The Thomistic Institute

The Thomistic Institute
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The Thomistic Institute exists to promote Catholic truth in our contemporary world by strengthening the intellectual formation of Christians at universities, in the Church, and in the wider public square. The thought of St. Thomas Aquinas, the Universal Doctor of the Church, is our touchstone. The Thomistic Institute Podcast features the lectures and talks from our conferences, campus chapters events, intellectual retreats, livestream events,  and much more.  Founded in 2009, the Thomistic Institute is part of the Pontifical Faculty of the Immaculate Conception at the Dominican House of Studies in Washington, DC.

  1. Rewiring the Brain – Dr. William Hurlbut

    18H AGO

    Rewiring the Brain – Dr. William Hurlbut

    Dr. William Hurlbut examines how natural neuroplasticity, education, lifestyle, and new neurotechnologies are “rewiring the brain,” highlighting both their therapeutic promise and their dangers in an age of addictive digital culture, standardized schooling, and powerful biotechnological interventions. This lecture was given on October 27th, 2025, at University of Rochester. For more information on upcoming events, visit us at thomisticinstitute.org/upcoming-events. About the Speakers: William B. Hurlbut is a physician and Adjunct Professor in the Department of Neurobiology at Stanford University Medical Center.  After receiving his undergraduate and medical training at Stanford, he completed postdoctoral studies in theology and medical ethics, studying with Robert Hamerton-Kelly, the Dean of the Chapel at Stanford, and subsequently with the Rev. Louis Bouyer of the Institut Catholique de Paris.  His primary areas of interest involve the ethical issues associated with advancing biomedical technology, the biological basis of moral awareness, and studies in the integration of theology and philosophy of biology.  He was instrumental in establishing the first course in biomedical ethics at Stanford Medical Center and subsequently taught bioethics to over six thousand Stanford undergraduate students in the Program in Human Biology. Dr. Hurlbut is the author of numerous publications on science and ethics including the co-edited volume Altruism and Altruistic Love: Science, Philosophy, and Religion in Dialogue (2002, Oxford University Press), and “Science, Religion and the Human Spirit” in the Oxford Handbook of Science and Religion.  He has organized and co-chaired three multi-year interdisciplinary faculty projects at Stanford University, “Becoming Human: The Evolutionary Origins of Spiritual, Religious and Moral Awareness,” “Brain Mind and Emergence,” and the ongoing “The Boundaries of Humanity: Human, Animals, and Machines in the Age of Biotechnology.”  In addition, he was Co-leader, together with U.C. Berkeley professor Jennifer Doudna of  “The challenge and opportunity of gene editing: a project for reflection, deliberation and education.” Keywords: Addiction and Digital Media, Attention Formation, Brain Development, Brain Plasticity and Education, Dyslexia, Ethical Neurotechnology, Neuroplasticity, Pornography and the Adolescent Brain, Standardized Schooling, Technology

    1h 3m
  2. If ChatGPT Exists, Why Study? – Fr. Chris Gault, O.P.

    1D AGO

    If ChatGPT Exists, Why Study? – Fr. Chris Gault, O.P.

    Fr. Chris Gault explores whether AI like ChatGPT should change how or why we study, showing that while machines can accelerate information processing, only human study forms our minds, virtues, and relationship to truth in a way that leads to real fulfillment. This lecture was given on November 18th, 2025, at Galway University. For more information on upcoming events, visit us at thomisticinstitute.org/upcoming-events. About the Speakers: Fr. Chris Vincent Gault, OP, was born and raised in Belfast in the north of Ireland, where he studied medicine at Queen's University Belfast. Qualifying as a doctor in 2013, he began to train as an emergency physician, before leaving medicine after 3 years to enter the Irish Province of the Order of Preachers. Ordained as a Dominican priest in July 2024, and after having completed his studies at the Pontifical University of St. Thomas Aquinas (Angelicum) in Rome, he was assigned to the convent of St. Mary of the Isles in Cork, where he now resides and ministers, particularly to the youth and young adults of that city. Keywords: Artificial Intelligence, Aquinas on Knowledge, Freedom of Intellect, Handwriting, Learning, Limits of AI, Plato, Study, Understanding, Virtue and Intellectual Life

    53 min
  3. Can a Machine Understand?: ChatGPT, Knowledge, and the Nature of Understanding – Prof. Tomás Bogardus

    2D AGO

    Can a Machine Understand?: ChatGPT, Knowledge, and the Nature of Understanding – Prof. Tomás Bogardus

