Thomas Aquinas College Lectures & Talks

“How Can Evil Be a Species of Human Actions?”, a lecture by Dr. Steven Jensen (University of St. Thomas, Houston). Given on September 11, 2026, at Thomas Aquinas College, New England, as part of the 2026-27 St. Vincent de Paul Lecture & Concert Series.

“The Analogy of Proper Proportion and the Metaphysics of Gift in the Thought of Ferdinand Ulrich” by Gregory Warner (John Paul II Institute, D.C.). Presented at the Thomas Aquinas College 2026 Thomistic Summer Conference.

“The Science of the One qua One: Aristotle and Aquinas on Henology” by Conor Stark (The Catholic University of America). Presented at the Thomas Aquinas College 2026 Thomistic Summer Conference.

“The Instrumental-Efficient Causality of Christ's Past Actions: The Metaphysical Basis of a Disagreement Among Thomists” by Dominic Spiekermann (Thomas Aquinas College, California). Presented at the Thomas Aquinas College 2026 Thomistic Summer Conference.

“The Metaphysics of Martyrdom and the Being of Truth” by J. Marianne Siegmund (University of Dallas). Presented at the Thomas Aquinas College 2026 Thomistic Summer Conference.

“The Dignity of God: An Aspect of Divine Wisdom” by Julian Sicam (University of St. Thomas, Houston). Presented at the Thomas Aquinas College 2026 Thomistic Summer Conference.

“Hic et Nunc: Intelligible Matter and the Origins of Mathematical Knowledge” by Maureen Ryland (University of St. Thomas, Houston). Presented at the Thomas Aquinas College 2026 Thomistic Summer Conference.

“Is St. Michael His Michaelness? Aquinas on the Distinction Between Angelic Person and Angelic Nature” by Alexander Roberts (University of Notre Dame). Presented at the Thomas Aquinas College 2026 Thomistic Summer Conference.

“The Predicative and Epistemic Restrictions of Prime Matter, ‘to' Some Predicative and Epistemic Restrictions Regarding Prime Matter” by Marcel Pryor (The Catholic University of America). Presented at the Thomas Aquinas College 2026 Thomistic Summer Conference.

“St. Thomas Aquinas on Whether All Human Beings Can Be Metaphysicians” by Ginna Pennance-Acevedo (University of St. Thomas, Houston). Presented at the Thomas Aquinas College 2026 Thomistic Summer Conference.

“Heidegger's Atheistic Ontology: A Comparison of Faith and Reason in the Writings of Martin Heidegger and Thomas Aquinas” by Rev. Gregory Markey (Thomas Aquinas College, New England). Presented at the Thomas Aquinas College 2026 Thomistic Summer Conference.

“From Ipsum Esse to Emmanuel: Beyond the Metaphysical Ascent” by Sr. Anne Francis Le, O.P. (Diocese of Fort Worth, Texas). Presented at the Thomas Aquinas College 2026 Thomistic Summer Conference.

“On the Importance of Understanding Universals for the Teaching of Logic — and for Using Logic as Well” by Rev. Brendan Kelly (Thomas Aquinas College, California). Presented at the Thomas Aquinas College 2026 Thomistic Summer Conference.

“Conformity to God's Will and Conformity to Right Reason: Measure, Contingency, and Participation in Aquinas” by Rev. Joseph Hudson, O.S.B. (Pontifical University of St. Thomas Aquinas). Presented at the Thomas Aquinas College 2026 Thomistic Summer Conference.

“How Might We Understand Mary's Current Mediatory Role?” by Stephen Hipp (Christendom College). Presented at the Thomas Aquinas College 2026 Thomistic Summer Conference.

“Can One Have an Experience of God in the Natural Order?” by Peter Gardner (University of St. Thomas, Houston). Presented at the Thomas Aquinas College 2026 Thomistic Summer Conference.

“The ‘Digitus Sextus' in the Summa Contra Gentiles IV, c.41 as an Analogy for the Union of the Human Nature and the Divine Nature of Christ in the Hypostatic Union” by Lorenzo Garcia (University of Notre Dame). Presented at the Thomas Aquinas College 2026 Thomistic Summer Conference.

“Secundum Esse et non Secundum Intentionem: The Analogy of Inequality in In Sent. I.19.5.2” by Shane Dowell (St. Paul Seminary). Presented at the Thomas Aquinas College 2026 Thomistic Summer Conference.

