers Live, Catholicism on Campus, and The Son Rise Morning Show. Dr. Ramage lives in Atchison, Kansas, with his wife, Jennifer, and five children. For more on his work and his CV, visit Dr. Ramage's website www.truthincharity.com.

This talk was offered on June 14th, 2018 as part of the Newburgh Summer Philosophy Workshop on "Aquinas on Divine Attributes."

This talk was offered on June 15, 2018 as part of the Newburgh Summer Philosophy Workshop on "Aquinas on Divine Attributes."

This lecture was given on October 24, 2020 as part of "The Bonds of Love" Intellectual Retreat at the University of Texas, Austin.

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About the Speaker:

Fr. Ephrem Reese, O.P., was born in Harrisburg, PA. He received a B.A. from St. John's College in Annapolis, MD in 2010, and was confirmed in the Catholic Church around the same time. He entered the Order of Preachers in the summer of 2013. In the spring of 2020 he was ordained a priest, and received an S.T.L. from the Pontifical Faculty of the Immaculate Conception in Washington, DC.

A lecture on October 3, 2016 at New York University.

This lecture was given on April 4th, 2024, at Indiana University.

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About the Speaker:

Dr. Paul LaPenna is a neurologist in Greenville, SC and is a Professor of Clinical Medicine at the Edward Via College of Osteopathic Medicine, Carolinas Campus. Dr. LaPenna completed his neurology residency at Indiana University School of Medicine. His skill set is focused on treatment of neurological emergencies and performing and interpreting electrophysiological studies of the brain and peripheral nervous system. He is currently the Director of Stroke at Bon Secours Mercy Health in Greenville, SC.

As an Associate Professor of Neurology, Dr. LaPenna has won numerous teaching awards, including Clinical Medicine Professor of the Neuroscience Curriculum from 2019-2022. For the 2020-2021 academic year, Dr. LaPenna was awarded Preceptor of the Year. For his care towards patients, he was elected to the Arnold P. Gold Humanism Honor Society in 2016.

Dr. LaPenna has an interest in the relationship between science and faith—in particular, the relationship between neuroscience and the soul, neuroscience and free will, and the overreaching claims of science. In addition, Dr. LaPenna speaks on the problem of suffering and the dignity of the human person. Saint Thomas Aquinas has been a major influence in Dr. LaPenna’s intellectual and faith journey.

A lecture on September 19, 2016 at Yale University.

A lecture on November 13, 2013 at New York University.

This lecture was given at the University of Toronto on 22 October 2019.

Joshua Hochschild is the Monsignor Robert R. Kline Professor of Philosophy at Mount St. Mary’s University, where he also served six years as the inaugural Dean of the College of Liberal Arts. His primary research is in medieval logic, metaphysics, and ethics, with broad interest in liberal education and the continuing relevance of the Catholic intellectual tradition. He is the author of The Semantics of Analogy: Rereading Cajetan’s De Nominum Analogia (2010), translator of Claude Panaccio’s Mental Language: From Plato to William of Ockham (2017), and co-author of A Mind at Peace: Reclaiming an Ordered Soul in the Age of Distraction (2017). His writing has appeared in First Things, Commonweal, Modern Age and the Wall Street Journal. For 2020-21 he’s been elected to serve as President of the American Catholic Philosophical Association.

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This talk was given at our chapter at West Point.

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This lecture was given at the University of Oxford on 27 November 2019.

Fr. Romanus Cessario, OP, holds a research fellowship at Ave Maria University in Florida and serves as associate editor of The Thomist, senior editor of Magnificat, and general editor of the Catholic Moral Thought series at the Catholic University of America Press.

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This talk was livestreamed from the Dominican House of Studies in Washington, D.C., as part of the Thomistic Institute's Quarantine Lecture series.

The hand out for this lecture can be found here: tinyurl.com/ycsedsu3

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This lecture was given on January 14th, 2024, at the Dominican House of Studies | Washington, DC.

