What is Truth? - Prof. Paige Hochschild

Prof. Paige Hochschild explores what truth is and shows, through Tolkien, how truth arises from the mind’s encounter with reality, how myth can reveal historical meaning, and how truthful storytelling can shape moral vision.

This lecture was given on April 16th, 2026, at Williams College.

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

About the Speaker:

Dr. Paige Hochschild is a professor of historical and systematic theology at Mount St. Mary's University (MD), specializing in Augustine, Thomas Aquinas and the early Church. She also teaches philosophy courses at the Seminary at Mount St. Mary's. She has written a book on the place of memory in Augustine's theological anthropology, and publishes on the Church, education, tradition, and 20th Century theological debates within the Church (scripture, history, marriage).

Keywords: Allegory, Fantasy, History, J. R. R. Tolkien, Moral Imagination, Myth, Narrative, Reality, Storytelling, Truth