Thesis Material

This lecture was delivered for the Civitas Dei Summer Fellowship on 6/15/2021.

For information on upcoming events, please visit our website at www.thomisticinstitute.org.

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.

Maritain And Modern Art  |  Prof. Thomas Hibbs

This lecture was delivered on June 14, 2021 as part of "Art, Meaning, & the Public Square," the Civitas Dei Summer Fellowship.

For information on upcoming events, please visit our website at www.thomisticinstitute.org.

About the speaker:
Until recently Thomas Hibbs served as the ninth President of the University of Dallas.  As of the summer of 2021, he will return to Baylor University, where he will hold the J. Newton Rayzor Sr. Chair of Philosophy. Previously, he served as distinguished Professor of Ethics & Culture and Dean of the Honors College at Baylor. 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.

Laudato Si, Jacques Maritain, and Aesthetic Education | Prof. Thomas Hibbs

This lecture was delivered on June 15, 2021 as part of "Art, Meaning, & the Public Square," the Civitas Dei Summer Fellowship.

For information on upcoming events, please visit our website at www.thomisticinstitute.org.

About the Speaker:
Born in New Hampshire, Father Reginald Lynch, O.P. entered the Dominican Province of St. Joseph in 2007, and was ordained a priest in 2013. After ordination, he served at St. Patrick Parish in Columbus, Ohio and taught at the Pontifical College Josephinum, before going on to complete a PhD in theology at the University of Notre Dame, with a major concentration in medieval theology and minor concentrations in patristics and philosophical theology. He has written on a variety of topics in sacramental, systematic and historical theology in journals like The Thomist and Nova et Vetera. His book, The Cleansing of the Heart: The Sacraments as Instrumental Causes in the Thomistic Tradition (Washington, D.C.: The Catholic University of America Press, 2017) received the Charles Cardinal Journet Prize in 2018. Currently, he is working on a book on the reception of Aquinas’ Eucharistic theology in the early modern period.

Moral Action: Aesthetics and the Acting Person | Fr. Reginald Lynch

This talk was given at the 10th Annual Aquinas Philosophy Workshop, on  Knowledge, Truth, and Wisdom in Aquinas.

For information on upcoming events, please visit our website at www.thomisticinstitute.org.

About the speaker:

Prof. John O'Callaghan is the Director 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.

Prof. O'Callaghan earned his BS in Physics from St. Norbert College in 1984, an MS in Mathematics from the University of Notre Dame in 1986, and his PhD in Philosophy from the University of Notre Dame in 1996.

First Truth, Truth, and Truths: Analytic Philosophy and Thomas Aquinas | Prof. John O'Callaghan

This talk was given on June 24th, 2021 at the 10th Annual Aquinas Philosophy Workshop, on Knowledge, Truth, and Wisdom in Aquinas.

For information on upcoming events, please visit our website at www.thomisticinstitute.org.

About the Speaker:

Fr. James Dominic Brent, O.P. was born and raised in Michigan. He pursued his undergraduate and graduate studies in Philosophy, and completed his doctorate in Philosophy at Saint Louis University on the epistemic status of Christian beliefs according to Saint Thomas Aquinas. He has articles in the Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy on Natural Theology, in the Oxford Handbook of Thomas Aquinas on “God’s Knowledge and Will”, and an article forthcoming on “Thomas Aquinas” in the Oxford Handbook of the Epistemology of Theology. He earned his STL from the Pontifical Faculty of the Immaculate Conception, and was ordained a priest in the same year. He taught in the School of Philosophy at The Catholic University of America from 2010- 2014, and spent the year of 2014-2015 doing full time itinerant preaching on college campuses across the United States.

Modes of Knowledge: Apprehension, Judgment, Reasoning | Fr. James Brent, O.P.

This talk was given on June 25, 2021 as part of the 10th Annual Aquinas Philosophy Workshop, "Knowledge, Truth, and Wisdom in Aquinas." The handout for the talk can be found here: https://tinyurl.com/phksp393

For information on upcoming events, please visit our website at www.thomisticinstitute.org.

About the Speaker:
Edward Feser is Professor of Philosophy at Pasadena City College in Pasadena, California.  He has been a Visiting Assistant Professor at Loyola Marymount University in Los Angeles and a Visiting Scholar at the Social Philosophy and Policy Center at Bowling Green State University in Bowling Green, Ohio.  He holds a Ph.D. in philosophy from the University of California at Santa Barbara, an M.A. in religion from the Claremont Graduate School, and a B.A. in philosophy and religious studies from the California State University at Fullerton.