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About the speakers:

Fr. Gregory Pine, O.P. (Thomistic Institute) from Pennsylvania, graduated from Franciscan University of Steubenville. He previously served as the Assistant Director of Campus Outreach for the Thomistic Institute in Washington, DC, and associate pastor of St. Louis Bertrand Catholic Church in Louisville, KY where he also taught at Bellarmine University. He currently serves as an adjunct professor of dogmatic theology at the Dominican House of Studies and an Assistant Director of the Thomistic Institute. He is a contributor on the Pints with Aquinas show and a co-host of the Catholic Classics podcast.

Fr. Gregory is the author of Prudence: Choose Confidently, Live Boldly (Our Sunday Visitor, 2022) and co-author with Matt Fradd of Marian Consecration With Aquinas: A Nine Day Path for Growing Closer to the Mother of God (TAN Books, 2020).

Sr. Anna Wray, O.P. (Catholic University of America) a native of New Canaan, Connecticut, received her bachelor’s degree in philosophy from The Catholic University of America in 2002 and subsequently entered the Congregation of the Dominican Sisters of Saint Cecilia. After completing her initial religious formation at her community’s motherhouse in Nashville, Sister Anna taught for five years at the high school level in Knoxville and Chattanooga. She also spent a year in Australia, preparing for World Youth Day. She then returned to Catholic University, and in 2019 completed a doctorate in philosophy. Her dissertation was on "Noetic Thinking in Aristotle's De Anima III.6." Sister previously taught as a First Year Experience fellow at the university and as an adjunct professor at Aquinas College.

This talk was livestreamed from the Dominican House of Studies in Washington, D.C., as part of the Thomistic Institute's Quarantine Lecture series.

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This lecture was given on April 20th, 2024, St. Albert's Priory.

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About the Speaker:

Fr. Raphael Mary Salzillo, O.P. is a Dominican friar of the Western Province. Originally from Oregon, he converted to the Catholic faith in high school. He went on to study applied physics for seven years before joining the Dominican Order. He was ordained to the priesthood in 2009, and was then sent by the Order to study philosophy at the University of Notre Dame. In 2019 he moved to Houston and now teaches philosophy at the University of St. Thomas.

This lecture was given on December 3, 2019 at The United States Military Academy.

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Angela Knobel is an Associate Professor of Philosophy at The Catholic University of America. Her main areas of research are Thomas Aquinas’s virtue theory, ethics, and bioethics. Her papers have appeared or are forthcoming in such journals as The Thomist, American Catholic Philosophical Quarterly, Nova et Vetera, International Philosophical Quarterly and The Journal of Moral Theology.

This talk was given as part of the Thomistic Institute's intellectual retreat, "Virtuous Autonomy: Freedom and Independence in a Technological Age," August 7 - 10, 2020.

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Speaker bio:

Dr. James Madden is Professor of Philosophy at Benedictine College. He lives in Atchison, Kansas with his wife (Jennifer) and their six children. He is originally from Wisconsin, where he received a B.A. from St. Norbert College, and did his graduate work at Kent State (MA, 1998) and Purdue (Ph.D., 2002). He was awarded the Benedictine College Distinguished Educator of the Year Award in 2006. Prof. Madden's long term research interests are modern philosophy, philosophy of religion, and philosophy of mind.

This talk was offered at Yale on Oct. 1st, 2018 and was present by Professor Paige Hochschild. Dr. Hochschild is a professor of historical and systematic theology at Mount St. Mary's University (MD), specializing in Augustine, Thomas Aquinas and the early Church. She also teaches philosophy courses at the Seminary at Mount St. Mary's. She has written a book on the place of memory in Augustine's theological anthropology, and publishes on the Church, education, tradition, 20th c. theological debates within the Church (Scripture, history; marriage).

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This lecture by Dhananjay Jagannathan was given as part of "The Moral Imagination of the Novel: A Conference" held at Columbia University on 4-5 October 2019.

