Thomistic Circles, Fall 2010: "Aquinas on the Soul"

On October 23 2010, The Thomistic Institute hosted its Fall Thomistic Circles conference.  This year's conference studied the nature of the human soul according to the thought of St. Thomas Aquinas, focusing on the implications of Thomistic psychology for a variety of contemporary discussions within theology and philosophy.

The following scholars presented papers at the conference:

• Lawrence Dewan, O.P. (Dominican University College, Ottawa) 
• Alfred Freddoso (University of Notre Dame)
• John O'Callaghan (University of Notre Dame)

A more complete description of this conference, including opening remarks delivered by Fr. Thomas Joseph White, O.P., can be found here.  

Click here for a slideshow of pictures from this conference.

9/24/09 Alasdair MacIntyre: Honorary Lecture

Author of After Virtue, his paradigmatic work of intellectual history, Alasdair MacIntyre is known to many as a leading voice in moral and political philosophy.  In September of 2009, Professor MacIntyre gave a lecture at the Dominican House of Studies titled, "What Should a Philosophical Education be Nowadays?"  Speaking before a packed house, Professor MacIntyre delineated the contours of what a Thomistic and Aristotelian philosophical education might look like in the context of today's intellectual climate.  Professor MacIntyre has himself taught philosophy since 1951 and is currently a member of the faculty of philosophy at the University of Notre Dame. 

12/9/10 Remi Brague: 'Is a Secular Society Possible?'

Remi Brague is a professor at the Sorbonne and at the University of Munich.  At the close of the Fall semester (2010), Professor Brague gave a lecture at the Dominican House of Studies on the idea of a secular society, raising concerns about the long-term viability of a society that chooses to define itself as secular; Professor Brague also commented on the social relevance of religious belief. 

Archbishop Augustine DiNoia

Watch the video above of a talk delivered on June 2, 2010 by Archbishop Augustine DiNoia, O.P., Secretary of the Congregation of Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments. Archbishop DiNoia argues that the most effective way of overcoming challenges to faith in the uniqueness of Christ, or demonstrating the nature of the moral law, is to take the conceptual underpinnings of secularism and pluralism seriously before, in order to better make the intellectual case for Catholic faith and practice. "St. Thomas Aquinas tried so hard to understand positions with which he did not agree that he was said to be able to formulate them more forcefully than their proponents could. Only then did he set out to respond to them. This is what I mean by taking the intellectual challenges to faith seriously."

Warsaw Thomistic Conference

In the summer of 2010, an international group of Dominican theologians gathered in Warsaw, Poland for a conference titled, Dominicans and the Challenge of Thomism.  This conference focused on the contemporary implications of the thought of St. Thomas Aquinas and the renewal of the intellectual life and Thomistic studies within the Order of Preachers (Dominicans).  There were a great number of younger scholars present, including some in the final stages of their doctoral research.  The video above features interviews with several of the Dominicans from the Province of St. Joseph (Eastern Province) who attended this conference.  All of the Friars featured here are closely associated with the work of the Thomistic Institute; several have taught at the Dominican House of Studies in the past, and some of those now in doctoral studies may teach here in the future.