The Thomistic Institute

Aug 13, 2024 • 57 min

Sister Catherine Joseph Droste explores St. Catherine of Siena's teachings on virtue, emphasizing her relevance to modern times and her complementary approach to St. Thomas Aquinas. She explains Catherine's metaphor of the "tree of charity" and how virtues are interconnected, with charity as the mother of all virtues. The lecture delves into the importance of humility, self-knowledge, and the practical application of virtues in relation to one's neighbor. This lecture was given on July 4th, 2024, at Glencomeragh House . For more information on upcoming events, visit us at thomisticinstitute.org/upcoming-events 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).

Aug 12, 2024 • 38 min

Father Michael Sherwin explores the renewal of moral theology by examining two conceptions of freedom: freedom of indifference and freedom for excellence. He uses analogies from craftsmanship and the arts to illustrate how rules and freedom are interrelated, arguing that true freedom comes from internalizing and creatively applying the rules of a discipline. He then connects this understanding to the Christian life, presenting Christ as the master and Christians as apprentices on "the way," ultimately defining moral theology as the study of human acts ordered towards the loving vision of God. This lecture was given on July 4th, 2024, at Glencomeragh House . For more information on upcoming events, visit us at thomisticinstitute.org/upcoming-events About the Speaker: Michael S. Sherwin, O.P. is Professor of Fundamental Moral Theology and director of the Institute of Spirituality here at the Angelicum. Fr. Sherwin comes to the Angelicum after almost twenty years of teaching at the University of Fribourg, Switzerland. He has also taught at the Dominican School of Philosophy and Theology in Berkeley, California, where he received his initial formation as a Dominican and was ordained a priest in 1991. Author of articles on the psychology of love, virtue ethics and moral development, his monograph, By Knowledge and By Love: Charity and Knowledge in the Moral Theology of St. Thomas Aquinas (CUA Press, 2005) has become a standard Thomistic reference, while Alasdair MacIntyre has described Fr. Sherwin’s published collection of essays, On Love and Virtue (Emmaus Academic, 2018) as “theological reflection at its best.” Fr. Sherwin also serves as chaplain to the Association nationale des cavaliers catholiques, an equestrian pilgrimage organization, and has collaborated with both Dave Brubeck and his son Chris Brubeck in celebration of the Scriptures at the crossroads between Jazz and classical music.

Aug 9, 2024 • 44 min

Sr. Anna Wray delves into the philosophical question of whether friendship with a simple God is possible, using Aristotle's teachings as a foundation and comparing them to Thomas Aquinas' perspective. The speaker analyzes Aristotle's concepts of friendship, human contemplation, and divine activity, highlighting the challenges in applying these ideas to a relationship with God. The discussion then shifts to Thomas Aquinas' approach, noting how his views differ from Aristotle's and potentially offer a new understanding of friendship with God. This lecture was given on May 31, 2024, at Mount Saint Mary College. For more information on upcoming events, visit us at thomisticinstitute.org/upcoming-events About the Speaker: Sister Anna Wray is a native of Connecticut and a member of the Dominican Sisters of Saint Cecilia of Nashville, TN. Sister received her phD in philosophy from The Catholic University of America, having written her dissertation on Aristotle’s account of the activity of contemplation. Sister is an assistant professor on the faculty of CUA's School of Philosophy in Washington, DC, where she regularly teaches courses in the history of philosophy, logic, rhetoric, ethics, philosophy of religion, and philosophical psychology. She is also an adjunct professor for Aquinas College, where she teaches metaphysics and epistemology to her sisters in formation. When time permits, sister enjoys the occasional trip that allows her to speak to (and with) others who share her loves.