The program included lectures by Paul Elie (Georgetown), Lauren Kopajtic (Fordham), Dhananjay Jagannathan (Columbia), Sr. Ann Astell ( Notre Dame), and Thomas Pavel (Chicago).

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This lecture was given to Trinity College Dublin on December 16, 2020. The handout is available here: tinyurl.com/y689bga8

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About the Speaker:

Fr. Conor McDonough, O.P. is a Dominican friar from Galway. He studied science and theology at the University of Cambridge and taught theology at secondary school before joining the Dominicans in 2009. He was ordained priest in 2016 and undertook further studies in theology at the University of Fribourg (Switzerland), focussing on the writings of St Thomas Aquinas and John Calvin. He is currently based in Dublin where he teaches theology to the students at the Dominican House of Studies in Dublin.

This talk was given as part of the Thomistic Institute's Holy Week Retreat, April 9-12, 2020. For more information on upcoming events, please visit our website: thomisticinstitute.org.

About the speaker:

Fr. Gregory Pine, O.P. serves presently as Assistant Director of Campus Outreach for the Thomistic Institute. He served previously as an associate pastor at St. Louis Bertrand Church in Louisville, KY where he also taught as an adjunct professor at Bellarmine University. Born and raised near Philadelphia, PA, he attended the Franciscan University of Steubenville, studying mathematics and humanities. Upon graduating, he entered the Order of Preachers in 2010. He was ordained a priest in 2016 and holds an STL from the Dominican House of Studies.

This talk was offered at our Civitas Dei Summer Fellowship program on July 19th, 2018.

A lecture on October 3, 2014 at Fall Thomistic Circles.

This lecture was given by Fr. Andrew Hofer, OP (Visiting Fellow at Oxford University and Professor of the Pontifical Faculty of the Immaculate Conception) at University College Dublin on 26 September 2019.

Fr. Andrew Hofer, O.P., grew up as the youngest of ten children on a farm in Kansas, and studied history, philosophy, and classics at Benedictine College. He then went to St Andrews, Scotland for a Master of Letters in medieval history. He entered the Order of Preachers as a son of the Province of St. Joseph, and was ordained a priest in 2002. After finishing his S.T.L. and serving as an associate pastor for a brief time, he was sent to Kenya as a missionary for two years. He taught at the Tangaza College of The Catholic University of Eastern Africa and other institutions in Nairobi. He returned to the U.S. and completed the Ph.D. in theology at the University of Notre Dame, with the primary area of history of Christianity (specializing in patristic theology with additional studies in medieval theology) and the secondary area of systematic theology.

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Professor Richard F. Hassing discusses the history and philosophy of light, contrasting Aristotle's and Descartes' views on light and perception, and exploring the development of light theories from Huygens to Einstein, including the rise and fall of the ether concept.

This episode includes a special hand-out which can be found here. The lecture was given on July 18th, 2024, at The Dominican House of Studies.

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About the Speaker:

Prof. Dick Hassing is a Research Associate Professor in the School of Philosophy at the Catholic University of America. His work has focused on the History of physics and philosophy of nature, Early modern philosophy, and Political philosophy. 

He is the author of Cartesian Psychophysics and the Whole Nature of Man: On Descartes's Passions of the Soul and Modern Turns in Mathematics and Physics.

Richard F. Hassing is a Research Associate Professor at the School of Philosophy at the Catholic University of America.

This lecture was given at the University of Oklahoma on September 11, 2019.

Captain Joe McInerney is the Chairman of the Department of Leadership, Ethics, and Law and Permanent Military Professor of Applied Ethics at the United States Naval Academy. Captain McInerney lectures in the Naval Academy’s core ethics course, which is offered to all Third Class Midshipman (sophomores) at the Naval Academy and teaches elective courses in the fields of Christian morality and leadership. In addition to his teaching and leadership duties, Captain McInerney serves on the Academy’s advisory board for ethics curriculum revisions, and has served as the Staff Director for the Academy Effectiveness Board, which is responsible for the Naval Academy’s assessment of its institutional goals. He has been a member of the Naval Academy Faculty Senate and the Faculty Senate Committee for Academic Assessment. Captain McInerney is also the Officer Representative for the Naval Academy’s Men’s Varsity Basketball Team.