    Prof. Tomás Bogardus asks whether a machine can truly understand by unpacking how large language models like ChatGPT function and arguing that genuine knowledge requires rational insight and responsibility to truth that go beyond statistical text prediction. This lecture was given on November 17th, 2025, at University of Georgia. For more information on upcoming events, visit us at thomisticinstitute.org/upcoming-events. About the Speakers: Tomás Bogardus earned his BS in biology at UC San Diego, his MA in philosophy at Biola University, and his PhD in philosophy at the University of Texas at Austin. He works mainly in metaphysics and epistemology, and is most interested in the mind-body problem, the rationality of religious belief, and the nature of gender. Keywords: Artificial Intelligence, Insight, Knowledge versus Prediction, Large Language Models, Next-Token Prediction Models, Pattern Recognition and Meaning, Statistical Language Modeling, Truth and Responsibility, Understanding

    57 min
  4. Does God Care About Suffering? – Dr. Christopher Mooney

    5D AGO

    Does God Care About Suffering? – Dr. Christopher Mooney

    Dr. Christopher Mooney asks "whether God really cares about our suffering" and uses biblical narratives, the significance of Christ’s tears, and philosophical responses to death in order to answer in the affirmative, ultimately showing that God can form a greater good from evil without making the evil into something good. This lecture was given on October 9th, 2025, at University of Louisiana at Lafayette. For more information on upcoming events, visit us at thomisticinstitute.org/upcoming-events. About the Speakers: Dr. Christopher Mooney is an assistant professor of theology at the Augustine Institute Graduate School in St. Louis, Missouri, where he teaches on Catholic theology, scriptural interpretation, and the Church Fathers. His teaching and research specialize in Augustine, the Fathers, and historical theology, and he is the author of Augustine's Theology of Justification by Faith (2026). A native of Connecticut, he studied at Georgetown and Yale Divinity School before receiving his PhD from the University of Notre Dame. He also serves as a theological representative for the USCCB's Catholic-Reformed dialogue. He lives next door to the Augustine Institute's campus with his wife and four children. Keywords: Biblical Meaning of Suffering, Christ’s Tears and the Cross, Divine Providence, Faith and Hope, Forgiveness, Permitted Evil, Problem of Evil, Suffering and Eternal Joy, Tragedy of Death, Wrong Ways to Explain Suffering

    55 min
  5. Is Suffering Good? – Sr. Elinor Gardner, O.P.

    6D AGO

    Is Suffering Good? – Sr. Elinor Gardner, O.P.

    Sr. Elinor Gardner asks whether suffering can be called “good” by engaging Stoic thinkers like Seneca, modern echoes in Nietzsche, and biblical wisdom to show how God can use painful trials to heal and deepen the soul without glorifying evil itself. This lecture was given on September 11th, 2025, at University of North Texas. For more information on upcoming events, visit us at thomisticinstitute.org/upcoming-events. About the Speakers: Sister Elinor Gardner, O.P., is Affiliate Assistant Professor of Philosophy at the University of Dallas. Prior to arriving at UD, she taught at Aquinas College (Nashville, TN) and at The Catholic University of America, and spent one year assisting in formation at her Congregation’s Novitiate. She has a PhD from Boston College with a doctorate titled “St Thomas Aquinas on the Death Penalty.” Besides the ethical and political philosophy of Aquinas, her other research interests include the Christian anthropology of Robert Spaemann and Edith Stein. Keywords: Biblical View of Suffering, Discipline of the Lord, Divine Providence and Pain, Healing through Trials, Nietzsche and the Value of Suffering, Seneca on Adversity, Stoicism and Suffering, Suffering and Virtue, Suicide and Stoic Philosophy, Transformation of the Soul in Suffering

    38 min
  6. The God of Love and the Reality of Evil and Suffering – Prof. Chris Baglow

    JAN 7

    The God of Love and the Reality of Evil and Suffering – Prof. Chris Baglow

    Prof. Chris Baglow explores how the God of love can allow evil and suffering by showing that a world created for freedom and love—not as a deterministic machine—necessarily entails the risk of physical and moral evils, yet opens a deeper path of redemptive goodness. This lecture was given on October 30th, 2025, at Mississippi State University. For more information on upcoming events, visit us at thomisticinstitute.org/upcoming-events. About the Speakers: Dr. Baglow is Professor of the Practice of Theology and the Director of the Science and Religion Initiative of the McGrath Institute for Church Life at the University of Notre Dame. His work is the culmination of 20 years of faith and science scholarship and educational program creation, as well as a lengthy career in Catholic theological education spanning high-school, undergraduate, graduate and seminary teaching. In 2018 he was co-recipient of an Expanded Reason Award in Teaching from the Universidad Francisco de Vitoria (Madrid) and the Vatican Joseph Ratzinger Foundation (Rome) for his work in integrating faith and science in Catholic education, for which he has also received numerous grants from the John Templeton Foundation. Baglow is the author of Faith, Science and Reason: Theology on the Cutting Edge (2nd edition, Midwest Theological Forum, 2019) and Creation: A Catholic’s Guide to God and the Universe (Ave Maria Press, 2021). He serves as theological advisor to the Board of Directors of the Society of Catholic Scientists. He authored the transcripts for Wonder: The Harmony of Faith and Science, a Word on Fire film series directed by Manny Marquez and narrated by Jonathan Roumie. His work has appeared in Church Life Journal, Culture and Evangelization, and Joie de Vivre Quarterly Journal. Keywords: David Hume, Evil, Freedom and Moral Evil, God of Love and Suffering, Joseph Ratzinger on Freedom, Problem of Evil and Suffering, Providence and Natural Laws, Redemption and Human Freedom, Risk of Love, Theodicy and Divine Goodness

