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.
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.
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.
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…
Prof. Patrick Callahan analyzes the poetic genius of Saint Thomas Aquinas in the hymns and sequence of Corpus Christi, highlighting Aquinas’ understanding of beauty, proportion, clarity, and sublimity as essential to both art and spiritual contemplation.
Prof. Patrick Callahan reveals how poetry, as the most Christ-like form of speech and a reflection of human mimesis, plays a vital role in the Christian life by fostering conformity to Christ and deepening the contemplative experience.
Prof. Patrick Callahan explores how art, through beauty and the sublime, can lead the soul toward God, drawing on insights from Joseph Pieper, Aristotle, and Christian philosophy to reveal the contemplative power of poetry, music, and the fine arts...
Prof. Chad Pecknold analyzes John Henry Newman’s theological legacy, focusing on doctrinal development, conscience as a divine imperative, and his impact on the Second Vatican Council and modern Catholic-Protestant dialogue.
Fr. Isaac Morales explores the relationship between the historical Jesus and Church's knowledge of Jesus, cautioning against relying too heavily on ever-changing historical reconstructions while emphasizing recurrent themes to discover the authenti...
Fr. John Harris discusses the Catholic approach to secular politics, emphasizing Thomistic principles, the role of lay Catholics, and the balance between natural and supernatural ends in governance.
Prof. Paul Gondreau reflects on the profound meaning of suffering, disability, and human frailty in light of Christ’s redemptive suffering, emphasizing shared vulnerability as a source of mercy and unity within the Church.
Prof. Francis Beckwith explores the arguments for moral relativism, particularly the argument from disagreement and the argument from tolerance, and offers critiques, emphasizing that disagreement does not necessarily entail relativism and highligh...
Prof. Francis Beckwith discusses moral relativism, presenting arguments for and against it, while emphasizing the importance of objective morality in the context of the Catholic intellectual tradition.
Dr. John Haldane examines the themes of evil and vice as portrayed in film and entertainment, utilizing philosophical concepts and specific examples like The Exorcist and Apocalypse Now, to analyze the ethical dimensions of these representations.
Professor Michael Krom evaluates the modern "Benedict Option" as a proposed Christian response to cultural decline, contrasting it with Saint Benedict’s historical withdrawal from Rome and analyzing its merits through Thomistic ethical frameworks g...