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What exactly is just war theory? Join Fr. Gregory Pine, O.P. of Aquinas 101, Godsplaining, and Pints with Aquinas for an off-campus conversation with Prof. Joseph Capizzi about the criteria for just war, the complexity of forgiveness in war, and post-war reconciliation and healing.

You can watch this interview on YouTube here: https://youtu.be/TlumHTSOFjU.

About the speaker:

Joseph E. Capizzi is Dean of Theology at the Catholic University of America. He teaches in the areas of social and political theology, with special interests in issues in peace and war, citizenship, political authority, and Augustinian theology. He has written, lectured, and published widely on just war theory, bioethics, the history of moral theology, and political liberalism.

This lecture was given at Trinity College Dublin on 21 November 2019.

The hand out for this lecture is available here: tinyurl.com/rxd7o43

Fr. Conor McDonough, O.P. teaches theology at the Dominican House of Studies, Dublin. He studied science and theology at Cambridge University, and recently completed postgraduate studies in theology at the University of Fribourg (Switzerland).

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This talk was offered on July 16th at our Civitas Dei Summer Fellowship program. For more information on future events, visit our website at: thomisticinstitute.org/events/?view=…eptember-2018

Civitas Dei is an annual summer fellowship sponsored by the Thomistic Institute and the Institute for Human Ecology.

This lecture was given on September 10th, 2023, at Dominican House of Studies.

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About the Speaker:

John A. Cuddeback is professor of Philosophy at Christendom College, where he has taught for twenty-five years. He lectures widely on topics including virtue, fatherhood, friendship, and household, and his professional writings appear in various academic journals and books. 

Professor Timothy Pawl explores the seven deadly sins according to Thomistic tradition, outlining what they are, what makes them deadly, how they are often misunderstood, their subdivisions, traditional ordering, and how to avoid them.

This lecture was given on September 19th, 2024, at Indiana University.

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About the Speaker:

Timothy J. Pawl is Professor of Philosophy at the University of St. Thomas in St. Paul, Minnesota, and holds a Ph.D. from Saint Louis University in philosophy.  He specializes in the philosophy of religion, metaphysics, Thomistic philosophy, analytic theology, and moral psychology. His books include In Defense of Conciliar Christology (Oxford, 2016), In Defense of Extended Conciliar Christology (Oxford, 2019), The Incarnation (Cambridge, 2020), and Jesus and the Genome: The Intersection of Christology and biology (Cambridge, 2024), co-authored with a philosopher of science and an evolutionary biologist. 

He has published more than forty academic articles in his areas of expertise and given more than 100 academic or popular-level talks or interviews about his work, including a series of interviews for the PBS show Closer to Truth.  

He is the husband of another philosopher, Faith Glavey Pawl, and the proud father of one son and four daughters.

Keywords: Avarice, Dante's Purgatory, Deadly Sins, Eleanor Stump, Gluttony, Lust, Pride, Sloth, Theology, Vice, Wrath

This lecture was given by Prof. Catherine Pakaluk at the United States Naval Academy on 10 September 2019.

Catherine Ruth Pakaluk (Ph.D, 2010) joined the faculty at the Busch School of Business at the Catholic University of America in the summer of 2016 and is Assistant Professor of Social Research and Economic Thought. Formerly, she was Assistant Professor and Chair of the Economics Department at Ave Maria University. Her primary areas of research include economics of education and religion, family studies and demography, Catholic social thought and political economy. Dr. Pakaluk is the 2015 recipient of the Acton Institute’s Novak Award, a prize given for “significant contributions to the study of the relationship between religion and economic liberty.”