    49 min
  7. Christ Fully Reveals Man to Himself: What Christ's Humanity Says about What It Means to Be Human – Prof. Paul Gondreau

    JAN 6

    Christ Fully Reveals Man to Himself: What Christ's Humanity Says about What It Means to Be Human – Prof. Paul Gondreau

    Prof. Paul Gondreau explores how Christ’s concrete, fully human life uniquely “fully reveals man to himself,” showing that every human person and all of history are teleologically ordered to him as the final Adam and measure of authentic humanity. This lecture was given on November 20th, 2025, at The Ohio State University. For more information on upcoming events, visit us at thomisticinstitute.org/upcoming-events. About the Speakers: Paul Gondreau is professor of theology at Providence College, where he has taught for 28 years. He received his doctorate in theology from the University of Fribourg, Switzerland, doing his dissertation on Christ's full humanity (Christ's human passions/emotions) under the renowned Thomist scholar Jean-Pierre Torrell. He specializes in the thought of St. Thomas Aquinas and has published widely in the areas of Christology (focusing on Christ’s full humanity and his maleness), Christian anthropology, the moral meaning and purpose of human sexuality and sexual difference, the biblical vision of Aquinas' theology, the theology of disability, the sacrament of the Eucharist and the priesthood, and the Catholic vision of J. R. R. Tolkien's The Lord of the Rings. Keywords: Christ as Final Adam, Christ's Humanity, Christocentric Anthropology, Docetism, Gaudium et Spes 22, Humanity Revealed in Christ, Incarnation and Human Destiny, Recapitulation of Humanity, Teleological Order to Christ, “The Word Became Flesh”

    54 min
  8. Creation as Relation: An Existential Consideration – Dr. Robert McNamara

    JAN 5

    Creation as Relation: An Existential Consideration – Dr. Robert McNamara

    Dr. Robert McNamara explores how creation is not a distant event but our very act of existing here and now, so that each person’s being is itself a continuous relation of absolute dependence on God that can be freely understood, accepted, and joyfully affirmed. This lecture was given on December 2nd, 2025, at Queen's University at Belfast. For more information on upcoming events, visit us at thomisticinstitute.org/upcoming-events. About the Speakers: Dr. Robert McNamara is lecturer in philosophy at St. Patrick’s Pontifical University, Maynooth, Ireland, associate series editor of Edith Stein Studies, associate scholar of the Hildebrand Project, associate member of faculty at the International Theological Institute and the Maryvale Institute, and a founding member of the Aquinas Institute of Ireland (currently suspended). Robert researches anthropological and metaphysical questions in medieval and phenomenological thinkers, especially as both bear reference to philosophical personalism. He has studied physics and computing, philosophy and theology, and received his Ph.D. for research in the thought of Edith Stein and Thomas Aquinas. Robert is originally from Galway, Ireland and now lives in Carlow with his wife, Caroline, and their four children, Vivian, John, Catherine, and Oran. KeywordsBeing and Gift, Creation as Relation, Creation ex Nihilo, Existential Dependence on God, Gift of Existence, Hamlet and “To Be or Not to Be”, Joy in Being, Ongoing Creative Act, Saying Yes to Being, Self-Understanding before the Creator

    33 min
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About

The Thomistic Institute exists to promote Catholic truth in our contemporary world by strengthening the intellectual formation of Christians at universities, in the Church, and in the wider public square. The thought of St. Thomas Aquinas, the Universal Doctor of the Church, is our touchstone. The Thomistic Institute Podcast features the lectures and talks from our conferences, campus chapters events, intellectual retreats, livestream events,  and much more.  Founded in 2009, the Thomistic Institute is part of the Pontifical Faculty of the Immaculate Conception at the Dominican House of Studies in Washington, DC.

Information

  • Creator
    The Thomistic Institute
  • Years Active
    2014 - 2026
  • Episodes
    1.8K
  • Rating
    Clean
  • Copyright
    © All rights reserved 183125
  • Show Website
    The Thomistic Institute

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