Aug 8, 2024 • 52 min

Professor Jordan Wales explores the evolution of AI from symbolic to statistical methods, highlighting the capabilities and limitations of modern AI systems. It delves into the concept of personhood, tracing its origins from classical times through Christian theology to modern interpretations, and argues that current AI lacks the consciousness and interiority necessary for true personhood. He concludes by examining behaviorist approaches to AI and intelligence, warning against redefining human consciousness solely in terms of observable behavior. This lecture was given on February 29th, 2024, at Ohio State University. For more information on upcoming events, visit us at thomisticinstitute.org/upcoming-events About the Speaker: Jordan Wales is Associate Professor and John and Helen Kuczmarski Chair in Theology at Hillsdale College, where he teaches historical theology. His scholarship—appearing in journals such as Augustinian Studies , the Journal of Moral Theology , and AI & Society —focuses on early Christianity as well as theology and Artificial Intelligence. Holding degrees in Engineering (B.S.), Cognitive Science (M.Sc.), and Theology (Dip.Theol., M.T.S., Ph.D.), he is a member of the AI Research Group for the Centre for Digital Culture, under the Dicastery of Culture and Education at the Holy See; a fellow of the International Society for Science and Religion; and a fellow of the Centre for Humanity and the Common Good.

Aug 7, 2024 • 35 min

Professor Jeffrey Brower explores the traditional doctrine of divine simplicity, which states that God is identical to His attributes. He examines the historical context, including perspectives from Augustine, Anselm, and Aquinas, and addresses the standard objection raised by contemporary analytic philosophers. Brower proposes a "truth maker" interpretation of divine simplicity as an alternative to the problematic "property" account, arguing that this approach avoids category mistakes while maintaining coherence with traditional understandings. This lecture was given on June 1, 2024, at Mount Saint Mary College. For more information on upcoming events, visit us at thomisticinstitute.org/upcoming-events 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).

Aug 6, 2024 • 57 min

Professor W. Matthews Grant examines the tension between divine simplicity and divine freedom in Christian theology, particularly in the context of God's act of creation. He presents and analyzes arguments that suggest divine simplicity might preclude God's ability to create freely, including the modal collapse argument. Grant then explores various approaches to resolving this conflict, with a focus on the "identity approach" and its potential drawbacks. This lecture was given on June 1st, 2024, at Mount Saint Mary College. For more information on upcoming events, visit us at thomisticinstitute.org/upcoming-events About the Speaker: W. Matthews Grant is Professor and Chair in the Department of Philosophy at University of St. Thomas (MN), and Associate Editor of the American Catholic Philosophical Quarterly . His articles have focused on Aquinas and the Philosophy of God, particularly issues having to do with the divine nature and God’s relationship to human freedom.

Aug 5, 2024 • 57 min

Professor Gregory Doolan discusses how Aquinas reconciles his understanding of participation with divine simplicity. He discusses the meaning of participation, its types, and how God can be present in all things while remaining transcendent. This lecture was given on May 31, 2024, at Mount Saint Mary College. For more information on upcoming events, visit us at thomisticinstitute.org/upcoming-events About the Speaker: Gregory T. Doolan received his B.A. in political theory from Georgetown University in 1993 and his Ph.D. in philosophy from The Catholic University of America in 2003. He taught philosophy at the Dominican House of Studies in Washington, D.C. from 2004–05 and joined the faculty of the School of Philosophy at the Catholic University of America in 2005. Dr. Doolan’s research interest is in the area of Aquinas’s metaphysics; in recent years, his focus has been on Aquinas’s semantic theory and his account of the Aristotelian categories of being. A native of Philadelphia, Dr. Doolan currently lives in Washington, D.C. with his wife and three children.

Aug 2, 2024 • 58 min

Aquinas contends that although we cannot know God's essence, we can meaningfully ask and answer the question of His existence. Professor Doolan employs Aristotelian scientific methodology to reason from observable effects to a first cause, which he identifies as God. This lecture was given on April 5th, 2024, at New York University. For more information on upcoming events, visit us at thomisticinstitute.org/upcoming-events About the Speaker: Gregory T. Doolan received his B.A. in political theory from Georgetown University in 1993 and his Ph.D. in philosophy from The Catholic University of America in 2003. He taught philosophy at the Dominican House of Studies in Washington, D.C. from 2004–05 and joined the faculty of the School of Philosophy at the Catholic University of America in 2005. Dr. Doolan’s research interest is in the area of Aquinas’s metaphysics; in recent years, his focus has been on Aquinas’s semantic theory and his account of the Aristotelian categories of being.  A native of Philadelphia, Dr. Doolan currently lives in Washington, D.C. with his wife and three children.