Pakaluk did her doctoral work at Harvard University under Caroline Hoxby, David Cutler, and 2016 Nobel-laureate Oliver Hart. Her dissertation, “Essays in Applied Microeconomics,” examined the relationship between religious ‘fit' and educational outcomes, the role of parental effort in observed peer effects and school quality, and theoretical aspects of the contraceptive revolution as regards twentieth century demographic trends.

Beyond her formal training in economics, Dr. Pakaluk studied Catholic social thought under the mentorship of F. Russell Hittinger, and various aspects of Thomistic thought with Steven A. Long. She is a widely-admired writer and sought-after speaker on matters of culture, gender, social science, the vocation of women, and the work of Edith Stein. She lives in Maryland with her husband Michael Pakaluk and eight children.

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A lecture on June 4, 2016 at Aquinas Philosophy Workshop.

This lecture was presented April 9th, 2019 at George Mason University and was sponsored by the Thomistic Institute and the Mason Catholic Patriots. For more info about upcoming TI events, visit: thomisticinstitute.org/events-1

About the Speaker:

Thomas Hibbs is currently Distinguished Professor of Ethics & Culture and Dean of the Honors College at Baylor University. He is the author of books including Virtue's Splendor: Wisdom, Prudence, and the Human Good and Shows About Nothing, one of two books of his about film. He has nearly completed a book on Pascal, tentatively entitled Divine Irony and is at work on a book on Nihilism, Beauty, and God, an application of Jacques Maritain’s aesthetic theory to the arts of poetry and painting in the 20th century. He also has written on film, culture, books and higher education in publications including Books and Culture, Christianity Today, First Things, and The Chronicle of Higher Education.

This lecture was given on 12 September 2019 at Cornell University.

Therese Scarpelli Cory is Associate Professor of Philosophy at the University of Notre Dame, specializing in the thought of Thomas Aquinas and his Arabic sources. She loves discussing philosophy with her students, and is especially interested in problems relating to the human person, the mind / soul, and how to live well.

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This talk was offered on July 18th as part of the Civitas Dei Summer Fellowship program. For more information on future events, visit our website at: thomisticinstitute.org/events/?view=…eptember-2018

Civitas Dei is an annual summer fellowship sponsored by the Thomistic Institute and the Institute for Human Ecology.

Prof. John O'Callaghan discusses Aquinas's perspective on divine justice in the act of creation, emphasizing that it is primarily an act of justice of God towards Himself, reflecting His will, wisdom, and goodness.

This lecture was given on October 18th, 2024, at Dominican House of Studies.

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About the Speaker:

Prof. John O'Callaghan is the Director Emeritus of the Jacques Maritain Center at the University of Notre Dame as well as a permanent member of the Pontifical Academy of St. Thomas Aquinas, appointed by Pope Benedict XVI in 2010. He served as the past President of the American Catholic Philosophical Association. His areas of scholarly interest include medieval philosophy, the philosophy of St. Thomas Aquinas, and Thomistic metaphysics and ethics.

Keywords: Aristotle, Augustine, Creation, Distributive Justice, Divine Justice, Divine Will, Justice, Metaphor, Natural Law, Summa Contra Gentiles

The annual St. Mary’s Lecture at St. Mary’s Catholic Church in New Haven, CT was held on April 8th, 2019.

The lecture was given by George Weigel (Ethics and Public Policy Center) on the themes of his recent book by the same name, published last year by Ignatius Press.

For more information about upcoming TI events, visit:

This lecture was given on March 26th, 2024, at North Carolina State University.

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About the Speaker:

Nuno Castel-Branco is a Research Fellow at All Souls College, Oxford. He completed his Ph.D. in the history of science at Johns Hopkins University in 2021 after earning an M.Sc. in Physics at the University of Lisbon. Previously, he was a Research Fellow at Harvard University’s Villa I Tatti in Florence and at the Max Planck Institute for the History of Science in Berlin. He has spoken about Galileo, Copernicus, and science and religion to broad audiences in the United States and Europe. His first book, The Traveling Anatomist, uses Nicolaus Steno as a tour guide for science, medicine, and religion in seventeenth-century Europe. His writing has appeared in places like the Wall Street Journal and Scientific American, as well as in research journals such as Notes and Records of the Royal Society, and Annals of Science.