“The Holy Spirit as the Impulse of Divine Love According to St. Thomas Aquinas” by Sophie Cummings (Dominican House of Studies). Presented at the Thomas Aquinas College 2026 Thomistic Summer Conference.

“The Self-Evidence of the Gradation Principle (of the Fourth Way)” by Michael Bors (St. Mary's Seminary & University, Baltimore). Presented at the Thomas Aquinas College 2026 Thomistic Summer Conference.

“Contingency and Per Accidens Causality in the Work of St. Thomas” by Michael Bishop (The Catholic University of America). Presented at the Thomas Aquinas College 2026 Thomistic Summer Conference.

“‘The great flood-gates of the wonder-world swung open': The Baby and the Book in Dante's Divine Comedy and Melville's Moby-Dick; Or, The Whale”, a lecture by Dr. Elizabeth Reyes (Thomas Aquinas College, California). Given on August 28, 2026, as part of the 2026-27 St. Vincent de Paul Lecture & Concert Series.

“Sapientis est Ordinare: Order in the Thomas Aquinas College Curriculum,” a lecture by Dr. Josef C. Froula (Thomas Aquinas College, New England). Given on August 28, 2026, as part of the 2026-27 St. Vincent de Paul Lecture & Concert Series.

“The Presence of the Spirit Overcomes All Barriers”, a homily by His Eminence Sean Cardinal O'Malley, Archbishop Emeritus of Boston. Given at Convocation 2026, Thomas Aquinas College, New England.

“We are Called to Be Protectors”, remarks by His Eminence Sean Cardinal O'Malley, Archbishop Emeritus of Boston. Given at Convocation 2026, Thomas Aquinas College, New England.

How should we understand artificial intelligence, and what place should it have in a genuinely human future? Held at Thomas Aquinas College August 3–6, 2026, The Mind and the Machine brought together philosophers, technologists, educators, and industry leaders to examine artificial intelligence through the perennial questions of the Western intellectual and Catholic traditions. Across lectures, seminars, and panel discussions, speakers explored whether machines can truly reason or become conscious, the promises and dangers of artificial general intelligence, the distinction between intelligence and wisdom, and the implications of AI for human freedom, education, work, faith, and flourishing. Rather than asking only what increasingly powerful machines can do, the symposium returned to a more fundamental question: What is the human person, and what constitutes a truly good human life? The talks examine AI not simply as a technological development, but as an occasion to reconsider reason, virtue, freedom, judgment, wisdom, and the purpose of education. This playlist contains the lectures and conversations from The Mind and the Machine, offering perspectives ranging from optimism about AI as a powerful intellectual tool to serious warnings about its potential to reshape human society and our understanding of ourselves.

How should we understand artificial intelligence, and what place should it have in a genuinely human future? Held at Thomas Aquinas College August 3–6, 2026, The Mind and the Machine brought together philosophers, technologists, educators, and industry leaders to examine artificial intelligence through the perennial questions of the Western intellectual and Catholic traditions. Across lectures, seminars, and panel discussions, speakers explored whether machines can truly reason or become conscious, the promises and dangers of artificial general intelligence, the distinction between intelligence and wisdom, and the implications of AI for human freedom, education, work, faith, and flourishing. Rather than asking only what increasingly powerful machines can do, the symposium returned to a more fundamental question: What is the human person, and what constitutes a truly good human life? The talks examine AI not simply as a technological development, but as an occasion to reconsider reason, virtue, freedom, judgment, wisdom, and the purpose of education. This playlist contains the lectures and conversations from The Mind and the Machine, offering perspectives ranging from optimism about AI as a powerful intellectual tool to serious warnings about its potential to reshape human society and our understanding of ourselves.

How should we understand artificial intelligence, and what place should it have in a genuinely human future? Held at Thomas Aquinas College August 3–6, 2026, The Mind and the Machine brought together philosophers, technologists, educators, and industry leaders to examine artificial intelligence through the perennial questions of the Western intellectual and Catholic traditions. Across lectures, seminars, and panel discussions, speakers explored whether machines can truly reason or become conscious, the promises and dangers of artificial general intelligence, the distinction between intelligence and wisdom, and the implications of AI for human freedom, education, work, faith, and flourishing. Rather than asking only what increasingly powerful machines can do, the symposium returned to a more fundamental question: What is the human person, and what constitutes a truly good human life? The talks examine AI not simply as a technological development, but as an occasion to reconsider reason, virtue, freedom, judgment, wisdom, and the purpose of education. This playlist contains the lectures and conversations from The Mind and the Machine, offering perspectives ranging from optimism about AI as a powerful intellectual tool to serious warnings about its potential to reshape human society and our understanding of ourselves.