Aug 1, 2024 • 44 min

Are Aquinas' Five Ways for proving the existence of God still relevant today? Join Fr. Gregory Pine, O.P. of Aquinas 101, Godsplaining, and Pints with Aquinas for an off-campus conversation with Prof. Robert Koona & Prof. Daniel Bonevac about new insights that contemporary scholars glean from these arguments after 750 years. You can watch this interview on YouTube here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mzPv-zo7R68 . About the speakers: Robert C. (“Rob”) Koons is a professor of philosophy at the University of Texas at Austin, M. A. Oxford, Ph.D. UCLA. He is the author or co-author of five books, including The Atlas of Reality with Timothy H. Pickavance (Wiley-Blackwell, 2017) and Is Thomas’s Aristotelian Philosophy of Nature Obsolete? (St. Augustine Press, 2022). He is the co-editor of four anthologies, including The Waning of Materialism (OUP, 2010) and Classical Theism (Routledge 2023). He has been working recently on an Aristotelian interpretation of quantum theory, on defending and articulating hylomorphism in contemporary terms, and on interpreting and defending Thomas's Five Ways. Prof. Daniel Bonevac is a professor of philosophy at the University of Texas at Austin. He works mainly in metaphysics, philosophy of mathematics, semantics, and philosophical logic. His book Reduction in the Abstract Sciences received the Johnsonian Prize from The Journal of Philosophy. The author of five books and editor or co-editor of four others, Professor Bonevac's articles include “Against Conditional Obligation” (Noûs), "Sellars v. the Given" (Philosophy and Phenomenological Research), "Reflection Without Equilibrium," (Journal of Philosophy), "Free Choice Permission Is Strong Permission" (Synthese, with Nicholas Asher), "The Conditional Fallacy," (Philosophical Review, with Josh Dever and David Sosa), “The Counterexample Fallacy” (Mind, also with Dever and Sosa), and “The Argument from Miracles” and “Two Theories of Analogical Predication” (Oxford Studies in the Philosophy of Religion). He was Chairman of the Department of Philosophy from 1991 to 2001.

Jul 31, 2024 • 46 min

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).

Jul 30, 2024 • 53 min

This lecture was given on March 20th, 2024, at University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign . For more information on upcoming events, visit us at thomisticinstitute.org/upcoming-events About the Speaker: Dr. Chad C. Pecknold earned his PhD in Systematic Theology at the University of Cambridge in England. He is a Catholic theologian and for the last 16 years he has been a professor of theology at The Catholic University of America in Washington DC, teaching in the areas of fundamental theology, Christian anthropology and political theology. Since 2022, he has been named by The Catholic Herald as one of the most influential Catholic thought leaders and authors in the United States.  An internationally recognized scholar of Augustine’s theological and political thought, Pecknold has authored or edited five books — including Christianity and Politics: A Brief Guide to the History and The T&T Clark Companion to Augustine and Modern Theology —and authored dozens of peer-reviewed journal articles. He edits the Sacra Doctrina series for CUA Press with Fr. Thomas Joseph White O.P. He has served the public by educating thousands of students at the Institute of Catholic Culture, and also through his many columns at First Things, National Review, Wall Street Journal, New York Post , and The Catholic Herald . He has been an invited guest on NPR's "All Things Considered," Fox News, ABC News, and has been a frequent guest on EWTN News Nightly, World Over Live with Raymond Arroyo, and various other EWTN programs, such as the celebrated series on Heresies.  Pecknold has also led institutions, serving as Chair of the American Academy of Catholic Theology from 2015-2020, expanding and professionalizing a guild of theologians faithful to the Magisterium. He also serves in non-profit board leadership as Board Director for Americans United for Life, Board Member for Pro-Life Partners, Board Member for the Classical Learning Test, Fellow of the Institute for Human Ecology, and as Resident Theologian at the Institute for Faith and Public Culture at the Basilica of Saint Mary — the oldest Catholic Church in the Commonwealth of Virginia. While currently finishing a short book on the Catholic understanding of Augustine’s Confessions, Pecknold continues to work on a long term project on Augustine’s City of God and the Christian order of things. He and his wife Dr Sara Pecknold (who teaches Music History at Christendom College) have five children, including adorably identical twin toddler girls whose names they frequently confuse!