This talk was offered as part of our conference "Made for More: Happiness, Friendship, and the Good life," held at Yale University on September 14th, 2019.

A handout for this presentation is available here: tinyurl.com/y575mvn8

This conference featured Fr. James Brent, OP (Pontifical Faculty of the Immaculate Conception), Fr. Dominic Legge, OP (Thomistic Institute and the Pontifical Faculty of the Immaculate Conception), Prof. Adam Vital (Yale Divinity School), and Prof. Candace Vogler (University of Chicago).

A lecture on March 12, 2015 at New York University.

Prof. Francis Beckwith explores the arguments for moral relativism, particularly the argument from disagreement and the argument from tolerance, and offers critiques, emphasizing that disagreement does not necessarily entail relativism and highlighting the common moral ground underlying many disagreements.

This lecture was given on October 9th, 2023, at University of Alabama at Birmingham.

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About the Speaker:

Francis J. Beckwith is Professor of Philosophy & Church-State Studies at Baylor University, where he also serves as Associate Director

of the Graduate Program in Philosophy. Among his over one dozen books are Defending Life: A Moral and Legal Case Against Abortion Choice (Cambridge University Press, 2007), Politics For Christians: Statecraft As Soulcraft (IVP, 2010), and Taking Rites Seriously: Law, Politics, and the Reasonableness of Faith (Cambridge University Press, 2015), winner of the American Academy of Religion's prestigious 2016 Book Award for Excellence in the Study of Religion in Constructive-Reflective Studies. He is a graduate of the Washington University School of Law, St. Louis (MJS) as well as Fordham University (PhD, MA, philosophy).

Keywords: Argument From Disagreement, Argument From Tolerance, Catholic, Ethics, Marriage, Moral Objectivism, Moral Relativism, Natural Law, Plagiarism, Politics

This was one of the lectures from our 2019 Summer Science Conference, "Novelty in Nature: Scientific and Philosophical Understanding of Flux and Chance in the Natural World." For more info about upcoming TI events, visit: www.thomisticinstitute.org/events

Conference Theme:

Modern science consistently presents us with new and surprising truths about the natural world, particularly about how new things come to be, whether stars and galaxies, plants and animals, or chemical and physical structures. In many ways this creativity and flux in nature might seem antithetical to the classical picture of nature that Aquinas inherited from Aristotle. The theme for the second annual Thomistic Institute symposium on modern science and Thomistic philosophy, “Novelty in Nature: Scientific and Philosophical Understanding of Flux and Change in the Natural World,” touches on this question. Expert scientists and philosophers will discuss whether Thomistic philosophy is compatible with our modern scientific view of nature and how the two might enrich one another. The symposium is primarily intended for graduate students in the sciences and the philosophy of science and will include introductory sessions on basic of Thomistic philosophy of nature in its own day and in the history of science.

2019 Featured Speakers:

Karin Oberg (Harvard University), Robert Koons, (University of Texas), Fr. Nicanor Austriaco, (Providence College), Marissa March (University of Pennsylvania), Fr. James Brent, OP, (Pontifical Faculty of the Immaculate Conception), Thomas McLaughlin (St. John Vianny Theological Seminary), Matthew Gaetano (Hillsdale College), Dr. Brian Carl (Pontifical Faculty of the Immaculate Conception).

This lecture was given on November 18, 2020 at Williams College.