How should we understand artificial intelligence, and what place should it have in a genuinely human future? Held at Thomas Aquinas College August 3–6, 2026, The Mind and the Machine brought together philosophers, technologists, educators, and industry leaders to examine artificial intelligence through the perennial questions of the Western intellectual and Catholic traditions. Across lectures, seminars, and panel discussions, speakers explored whether machines can truly reason or become conscious, the promises and dangers of artificial general intelligence, the distinction between intelligence and wisdom, and the implications of AI for human freedom, education, work, faith, and flourishing. Rather than asking only what increasingly powerful machines can do, the symposium returned to a more fundamental question: What is the human person, and what constitutes a truly good human life? The talks examine AI not simply as a technological development, but as an occasion to reconsider reason, virtue, freedom, judgment, wisdom, and the purpose of education. This playlist contains the lectures and conversations from The Mind and the Machine, offering perspectives ranging from optimism about AI as a powerful intellectual tool to serious warnings about its potential to reshape human society and our understanding of ourselves.

How should we understand artificial intelligence, and what place should it have in a genuinely human future? Held at Thomas Aquinas College August 3–6, 2026, The Mind and the Machine brought together philosophers, technologists, educators, and industry leaders to examine artificial intelligence through the perennial questions of the Western intellectual and Catholic traditions. Across lectures, seminars, and panel discussions, speakers explored whether machines can truly reason or become conscious, the promises and dangers of artificial general intelligence, the distinction between intelligence and wisdom, and the implications of AI for human freedom, education, work, faith, and flourishing. Rather than asking only what increasingly powerful machines can do, the symposium returned to a more fundamental question: What is the human person, and what constitutes a truly good human life? The talks examine AI not simply as a technological development, but as an occasion to reconsider reason, virtue, freedom, judgment, wisdom, and the purpose of education. This playlist contains the lectures and conversations from The Mind and the Machine, offering perspectives ranging from optimism about AI as a powerful intellectual tool to serious warnings about its potential to reshape human society and our understanding of ourselves.

How should we understand artificial intelligence, and what place should it have in a genuinely human future? Held at Thomas Aquinas College August 3–6, 2026, The Mind and the Machine brought together philosophers, technologists, educators, and industry leaders to examine artificial intelligence through the perennial questions of the Western intellectual and Catholic traditions. Across lectures, seminars, and panel discussions, speakers explored whether machines can truly reason or become conscious, the promises and dangers of artificial general intelligence, the distinction between intelligence and wisdom, and the implications of AI for human freedom, education, work, faith, and flourishing. Rather than asking only what increasingly powerful machines can do, the symposium returned to a more fundamental question: What is the human person, and what constitutes a truly good human life? The talks examine AI not simply as a technological development, but as an occasion to reconsider reason, virtue, freedom, judgment, wisdom, and the purpose of education. This playlist contains the lectures and conversations from The Mind and the Machine, offering perspectives ranging from optimism about AI as a powerful intellectual tool to serious warnings about its potential to reshape human society and our understanding of ourselves.

How should we understand artificial intelligence, and what place should it have in a genuinely human future? Held at Thomas Aquinas College August 3–6, 2026, The Mind and the Machine brought together philosophers, technologists, educators, and industry leaders to examine artificial intelligence through the perennial questions of the Western intellectual and Catholic traditions. Across lectures, seminars, and panel discussions, speakers explored whether machines can truly reason or become conscious, the promises and dangers of artificial general intelligence, the distinction between intelligence and wisdom, and the implications of AI for human freedom, education, work, faith, and flourishing. Rather than asking only what increasingly powerful machines can do, the symposium returned to a more fundamental question: What is the human person, and what constitutes a truly good human life? The talks examine AI not simply as a technological development, but as an occasion to reconsider reason, virtue, freedom, judgment, wisdom, and the purpose of education. This playlist contains the lectures and conversations from The Mind and the Machine, offering perspectives ranging from optimism about AI as a powerful intellectual tool to serious warnings about its potential to reshape human society and our understanding of ourselves.

