The Thomistic Institute

Latest Episodes:

Aquinas and the Basic Principles of the Material World – Prof. Michael Gorman Sep 22, 2025

Show notes

Prof. Michael Gorman explores Aquinas’s foundational philosophy of the material world, detailing key concepts such as the four causes, hylomorphism, act and potency, matter and form, and the distinction between substantial and accidental change.

This lecture was given on July 17th, 2025, at Dominican House of Studies.

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

About the Speakers:

Michael Gorman is Professor of Philosophy at The Catholic University of America in Washington, D.C. He has doctorates in philosophy and theology, and his work covers both areas, with a special emphasis on metaphysical themes. He is the author of over thirty-five scholarly articles, a book entitled Aquinas on the Metaphysics of the Hypostatic Union (Cambridge University Press, 2017), and a book that will appear in the spring of 2024 entitled A Contemporary Introduction to Thomistic Metaphysics (The Catholic University of America Press, 2024).

Keywords: Act and Potency, Aristotle, Final Causality, Hylomorphism, Matter and Form, Metaphysics, Natural Philosophy, Prime Matter, Nicomachean Ethics, Substantial Change

How Many Friends Should I Have? I Fr. Aquinas Guilbeau, O.P. Sep 19, 2025

Show notes

Fr. Aquinas Guilbeau explores the nature, value, and varieties of friendship in Christian and philosophical tradition, highlighting the importance of cultivating friendships of pleasure, utility, and virtue for a fulfilling human and spiritual life.

This lecture was given on November 5th, 2023, at Dominican House of Studies.

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

About the Speakers:

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. Currently, Fr. Guilbeau serves as the University Chaplain and Vice President for Ministry and Mission at The Catholic University of America.

Keywords: Anaxagoras, Aristotle, Beatitude, Christian Friendship, Incarnation, Nicomachean Ethics, Saint Basil the Great, Saint Elred of Rivaux, Saint Gregory Nazianzen, Three Kinds of Friendship

Dating Like Mr. Darcy I Dr. John-Paul Heil Sep 18, 2025

Show notes

Dr. John-Paul Heil investigates how virtuous courtship, compassionate secrecy, and sexual difference—as presented in Jane Austen’s novels—are essential for discerning authentic love and practicing self-giving in Catholic romance.

This lecture was given on April 22nd, 2025, at United States Naval Academy.

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

About the Speakers:

John-Paul Heil is a Core Fellow in history, philosophy, Catholic anthropology, English, and theology at Mount St. Mary's University. He received his Ph.D. in history from the University of Chicago and is pursuing an MBA in marketing. He has received multiple awards from the U.S. and Italian Fulbright commissions. His writing has appeared in Time, Smithsonian, The Week, and Los Angeles Review of Books. He is the books editor at the University of Pennsylvania's Dappled Things.

Keywords: Charity, Compassionate Secrecy, Culture, Feminine Genius, Henry Crawford, Masculine Genius, Mansfield Park, Romance, Sexual Difference, Pride and Prejudice

What is Wisdom and Why Do We Need It? I Fr. Irenaeus Dunlevy, O.P. Sep 17, 2025

Show notes

In this lecture, Fr. Irenaeus Dunlevy explains how wisdom—philosophical, theological, and mystical—transcends mere technical knowledge and, therefore, is able to orient man's action toward divine truth and human flourishing.

This lecture was given on May 2nd, 2025, at Dominican House of Studies.

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

About the Speakers:

Fr. Irenaeus Dunlevy, OP is a Coordinator for Campus Outreach at the Thomistic Institute in Washington, DC. He has served as a parochial vicar at St. Pius V Church in Providence, RI, as well as an adjunct professor and assistant chaplain at Providence College. He originates from Columbus, OH, studied architecture in Virginia and Switzerland, and practiced in the DC area before entering the Order of Preachers in 2013. He was ordained a priest in 2020 at the Dominican House of Studies during the quarantine. In his work with the Thomistic Institute, he has given talks on the virtue of penance, loving God with the mind, and the intersection of theology and architecture. He often travels the country visiting Thomistic Institute Campus Chapters, leading seminars that help students grasp Thomistic concepts. Additionally, he coordinates the TI's intellectual retreat programming, which affords students time to pray and integrate into their lives Thomistic theology and philosophy.

Keywords: Aristotelianism, Charity, Ethics, Gaudium et Spes, Human Dignity, Liberal Arts, Metaphysics, Summa Theologiae, Technology, Wisdom Literature

The Happiness of Human Limitations I Fr. Gregory Pine, O.P. Sep 16, 2025

Show notes

In this lecture, Fr. Gregory Pine explores how true happiness is discovered by accepting and embracing the limits and commitments inherent to human life, rather than escaping them.

This lecture was given on February 15th, 2025, at Dominican House of Studies.