For more information on upcoming events, please visit our website: thomisticinstitute.org

Speaker Bio:

William B. Hurlbut, MD, is Adjunct Professor and Senior Research Scholar in Neurobiology at the Stanford Medical School. After receiving his undergraduate and medical training at Stanford University, he completed postdoctoral studies in theology and medical ethics, studying with Robert Hamerton-Kelly, the Dean of the Chapel at Stanford, and subsequently with the Rev. Louis Bouyer of the Institut Catholique de Paris. His primary areas of interest involve the ethical issues associated with advancing biomedical technology, the biological basis of moral awareness, and studies in the integration of theology with the philosophy of biology. He is the author of numerous publications on science and ethics. He has worked with NASA on projects in astrobiology and was a member of the Chemical and Biological Warfare Working group at the Center for International Security and Cooperation. From 2002-2009 Dr. Hurlbut served on the President’s Council on Bioethics. He serves as a Steering Committee Member of the Templeton Religion Trust.

Fr. Stewart Clem examines the concept of boredom ("taedium vitae") through the lens of Thomistic moral theology, defining it, exploring its subjective and objective dimensions, and distinguishing it from related concepts like sloth (acedia).

This lecture was given on September 7th, 2024, at Dominican House of Studies.

For more information on upcoming events, visit us at thomisticinstitute.org/upcoming-events.

About the Speaker:

Dr. Clem's research interests include the thought of Thomas Aquinas, the Anglican intellectual tradition, virtue ethics, health care ethics, and the intersection of religion and morality. Before joining the faculty at Aquinas Institute, he was Visiting Assistant Professor of Theology at Valparaiso University. He is a priest in The Episcopal Church.

Dr. Clem is a member of the Anglican - Roman Catholic International Commission (ARCIC) and serves on the Board of Trustees of the Anglican Theological Review and The Living Church Foundation.

Keywords: Acedia, Boredom, Emotions, Moral Theology, Passions, Sloth, Taedium Vitae, Virtue

This lecture was given on February 1st, 2024, at University of Oregon.

For more information on upcoming events, visit us at thomisticinstitute.org/upcoming-events

About the Speaker:

Joshua Hochschild is Professor of Philosophy at Mount St. Mary’s University, where he also served six years as the inaugural Dean of the College of Liberal Arts. His primary research is in medieval logic, metaphysics, and ethics, with broad interest in liberal education and the continuing relevance of the Catholic intellectual tradition. He is the author of The Semantics of Analogy: Rereading Cajetan’s De Nominum Analogia (2010), translator of Claude Panaccio’s Mental Language: From Plato to William of Ockham (2017), and co-author of A Mind at Peace: Reclaiming an Ordered Soul in the Age of Distraction (2017). His writing has appeared in First Things, Commonweal, Modern Age and the Wall Street Journal. For 2020-21 he served as President of the American Catholic Philosophical Association.

Dr. R. Jared Staudt argues that the problem of our time is acedia, a spiritual sloth manifested through frenetic activity and distraction. He proposes leisure, defined as the freedom to engage in our highest human actions, as the solution to this problem. The talk explores the nature of leisure, its relationship to contemplation, and how it can lead us to a deeper understanding of ourselves, reality, and ultimately, God.

This lecture was given on February 29h, 2024, at University of North Texas

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About the Speaker:

Dr. R. Jared Staudt servers as Director of Content for Exodus 90 and an instructor for St. John Vianney Seminary. He earned his BA and MA in Catholic Studies at the University of St. Thomas and his PhD in systematic theology from Ave Maria University, writing his dissertation on the virtue of religion in St. Thomas Aquinas's thought. He has taught at the Augustine Institute and the University of Mary and has authored and edited many books including How the Eucharist Can Save Civilization and The Beer Option: Brewing a Catholic Culture Yesterday & Today. Dr. Staudt has worked in various capacities in Catholic education, as a catechist, professor, administrator, associate superintendent, and founder of schools. As a Benedictine oblate, he works to foster the renewal of Catholic culture by helping Catholics to live out their faith more robustly. He works from his homestead in rural North Carolina, where he and his wife, Anne, homeschool their children.

A lecture on December 3, 2015 at Duke University.

