Thomas Aquinas College Lectures & Talks

"Foreign Policy Principles Underlining the Constitution" by Dr. Thomas West of Hillsdale College. Given for President's Day 2026 at Thomas Aquinas College, New England.

Can artificial intelligence really think, understand, or know anything at all? And if not, what does our relationship with AI reveal about who we are as human beings? In this tenth and final episode of The Mind and the Machine: Aquinas on AI, philosopher Dr. Michael Augros (Thomas Aquinas College) brings the series to a close by exploring the deeper human and philosophical implications of artificial intelligence. Building on the conclusions of the previous nine videos, this episode argues that AI does not truly think, understand, or perform any real cognitive act. From there, it asks five crucial follow-up questions that shape how we should live with and use AI: • How should we talk about what AI does? • Are human beings superior or inferior to AI? • Is AI a tool, assistant, teacher, or something else entirely? • What can comparing AI to ourselves teach us about human cognition? • Will AI ultimately promote or suppress human goods like wisdom, creativity, freedom, friendship, art, and science? Drawing on Aristotle and St. Thomas Aquinas, Dr. Augros explains why human beings are essentially and permanently different from AI systems, even the most advanced large language models. He clarifies why AI is best understood as an instrument and extension of human intelligence, not a new kind of living or thinking being. This episode also examines: • Why AI can outperform humans in speed, precision, and data processing without possessing intelligence • The dangers of anthropomorphizing AI as a “friend” or “teacher” • Why human creativity, wisdom, and genuine understanding cannot be automated • How AI may ultimately clarify what is truly human rather than replace it Whether you are interested in AI ethics, philosophy of mind, Aquinas, Aristotle, technology and humanity, or the future of artificial intelligence, this final lecture offers a rigorous and deeply human framework for understanding AI without hype or fear. This concludes the full lecture series: The Mind and the Machine: Aquinas on AI.

Original score for the YouTube limited series "The Mind and the Machine" a production of Thomas Aquinas College, original score composed by Richard Goforth, produced by Douglas Cummins and executive producers Chris Weinkopf and John Goyette. Watch the series at ThomasAquinas.edu/Mind

Original score for the YouTube limited series "The Mind and the Machine" a production of Thomas Aquinas College, original score composed by Richard Goforth, produced by Douglas Cummins and executive producers Chris Weinkopf and John Goyette. Watch the series at ThomasAquinas.edu/Mind

Original score for the YouTube limited series "The Mind and the Machine" a production of Thomas Aquinas College, original score composed by Richard Goforth, produced by Douglas Cummins and executive producers Chris Weinkopf and John Goyette. Watch the series at ThomasAquinas.edu/Mind

Original score for the YouTube limited series "The Mind and the Machine" a production of Thomas Aquinas College, original score composed by Richard Goforth, produced by Douglas Cummins and executive producers Chris Weinkopf and John Goyette. Watch the series at ThomasAquinas.edu/Mind

Original score for the YouTube limited series "The Mind and the Machine" a production of Thomas Aquinas College, original score composed by Richard Goforth, produced by Douglas Cummins and executive producers Chris Weinkopf and John Goyette. Watch the series at ThomasAquinas.edu/Mind

Why does Thomas Aquinas believe that thinking and understanding require life itself? And what does that imply about the limits of artificial intelligence? In this ninth episode of The Mind and the Machine: Aquinas on AI, philosopher Dr. Michael Augros (Thomas Aquinas College) develops a causal explanation—rooted in Thomistic metaphysics—for why AI systems cannot truly perform cognitive acts such as thinking and understanding. Building on the previous episode's deductive arguments, this lecture goes deeper by asking why, in principle, cognition must belong only to living beings. Drawing on Aquinas's philosophy of life, unity, immanent action, and cognition, the video argues that genuine thought cannot arise from machines because machines lack the kind of substantial unity and self-movement proper to living things. This episode explores: Aquinas's definition of a living thing as a self-moving being What it means for something to be “one being absolutely” rather than an aggregate Why living beings possess a unity machines lack The difference between immanent operations (like thinking) and transitive actions Why cognition presupposes life, not mere computation Why AI systems, even highly complex ones, are not genuine subjects of thought Using examples from biology, metaphysics, and philosophy of mind, Dr. Augros shows that cognition is not something that can emerge from collections of parts acting together, but must belong to a single, unified, living subject. This episode is a key installment in the series, connecting intelligence, life, and being, and preparing the ground for the final conclusions about why artificial intelligence can simulate thought without ever truly thinking. Whether you're interested in AI consciousness, philosophy of mind, metaphysics, neuroscience, ethics, theology, or the future of artificial intelligence, this lecture offers a deep and rigorous account of what it truly means to be a thinking being.

“The Eucharist and Typology,” the 2026 St. Thomas Day Lecture at Thomas Aquinas College, New England, by Dr. Matthew Levering

cavanaugh-lecture-ca26 by Thomas Aquinas College Lectures & Talks

In this episode of The Mind and the Machine, philosopher Dr. Michael Augros explores what Thomas Aquinas can teach us about artificial intelligence, consciousness, and human thought. Can AI truly think or understand, or does it merely simulate intelligence? Drawing on Aquinas's philosophy of mind, Aristotle's theory of cognition, and careful analysis of cognitive acts vs computational processes, this video examines whether machines can ever possess real understanding, awareness, or consciousness. We investigate: Whether thinking is fundamentally different from computation Why sensation and understanding may require life itself The difference between cognitive acts and mechanical processes How medieval philosophy sheds new light on modern AI debates This lecture is part of a 10-part series on artificial intelligence, philosophy, and the nature of mind, produced in collaboration with Thomas Aquinas College. If you're interested in AI ethics, philosophy of mind, consciousness, cognition, neuroscience, and classical philosophy, this series offers a rigorous and thought-provoking exploration of what it truly means to think.