Jul 29, 2024 • 57 min

This lecture was given on February 8th, 2024, at Catholic University of America. For more information on upcoming events, visit us at thomisticinstitute.org/upcoming-events About the Speaker: Dr. Baglow is Professor of the Practice of Theology and the Director of the Science and Religion Initiative of the McGrath Institute for Church Life at the University of Notre Dame. His work is the culmination of 19 years of faith and science scholarship and educational program creation, as well as a lengthy career in Catholic theological education spanning high-school, undergraduate, graduate and seminary teaching. For this work, he was co-recipient of an Expanded Reason Award in Teaching from the Universidad Francisco de Vitoria (Madrid) and the Vatican Joseph Ratzinger Foundation (Rome). Baglow is the author of Faith, Science and Reason: Theology on the Cutting Edge (2nd edition, Midwest Theological Forum, 2019) and Creation: A Catholic’s Guide to God and the Universe (Ave Maria Press, 2021). He serves as theological advisor to the Board of Directors of the Society of Catholic Scientists and as a contributor to the JTF-funded science and religion programming of the Word on Fire Institute. Most recently, he authored the transcripts for Wonder: The Harmony of Faith and Science , a Word on Fire film series directed by Manny Marquez and narrated by Jonathan Roumie. His work has appeared in That Man is You, Crux, Church Life Journal, Culture and Evangelization, and Joie de Vivre Quarterly Journal .

Jul 26, 2024 • 1h

This lecture was given on November 12th, 2023, at Massachusetts Institute of Technology. For more information on upcoming events, visit us at thomisticinstitute.org/upcoming-events About the Speaker: Fr. Nicanor Austriaco, OP, received his PhD in Biology from MIT and his S.Th.D. in Moral Theology from the University of Fribourg in Switzerland. He currently serves as Professor of Biological Sciences and Professor of Sacred Theology at the University of Santo Tomas in the Philippines. He returns to the USA several times during the year when he is available to give lectures for the Thomistic Institute (TI). Fr. Austriaco moved his laboratory to the Philippines in 2022 to help his homeland prepare for the next pandemic. In biology, his research team is developing an inexpensive, oral vaccine delivery system using probiotic yeasts and bacteria. In ethics, Fr. Austriaco writes on a diverse range of topics in bioethics. He is also interested in the faith and science dialogue and has written and spoken extensively on the engagement of evolutionary thought with the Catholic faith. 

Jul 24, 2024 • 36 min

This lecture was given on May 16th, 2024, at University of Oregon. For more information on upcoming events, visit us at thomisticinstitute.org/upcoming-events About the Speaker: Jane Sloan Peters is an Assistant Professor of Religious Studies at the College of Mount Saint Vincent in Riverdale, NY. Her dissertation explored Thomas Aquinas's reception of Greek patristic and Byzantine biblical interpretation for his four-volume commentary on the Gospels, the Catena Aurea. She lives in Connecticut with her husband and two sons.

Jul 23, 2024 • 51 min

This lecture was given on February 2nd, 2024, at Brown University. For more information on upcoming events, visit us at thomisticinstitute.org/upcoming-events About the Speaker: Mariusz Tabaczek, O.P., is a Polish Dominican and theologian. He holds Ph.D. in philosophical theology from the Graduate Theological Union in Berkeley, CA and Church Licentiate from the Adam Mickiewicz University in Poznan, Poland. After his studies at the GTU and a fellowship at the Notre Dame Institute for Advanced Studies he returned to Poland. For three years he worked as a researcher at the Thomistic Institute in Warsaw (Poland), a lecturer at the Pontifical Faculty of Theology in Warsaw and the Dominican School of Philosophy and Theology in Krakow, and a director of Studium Dominicanum in Warsaw. He then moved to Rome where he became a professor of theology at the Pontifical University of Saint Thomas Aquinas. He is also a researcher at the Thomistic Institute at the same University.