Fr. Thomas Joseph White, OP: "The Universal Mediation of Christ and Non-Christian Religions" followed by questions from Prof. Paul Griffiths.

Fr. Stephen Brock explains Aquinas's Fifth Way, focusing on the governance of things and how natural bodies without cognition display goal-oriented activity, ultimately placing the Fifth Way into dialogue with Darwinism.

This lecture was given on September 5th, 2024, at University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign.

For more information on upcoming events, visit us at thomisticinstitute.org/upcoming-events.

About the Speaker:

Stephen L. Brock is a priest of the Prelature of Opus Dei (ordained 1992). He is Ordinary Professor of Medieval Philosophy at the Pontifical University of the Holy Cross in Rome, where he began teaching in 1990. Since 2008 he has been an Ordinary Member of the Pontifical Academy of St. Thomas Aquinas. Since 2017 he has been a visiting professor in the Department of Philosophy of the University of Chicago. He is the author of Action & Conduct: Thomas Aquinas and the Theory of Action (T&T Clark, 1998); The Philosophy of Saint Thomas Aquinas: A Sketch (Wipf & Stock, 2015); The Light that Binds: a Study in Thomas Aquinas's Metaphysics of Natural Law (Wipf & Stock, 2020); and numerous articles on various aspects of Aquinas’s thought.

Keywords: Aquinas' Fifth Way, Darwinism, Divine Governance, Natural Bodies, Natural Inclinations, Purposeful Activity, Regularity in Nature, St. Thomas Aquinas, Teleology

This lecture was given on March 13th, 2024, at University of Washington.

For more information on upcoming events, visit us at thomisticinstitute.org/upcoming-events

About the Speaker:

Fr. Gregory Pine, O.P. (Dominican House of Studies) is from Pennsylvania and graduated from Franciscan University of Steubenville. He previously served as the Assistant Director of Campus Outreach for the Thomistic Institute in Washington, DC, and associate pastor of St. Louis Bertrand Catholic Church in Louisville, KY where he also taught at Bellarmine University. He currently serves as an adjunct professor of dogmatic theology at the Dominican House of Studies and an Assistant Director of the Thomistic Institute. He is a contributor on the Pints with Aquinas show and a co-host of the Catholic Classics podcast.

Fr. Gregory is the author of Prudence: Choose Confidently, Live Boldly (Our Sunday Visitor, 2022) and co-author with Matt Fradd of Marian Consecration With Aquinas: A Nine Day Path for Growing Closer to the Mother of God (TAN Books, 2020).

This was one of the lectures from our 2019 Summer Science Conference, "Novelty in Nature: Scientific and Philosophical Understanding of Flux and Chance in the Natural World." For more info about upcoming TI events, visit: www.thomisticinstitute.org

Conference Theme:

Modern science consistently presents us with new and surprising truths about the natural world, particularly about how new things come to be, whether stars and galaxies, plants and animals, or chemical and physical structures. In many ways this creativity and flux in nature might seem antithetical to the classical picture of nature that Aquinas inherited from Aristotle. The theme for the second annual Thomistic Institute symposium on modern science and Thomistic philosophy, “Novelty in Nature: Scientific and Philosophical Understanding of Flux and Change in the Natural World,” touches on this question. Expert scientists and philosophers will discuss whether Thomistic philosophy is compatible with our modern scientific view of nature and how the two might enrich one another. The symposium is primarily intended for graduate students in the sciences and the philosophy of science and will include introductory sessions on basic of Thomistic philosophy of nature in its own day and in the history of science.

2019 Featured Speakers:

Karin Oberg (Harvard University), Robert Koons, (University of Texas), Fr. Nicanor Austriaco, (Providence College), Marissa March (University of Pennsylvania), Fr. James Brent, OP, (Pontifical Faculty of the Immaculate Conception), Thomas McLaughlin (St. John Vianny Theological Seminary), Matthew Gaetano (Hillsdale College), Dr. Brian Carl (Pontifical Faculty of the Immaculate Conception).