“The Problem of Bread: Art and Nature in Thomas's Ontology of Artifacts” by Matthew Lomanno (University of St. Thomas, Houston). Presented at the Thomas Aquinas College 2026 Thomistic Summer Conference.

“Metaphysics of Peace” by LTC Joshua Lehman (United States Military Academy). Presented at Thomas Aquinas College's 2026 Thomistic Summer Conference.

“Theology as a Guide to Aquinas's Cognitive Philosophy” by Benjamin Augros (Baylor University). Presented at Thomas Aquinas College's 2026 Thomistic Summer Conference.

“Ways of Seeing: Experience of Lower Methods as Prior to Divine Science” by Dr. John McCarthy (Thomas Aquinas College, New England). Presented at Thomas Aquinas College's 2026 Thomistic Summer Conference.

“Thomas Aquinas's Philosophical Doctrine of Creation” by Dr. Brandon Zimmerman (University of St. Thomas, Houston). Presented at Thomas Aquinas College's 2026 Thomistic Summer Conference.

“Plotinus: Omnipresence and Transcendence of the One in VI 5 [23]” by Rev. Gary Gurtler, S.J. (Boston College). Presented at Thomas Aquinas College's 2026 Thomistic Summer Conference.

“Two Distinctions of the Same Realities: Movement and Activity vs. Transitive and Immanent Action” by Dr. John Francis Nieto (Thomas Aquinas College, New England). Presented at Thomas Aquinas College's 2026 Thomistic Summer Conference.

“Aquinas on Simplicity and Analogy: A Problem in Natural Theology” by Rev. David Paternostro, S.J. (Creighton University). Presented at Thomas Aquinas College's 2026 Thomistic Summer Conference.

“Privatizing the Good: The Metaphysical Roots of Envy in St. Thomas Aquinas” by Dr. Michael Wahl (Providence College). Presented at Thomas Aquinas College's 2026 Thomistic Summer Conference.

“‘Let One the Ruler Be, One the King': The Many Gods of Aristotle's XII.8” by Dr. Joshua Lo (Thomas Aquinas College, New England). Presented at Thomas Aquinas College's 2026 Thomistic Summer Conference.

“The Treatise on the Divine Essence within Sacra Doctrina: Its Importance and its Properly Theological Character” by Dr. John O'Neill (Holy Apostles College and Seminary). Presented at Thomas Aquinas College's 2026 Thomistic Summer Conference.

“The Order of the Universe as the Greatest Good Intrinsic to It” by Dr. Daniel Gutschke (Thomas Aquinas College, New England). Presented at Thomas Aquinas College's 2026 Thomistic Summer Conference.

“Substance and Form in Human Being” by Dr. Herbert Hartmann (Lyceum Institute). Presented at Thomas Aquinas College's 2026 Thomistic Summer Conference.

“Aquinas in the Western Tradition of Divine Simplicity” by Dr. Brett Smith (Thomas Aquinas College, New England). Presented at Thomas Aquinas College's 2026 Thomistic Summer Conference.

“Hans Urs von Balthasar and St. Thomas Aquinas on Divine Suffering and Theological Predication,” by Dr. Taylor O'Neill (Thomas Aquinas College, New England). Presented at Thomas Aquinas College's 2026 Thomistic Summer Conference.

“How to Start Metaphysics,” by Dr. R. Glen Coughlin (Thomas Aquinas College, California). Presented at Thomas Aquinas College's 2026 Thomistic Summer Conference.

“Analogica Entis, Abstraction via Seperatio, and the Subject Matter of Metaphysics,” by Dr. Steven Long (Ave Maria University). Presented at Thomas Aquinas College's 2026 Thomistic Summer Conference.

“St. Thomas the Hopeful Romantic,” by Dr. Michael Pakaluk (The Catholic University of America). Presented at Thomas Aquinas College's 2026 Thomistic Summer Conference.

"A Fractured Mirror? Multiplicity and Intellection in Aquinas's Account of Eucharistic Presence," by Rev. Reginald Lynch, O.P. (Blackfriars, Oxford). Presented at Thomas Aquinas College's 2026 Thomistic Summer Conference.