Jul 22, 2024 • 1h 1m

This lecture was given on May 7th, 2024, at University of California, San Diego. For more information on upcoming events, visit us at thomisticinstitute.org/upcoming-events About the Speaker: Dr. Baglow is Professor of the Practice of Theology and the Director of the Science and Religion Initiative of the McGrath Institute for Church Life at the University of Notre Dame. His work is the culmination of 19 years of faith and science scholarship and educational program creation, as well as a lengthy career in Catholic theological education spanning high-school, undergraduate, graduate and seminary teaching. For this work, he was co-recipient of an Expanded Reason Award in Teaching from the Universidad Francisco de Vitoria (Madrid) and the Vatican Joseph Ratzinger Foundation (Rome). Baglow is the author of Faith, Science and Reason: Theology on the Cutting Edge (2nd edition, Midwest Theological Forum, 2019) and Creation: A Catholic’s Guide to God and the Universe (Ave Maria Press, 2021). He serves as theological advisor to the Board of Directors of the Society of Catholic Scientists and as a contributor to the JTF-funded science and religion programming of the Word on Fire Institute. Most recently, he authored the transcripts for Wonder: The Harmony of Faith and Science , a Word on Fire film series directed by Manny Marquez and narrated by Jonathan Roumie. His work has appeared in That Man is You, Crux, Church Life Journal, Culture and Evangelization, and Joie de Vivre Quarterly Journal .

Jul 18, 2024 • 46 min

Join Fr. Gregory Pine, O.P. of Aquinas 101, Godsplaining, and Pints with Aquinas for an off-campus conversation with Prof. Thomas Hibbs about the transformative power of beauty and friendship, how art, beauty, and morality fit together, and the role of beauty in theological contemplation. Links referenced: https://www.nationalgallery.org.uk/paintings/michelangelo-merisi-da-caravaggio-the-supper-at-emmaus https://www.gardnermuseum.org/experience/collection/10953 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T5y99rpk8to You can watch this interview on YouTube here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pBIWVvveB_g . About the speaker: Thomas Hibbs is currently J. Newton Rayzor Sr. Professor of Philosophy at Baylor where he is also Dean Emeritus, having served for 16 years as the inaugural Dean of the Honors College. At Baylor he was also the inaugural director of Baylor in Washington, D.C. where he currently runs a summer program on Religion and Social Life. He has served as department chair at Boston College and as president of the University of Dallas. Hibbs has published more than thirty scholarly articles, the most recent of which is “Aquinas and Black Natural Law.” He has published eight books, the most recent of which is Theology of Creation: Ecology, Art, and Laudato Si’ (University of Notre Dame Press, 2023). He has also published two books on film and philosophy and one book on art. He has published more than 100 reviews and discussion articles on film, theater, art, and higher education in a variety of venues including First Things, The Chronicle of Higher Education, The Wall Street Journal, and National Review. He writes regularly for The Dallas Morning News. Hibbs’ lectures have been protested by nihilists at Boston University and by communists in Palermo, Sicily.

Jul 17, 2024 • 48 min

This lecture was given on June 29th, 2024, at The Dominican House of Studies. For more information on upcoming events, visit us at thomisticinstitute.org/upcoming-events 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).

Jul 15, 2024 • 39 min

This lecture was given on April 27th, 2024, at The Dominican House of Studies . For more information on upcoming events, visit us at thomisticinstitute.org/upcoming-events About the Speaker: Karin Öberg is Professor of Astronomy at Harvard University. Her specialty is astrochemistry and her research aims to uncover how chemical processes affect the outcome of planet formation, especially the chemical habitability of nascent planets. She did postdoctoral work at Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics as a NASA Hubble fellow, focusing on millimeter observations of planet-forming disks around young stars.

Jul 11, 2024 • 44 min

This lecture was given on June 22nd, 2023, at Stonyhurst College. For more information on upcoming events, visit us at thomisticinstitute.org/upcoming-events About the Speaker: Professor Eitel is Associate Professor of Theology at the University of Dallas. Before joining the UD faculty in 2023, he taught for eight years at Yale University, where he held appointments in the Divinity School, the Program in Medieval Studies, and the Humanities Program. His research and teaching bring topics in the history of Christian theology to bear on questions of fundamental moral concern. A specialist in medieval scholasticism, his particular research interests span topics in doctrinal and moral theology, especially in the works of Thomas Aquinas and his contemporaries.