The Gödel Problem: A Mathematical Argument Against AI Thought, The Mind and the Machine, Episode 7 by Thomas Aquinas College Lectures & Talks

Does Ai Understand? - Mind and Machine: Episode 6 by Thomas Aquinas College Lectures & Talks

Does AI Understand? - Mind and Machine Episode 5 by Thomas Aquinas College Lectures & Talks

“The Noble Due: Aquinas and Debitum Morale,” a lecture by Rev. Patrick Carter, O.S.B. ('05), given at Thomas Aquinas College, New England, on November 21, 2025.

Does AI Really Think? - The Mind and the Machine: Episode 4 by Thomas Aquinas College Lectures & Talks

This series examines the nature and limits of artificial intelligence through the lens of classical philosophy, with special attention to the thought of Aristotle and Thomas Aquinas. Its purpose is to illuminate what AI is, what it is not, and what its development reveals about the structure and meaning of human understanding. Thomas Aquinas College: thomasaquinascollege.edu The Mind and the Machine: thomasaquinas.edu/mind

What is Artificial Intelligence? The Mind and the Machine Episode 2 by Thomas Aquinas College Lectures & Talks

Is ChatGPT a Person - The Mind and the Machine Lesson 1 by Thomas Aquinas College Lectures & Talks

“How Scripture Requires All Christians to be Catholic,” a tutor talk presented by Dr. Brett Smith of Thomas Aquinas College, New England, on December 3, 2025.

"Literature and the Renewal of Moral Philosophy," by Dr. Thomas Hibbs (J. Newton Rayzor Sr. Professor of Philosophy and Dean Emeritus at Baylor University). Presented at Thomas Aquinas College's 2025 Thomistic Summer Conference.

“At the Heart of Sexual Ethics: Reflections on Aquinas and Wojtyla,” by Dr. Mathew D. Walz, given at Thomas Aquinas College, California, on November 7, 2025.

Dr. Daniel McInerny of Christendom College presents the November lecture at Thomas Aquinas College, New England, “Art as Imitation: An Aristotelian Re-Activation.”

"On the Definition of Person," by Dr. Patrick Gardner (Tutor, Thomas Aquinas College, New England). Presented at Thomas Aquinas College's 2025 Thomistic Summer Conference.

“A Dumb Ox's Prayer to Bellow,” by Dr. Michael Pakaluk (Catholic University of America). Presented at Thomas Aquinas College's 2025 Thomistic Summer Conference.

“Homosexuality, a Corrupt Complexio and Brutishness” by Thomas Aquinas College Lectures & Talks

“Aquinas vs Scotus vs Aquinas on the Intrinsic Divisibility of Dimensive Quantity” by Thomas Aquinas College Lectures & Talks

“Aquinas, Boethius, and the Art of Commentary” by Thomas Aquinas College Lectures & Talks

“Aquinas's Application of the Essence-Energy Distinction to the Divine Attributes in the Summa Theologiae” by Thomas Aquinas College Lectures & Talks

“The Best Praeambulum Fidei” by Thomas Aquinas College Lectures & Talks

“Edith Stein, the Perennial Philosophy, and the Problem of Women” by Thomas Aquinas College Lectures & Talks

Analogy in Aquinas: Development or Consistency? by Thomas Aquinas College Lectures & Talks

A Tutor Talk

“A Midsummer Night's Dream: Funny Profundity, or Inane and Profane?” a “Tutor Talk,” presented by Dr. Travis Cooper at Thomas Aquinas College, California, on September 24, 2025

“‘þe best boke of roumaunce': Form and Meaning in Sir Gawain and the Green Knight,” a lecture by Dr. Amy Fahey at Thomas Aquinas College, New England, on September 20, 2025

“The Neo-Aristotelian Nature of the Sexes,” a 2025 lecture Dr. Tomás Bogardus at Thomas Aquinas College, California

“The Place of a Knowledge of History in the Well Educated Human Person” by Thomas Aquinas College Lectures & Talks

Opening lecture at Thomas Aquinas College, California, for 2025-26: "Why Do We Need Questions," by Dr. Sean Collins

Dr. Sean Cunningham's opening lecture for the 2025-26 Academic Year at Thomas Aquinas College, New England: “Liberal Education and its Rivals”

"A Posture of Receptivity" by Thomas Aquinas College Lectures & Talks

"The Wisdom of the Cross" by Thomas Aquinas College Lectures & Talks

Fr. Giertych's Homily at the Convocation Mass of the Holy Spirit

Fr. Giertych's Matriculation Remarks at New England Convocation

Address to the TAC Class of 2029 by Thomas Aquinas College Lectures & Talks

Rev. Gerald Murray's homily at the the Baccalaureate Mass of the Holy Spirit Thomas Aquinas College, New England Commencement 2025

Pedro Da Silva's Student Address at Commencement 2025 Thomas Aquinas College, New England

Dr. Kevin Roberts' Commencement Address Thomas Aquinas College, New England 2025

Trust in the Abundant Graces by Michael F. McLean, Ph.D. Fourth President and Tutor Commencement 2025 Thomas Aquinas College, California

“A Lifelong Mission of Pursuing the Truth and Pursuing God” by Anthony Santine (CA'25) Senior Address Commencement 2025 Thomas Aquinas College, California

A Spirit of Mercy by Rev. Sebastian Walshe, O.Praem. ('94) Prefect of Studies, St. Michael's Abbey Baccalaureate Mass of the Holy Spirit Commencement 2025 Thomas Aquinas College, California

“Space and Time in Modern Cosmology” by Dr. Carol Day Tutor Emeritus Thomas Aquinas College, New England March 28, 2025