Called by National Review “one of the best contemporary writers on philosophy,” Feser is the author of On Nozick, Philosophy of Mind, Locke, The Last Superstition: A Refutation of the New Atheism, Aquinas, Scholastic Metaphysics: A Contemporary Introduction, Neo-Scholastic Essays, Five Proofs of the Existence of God, and Aristotle's Revenge, the co-author of By Man Shall His Blood Be Shed: A Catholic Defense of Capital Punishment, and the editor of The Cambridge Companion to Hayek and Aristotle on Method and Metaphysics.  He is also the author of many academic articles.  His primary academic research interests are in metaphysics, natural theology, the philosophy of mind, and moral and political philosophy.

Feser also writes on politics and culture, from a conservative point of view; and on religion, from a traditional Roman Catholic perspective.  In this connection, his work has appeared in such publications as The American, The American Conservative, The American Mind, Catholic Herald, Catholic World Report, City Journal, The Claremont Review of Books, Crisis, First Things, Liberty, National Review, New Oxford Review, Public Discourse, Reason, TCS Daily, and the Times Literary Supplement.

He lives in Los Angeles with his wife and six children.

Truth as Transcendental: Ontological Foundations | Dr. Edward Feser

This talk was given on June 25th, 2021 at the 10th Annual Aquinas Philosophy Workshop, on Knowledge, Truth, and Wisdom in Aquinas.

For information on upcoming events, please visit our website at www.thomisticinstitute.org.

About the speaker:
Sister Anna Wray is a native of Connecticut and a member of the Dominican Sisters of Saint Cecilia.  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 on faculty in CUA's School of Philosophy.

What Is Intellect? | Sr. Anna Wray, O.P

This talk was given on June 26th, 2021 at the 10th Annual Aquinas Philosophy Workshop: Knowledge, Truth, and Wisdom in Aquinas. The handout can be found at https://tinyurl.com/yv5by7f5

For information on upcoming Thomistic Institute events, please visit our website at www.thomisticinstitute.org.

About the speaker:
Robert C. (“Rob”) Koons is a professor of philosophy at the University of Texas at Austin, where he has taught for 33 years. M. A. Oxford, Ph.D. UCLA. He is the author or co-author of four books, including: Realism Regained (Oxford University Press, 2000), and The Atlas of Reality: A Comprehensive Guide to Metaphysics, with Timothy H. Pickavance (Wiley-Blackwell, 2017). He is the co-editor (with George Bealer) of The Waning of Materialism (Oxford University Press, 2010), and co-editor (with Nicholas Teh and William Simpson) of Neo-Aristotelian Perspectives on Contemporary Science (Routledge, 2018). He has been working recently on an Aristotelian interpretation of quantum theory, on defending and articulating Thomism in contemporary terms, and on arguments for classical theism.

On the Union of the Knower with the Known | Prof. Robert Koons

This lecture was delivered to Sydney University Catholic Society’s Mission Week on October 22, 2021 via Zoom.

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

About the speaker:
A native of Louisiana, Fr. Aquinas Guilbeau, O.P., entered the Dominican Province of St. Joseph in 2005. After several years of pastoral work in New York City, Fr. Guilbeau began doctoral studies in moral theology at the University of Fribourg, where he completed a dissertation on St. Thomas Aquinas’s doctrine of the common good. In addition to his teaching, Fr. Guilbeau serves as senior editor of Aleteia.org (English edition). He is also the current prior of the Dominican House of Studies.

St. Thomas Aquinas on the Good | Fr. Aquinas Guilbeau, O.P.

This lecture was delivered to Sydney University Catholic Society’s Mission Week on October 23, 2021 via Zoom.

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

About the speaker:
Fr. Dominic Legge, O.P., is the Director of the Thomistic Institute and Assistant Professor in Systematic Theology at the Pontifical Faculty of the Immaculate Conception in Washington, D.C. He 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 practicing 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, 2016).

St. Thomas Aquinas on Truth | Fr. Dominic Legge, O.P.

This lecture was delivered to Sydney University Catholic Society’s Mission Week on October 24, 2021 via Zoom.

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

About the speaker:
Thomas Hibbs is currently J. Newton Rayzor Sr. Professor of Philosophy at Baylor where he is also Dean Emeritus, having served 16 years as Dean of the Honors College and Distinguished Professor of Ethic and Culture.  Hibbs has a Ph.D. from the University of Notre Dame and served as tutor at Thomas Aquinas College, Full Professor and Department Chair of Philosophy at Boston College, and President of the University of Dallas. At Baylor, Hibbs has also served as Director of Baylor in Washington, D.C.