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

About the Speakers:

Fr. Gregory Pine, O.P., is an instructor of dogmatic and moral theology at the Dominican House of Studies and the Assistant Director of the Thomistic Institute. He holds a doctorate from the University of Fribourg (Switzerland). He is the author of Prudence: Choose Confidently, Live Boldly and Your Eucharistic Identity: A Sacramental Guide to the Fullness of Life, and is co-author of Credo: An RCIA Program and Marian Consecration with Aquinas His writing also appears in Aleteia, Magnificat, and Ascension’s Catholic Classics series. In addition to the TI podcast, he regularly contributes to the podcasts Godsplaining and Pints with Aquinas, and Catholic Classics.

Keywords: Abnegation, Community, Divine Hierarchy, Ethics, Human Flourishing, Hylomorphism, Limitations, Mystical Body, Stanley Hauerwas, The Pulley

12 (Thomistic) Rules for Managing Appearances and Making Yourself Miserable I Sr. Anna Wray, O.P. Sep 15, 2025

Show notes

Sr. Anna Wray, redefines leadership as the practice of initiating genuine collaboration by rational wishing, deliberation, and action, exposing twelve common pitfalls that distort true agency and offering practical guidance for more authentic, freeing teamwork and spiritual growth.

This lecture was given on June 26th, 2025, at Dominican House of Studies.

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

About the Speakers:

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 rhetoric, 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. Her research and conversational interests include imagination and attention in human agency and speech, the effects of technology on human agency, and form as function and unifying activity.

Keywords: Accountability, Agency, Aristotle, Collaboration, Emotional Connection, Leadership, Politics, Practical Wisdom, Rest, Virtue

The TI and Your Vocation I Fr. Gregory Pine, O.P. Sep 12, 2025

Show notes

Fr. Gregory Pine discusses how involvement with the Thomistic Institute can help college students integrate faith, virtue, and personal vocation by fostering self-possession, authentic freedom, and meaningful relationships within campus life.

This lecture was given on June 27th, 2025, at Dominican House of Studies.

Secular campuses are being transformed, but the students need your help! Your gift before September fifteenth can launch a new TI chapter and change lives. Visit thomisticinstitute.org/bts25podcast to give today!

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

About the Speaker:

Fr. Gregory Pine, O.P. is an adjunct professor of dogmatic theology at the Dominican House of Studies and an Assistant Director of the Thomistic Institute. He is the author of a few books including Prudence: Choose Confidently, Live Boldly. His writing also appears in Ascension’s Catholic Classics, Magnificat, and Aleteia. He is a regular contributor to the podcasts Pints with Aquinas, Catholic Classics, The Thomistic Institute, and Godsplaining.

Keywords: Commitment, Community, Eleanor Stump, Freedom, Personal Vocation, Secular Universities, Self-Gift, Self-Possession, Spiritual Growth, Wandering in Darkness

Why Becoming More Philosophical is a Good Idea I Prof. Michael Gorman Sep 11, 2025

Show notes

Prof. Michael Gorman demonstrates why becoming more philosophical is essential for intellectual autonomy and deeper understanding, emphasizing the importance of fundamental questioning, sustained attention, and personal intellectual effort over dependence on artificial intelligence.

This lecture was given on June 27th, 2025, at Dominican House of Studies.

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

About the Speakers:

Michael Gorman is Professor of Philosophy at The Catholic University of America in Washington, D.C. He has doctorates in philosophy and theology, and his work covers both areas, with a special emphasis on metaphysical themes. He is the author of over thirty-five scholarly articles, a book entitled Aquinas on the Metaphysics of the Hypostatic Union (Cambridge University Press, 2017), and a book that will appear in the spring of 2024 entitled A Contemporary Introduction to Thomistic Metaphysics (The Catholic University of America Press, 2024).

Keywords: Artificial Intelligence, Attention, Autonomy, Critical Thinking, Digital Minimalism, Education, Intellectual Virtue, Philosophy of Science, Revelation, Technology and Learning

Technology In Our Relationship With God I Fr. Anselm Ramelow, O.P. Sep 10, 2025

Show notes

Fr. Anselm Ramelow examines how technology shapes and reflects our relationship with God, cautioning against both idolizing technology and seeking salvation through it, while affirming its proper role as an instrument serving man's chosen ends.

This lecture was given on June 11th, 2025, at Dominican House of Studies.

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

About the Speakers:

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.

Keywords: Divinization of Technology, Ethics, Idolatry, Incarnation, Liturgy, Makers, Materialism, Sacramentality, Spirituality, Virtual Reality

Insight, Idolatry, and AI I Prof. Jordan Wales Sep 09, 2025

Show notes

Prof. Jordan Wales examines how AI-aided decision making and bias in fields like medicine and criminal justice risk reducing human engagement to idolatrous control, urging that technology must serve authentic love and responsibility rather than replace genuine insight and ethical discernment.

This lecture was given on June 11th, 2025, at Dominican House of Studies.

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

About the Speakers:

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.

Keywords: AI Bias, Decision Making, Ethics, Idolatry, Insight, Medicine, Neural Networks, Predictive Policing, Responsibility, Technology

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