Philosophy Episodes

May 20, 2025

Ought I Use AI Assisted Writing? | Fr. Ambrose Little, O.P.

Fr. Ambrose Little examines the philosophical and ethical implications of AI-assisted writing by drawing on Plato’s myth of Thoth, Aristotle, and Aquinas, arguing that while new technologies like AI can threaten essential intellectual virtues, they can also be used wisely if we seek a balanced, vir…

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May 18, 2025

The Use of Tools in a Technocratic Age: the Death of Wisdom? | Sr. An…

This lecture was given on February 20th, 2025, at University of Pittsburgh. The speaker requests that anyone interested in a summary of this talk listen to the whole thing. For more information on upcoming events, visit us at...

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May 16, 2025

Friendship and the Common Good | Prof. Adam Eitel

Prof. Adam Eitel explores the nature of friendship and the common good through the lens of Aquinas and Aristotle, emphasizing that true friendship is a mutual, habitual disposition to will and pursue the good of another through concrete sharing and fellowship.

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May 15, 2025

Friendship is a Difficult Good | Fr. Cassian Derbes, O.P.

Fr. Cassian Derbes explores why friendship is a difficult but essential good, drawing on Aquinas, Aristotle, Cicero, Augustine, and Dante to show how hope, fortitude, and magnanimity help us overcome sloth and despair in pursuit of true friendship as a common good.

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May 14, 2025

Aquinas on Friendship and Human Excellence | Prof. Thomas Hibbs

Prof. Thomas Hibbs analyzes Aquinas’ account of friendship and human excellence, drawing on Aristotle and Tocqueville to show how friendship is a necessary, intrinsically valuable common good that addresses contemporary crises of loneliness, civic animosity, and the loss of meaningful community.

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May 13, 2025

How To Be A Good Friend: Combatting Envy And Apathy And Exercising Lo…

Prof. W. Scott Cleveland explores how to be a good friend by applying Aristotle’s philosophy of human flourishing, highlighting the importance of combating envy and apathy while cultivating the virtues of love and wisdom for lasting, meaningful friendships.

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May 12, 2025

What is Love? Plato’s Theology of the Body | Prof. Joshua Hochschild

Prof. Joshua Hochschild compares Plato’s philosophical exploration of love in the Symposium with John Paul II’s Theology of the Body, analyzing how both traditions address the unity of eros and agape, the meaning of embodied love, and the enduring questions of sexual ethics in light of Humanae Vita…

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May 9, 2025

The Metaphysics of Prayer | Fr. Stephen Brock

Fr. Stephen Brock examines the metaphysics of petitionary prayer through the perspectives of C.S. Lewis, Peter Geach, and especially Thomas Aquinas, highlighting how Aquinas’ account uniquely reconciles divine immutability, providence, and the real efficacy of prayer.

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May 8, 2025

Can Philosophical Skepticism Be Overcome? | Fr. Thomas Joseph White, …

Fr. Thomas Joseph White explores whether philosophical skepticism can be overcome by examining Aristotle, Aquinas, Kant, and Nietzsche on metaphysical knowledge, emphasizing foundational principles like non-contradiction and identity.

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May 7, 2025

Aquinas on the Identity of Essence and Existence in God | Prof. Micha…

Prof. Michael Gorman explains Aquinas’ doctrine that in God, essence and existence are identical, highlighting how this principle underpins divine simplicity and distinguishes God from all created beings.

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May 6, 2025

The Trinity: The Heart of Christian Life | Dr. Edmund Lazzari

Dr. Edmund Lazzari defends the coherence and relevance of the Trinity by addressing Thomas Jefferson’s objections through Thomistic philosophy, emphasizing divine revelation’s role in understanding God’s triune nature.

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May 5, 2025

Does God Exist | Prof. Michael Gorman

Professor Michael Gorman explores philosophical arguments for God's existence through Aquinas' approach of reasoning from effect to ultimate uncaused cause rather than from definition to existence.

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April 30, 2025

God, Beauty, and Mathematics | Prof. Alexander Pruss

Prof. Alexander Pruss explores the unique certainty, mystery, and beauty of mathematics, examining philosophical perspectives from Plato to modern logicism, and considers how mathematical beauty points toward deeper realities, including the existen...

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April 28, 2025

Logic and Truth in God, Nature, and the Artificial | Fr. Philip-Neri …

Fr. Philip-Neri Reese explores the relationship between logic and truth as they manifest in God, the natural world, and artificial constructs, emphasizing the distinct ways in which logic operates within divine, natural, and human-made realities.

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April 22, 2025

The Beauty of the Catholic Sacramental View | Sr. Albert Marie Surman…

Sr. Albert Marie Surmanski, O.P., explores how creation sacramentally reflects God’s glory, particularly investigating how metaphysics, scripture, poetry, and ultimately every aspect of existence—from cosmic order to human relationships—reveals div...

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April 16, 2025

What Can Demons Do? | Fr. Gregory Pine, O.P.

Fr. Gregory Pine explores the extent of demonic influence on human life, distinguishing between physical, emotional, psychological, and spiritual dimensions to clarify the limits of their power, particularly concerning the direct access to one's sp...

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April 14, 2025

Divine Providence as Fulfilled in Christ | Fr. Timothy Bellamah, O.P.

Fr. Timothy Bellamah explores divine providence as God's vision and causation of all things fulfilled in Christ, explaining that Christ's incarnation, passion, death, and resurrection serve as God's ultimate response to the problem of evil, particularly the suffering of the innocent.

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April 10, 2025

Human Nature and the Challenges of Our Advancing Technologies | Dr. W…

Dr. William Hurlbut examines the profound ethical and philosophical challenges posed by advancing biotechnologies, emphasizing the need for a deeper understanding of human nature, dignity, and purpose in light of developments like genetic engineering, artificial intelligence, and transhumanist aspi…

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April 7, 2025

A Neurologist's Reflections on Human Dignity and Suffering | Dr. Paul…

Dr. Paul LaPenna reflects on the integration of ancient virtues, Christian ethics, and self-sacrificial love in medical practice, emphasizing human dignity and compassionate care.

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April 4, 2025

Famine, Affluence, and Aquinas | Prof. Marshall Bierson

Prof. Marshall Bierson explores Aquinas's and Anscombe's moral absolutes, particularly concerning theft, arguing that in cases of extreme need, taking another's property may not constitute theft, suggesting a nuanced approach to absolutist moral frameworks.

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April 2, 2025

Ectogenesis: Transhumanism, The Brave New World, and the Attack on Tr…

Prof. Stephen Meredith explores the essence of being human through the lens of Aristotelian and Thomistic philosophy, contrasting it with biological and scientific perspectives that often overlook the importance of form and final cause.

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April 1, 2025

Can Machines be People, Too? | Fr. Anselm Ramelow, O.P.

Fr. Anselm Ramelow critically examines whether artificial intelligence can achieve personhood, arguing that machines lack the essential qualities of being, consciousness, and unity inherent to human nature.

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March 31, 2025

Reconciling the Image of God with the Scientific Image of Human Perso…

Dr. Daniel De Haan examines the interplay between philosophical, theological, and scientific images of human persons, emphasizing their complementarity and addressing challenges posed by reductionist scientific perspectives.

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March 27, 2025

What Exactly Is the Hypostatic Union? | Fr. Dominic Legge, O.P.

Fr. Dominic Legge explores the intricacies of the hypostatic union, focusing on Aquinas's understanding of how the divine and human natures are united in the person of Christ, while navigating various Christological heresies.

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