Hibbs works in the areas of medieval philosophy, especially Thomas Aquinas, contemporary virtue ethics, and aesthetics. He has taught widely in interdisciplinary core programs at Boston College and Baylor. 

Hibbs has published more than thirty scholarly articles and seven books, the most recent of which is Wagering on an Ironic God: Pascal on Philosophy and Faith (Baylor University Press, 2017).  He is currently working on a book on Catholic aesthetics that is under contract with the University of Notre Dame Press.

St. Thomas Aquinas on Beauty | Prof. Thomas Hibbs

This talk was given on October 27, 2021 at the University of Auburn.

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

About the speaker:
A native of Louisiana, Fr. Aquinas Guilbeau, O.P., entered the Dominican Province of St. Joseph in 2005. After several years of pastoral work in New York City, Fr. Guilbeau began doctoral studies in moral theology at the University of Fribourg, where he completed a dissertation on St. Thomas Aquinas’s doctrine of the common good. In addition to his teaching, Fr. Guilbeau serves as senior editor of Aleteia.org (English edition). He is also the current prior of the Dominican House of Studies.

What Makes a Person Good? The Cardinal Virtues and Living Well | Fr. Aquinas Guilbeau, O.P.

This talk was given on October 7, 2021 at Texas State University.

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

About the speaker:
Dr. Steven Jensen received his PhD from the University of Notre Dame in 1993. Jensen’s areas of research include ethics, medieval philosophy, Thomas Aquinas, action theory, biomedical ethics, natural law, and human dignity. He can speak on philosophy, biomedical ethics, faith and reason, logic and Thomistic ethics. He is currently Professor of Philosophy at the University of St. Thomas in Houston.

You Are Not What You Feel: Virtue and Moral Life | Prof. Steven Jensen

This talk was given on December 4, 2021 at the Dominican House of Studies as part of "A Well-Ordered Soul: Aquinas on the Emotions, An Intellectual Retreat."

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

About the speaker:
Fr. Ambrose Little teaches philosophy at the Pontifical Faculty of the Immaculate Conception at the Dominican House of Studies in Washington, D.C. His primary focus is Aristotle and his natural philosophy.

I Am My Passions | Fr. Ambrose Little, O.P.

This lecture was given on December 4, 2021 at the Dominican House of Studies as part of "A Well-Ordered Soul: Aquinas on the Emotions, An Intellectual Retreat."

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

About the speaker:
Fr. Ambrose Little, O.P. was ordained to the priesthood in 2013. He teaches philosophy at the Pontifical Faculty of the Immaculate Conception at the Dominican House of Studies in Washington, D.C. His primary focus is in Aristotle and his natural philosophy.

I Am Not My Passions | Fr. Ambrose Little, O.P.

Dr. Revelle's handout is available here: https://tinyurl.com/8ze3uusf

This talk was given on January 29, 2022 at the Dominican House of Studies as part of "Thomas Aquinas on Prayer", an intellectual retreat for the UVA Thomistic Institute chapter.

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

About the speaker:
Dr. Joshua Revelle is an adjunct instructor at Mount Saint Mary College, with a PhD in Spirituality from The Catholic University of America. His areas of specialization are dogmatic and spiritual theology, especially in St. Thomas Aquinas. He also enjoys teaching Biblical theology. His research and teaching are geared toward the integration of theory and practice.

The Majesty of Truth: St. Thomas on the Contemplation and Worship of God | Dr. Joshua Revelle

This lecture was given on February 28, 2022 at Indiana University.

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

About the speaker:
Jennifer Frey is an associate Professor of Philosophy at the University of South Carolina and fellow of the Institute for Human Ecology at the Catholic University of America. Prior to joining the philosophy faculty at USC, she was a Collegiate Assistant Professor of Humanities at the University of Chicago, where she was a member of the Society of Fellows in the Liberal Arts. She has published widely on virtue and moral psychology and she has co-edited three volumes on Self-Transcendence and Virtue, Practical Wisdom, and Practical Truth. Her writing has been featured in Breaking Ground, Evangelization and Culture, First Things, Fare Forward, Image, Law and Liberty, The Point, and USA Today.

What Is Truth? Why Does It Matter? | Prof. Jennifer Frey

Introduction to Metaphysics Part One: Form and Matter; Substance and Accidents | Fr. T.J. White

Introduction to Metaphysics Part Two: Transcendentals and the Existence of God | Fr. T.J. White

This lecture was given during a conference on Thomas Aquinas and the Greek Fathers at Ave Maria University, that was held January 26-27, 2018, entitled: "What is Beauty? Is God Beautiful?" This event was hosted by the Aquinas Center and the Thomistic Institute.

Thesis Material

Thomas Kewin Palocaren