The Thomistic Institute

The Thomistic Institute

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. Rational Mind and Non-Rational Agency: Aquinas' Augustinian Account of the Sinning Will & the Hierarchy of the Soul – Dr. Albert von Thurn und Taxis

    20 HR AGO

    Rational Mind and Non-Rational Agency: Aquinas' Augustinian Account of the Sinning Will & the Hierarchy of the Soul – Dr. Albert von Thurn und Taxis

    Dr. Albert von Thurn und Taxis analyzes the Augustinian and Thomistic accounts of the rational mind, will, and the hierarchy of the soul, exploring how sin emerges from the complex interplay of reason, freedom, and non-rational agency. This lecture was given on June 15th, 2025, at Schloss St. Emmeram. For more information on upcoming events, visit us at thomisticinstitute.org/upcoming-events. About the Speakers: Dr. Albert von Thurn und Taxis is the twelfth Prince of Thurn und Taxis and the current head of the Princely House. Born in Regensburg in 1983, his academic career reflects a diverse range of studies across economics, theology, and philosophy. Prince Albert completed his early education in Regensburg and at the German School in Rome. He went on to study economics and theology at the University of Edinburgh, graduating with a Master of Arts in 2008. He further honed his financial expertise by training as a chartered financial analyst in Zurich from 2008 to 2010. He later returned to Rome to pursue philosophy, earning a doctorate in 2022 from the Pontificia Universitas Studiorum a Sancto Thoma Aquinate in Urbe (Pontifical University of St. Thomas Aquinas). His research interests touch on morality and agency, evident in his publication, "John Stuart Mill and the Criterion of Morality: The Good, the Self and the Other" (2011), and his Licentiate Thesis, "Triumph of the Will? Rationality and Freedom in Aquinas' Theory of Agency" (2014). He is also a member of several other noble and religious orders, including the Royal Order of Saint George for the Defence of the Immaculate Conception (2005) and an honorary knight of the Sovereign Order of Malta (2010). Keywords: Augustinian Voluntas, Freedom And Agency, Hierarchy Of The Soul, Imago Dei, Intellectual Appetite, Liberum Arbitrium, Moral Evil, Non-Rational Agency, Ordo Amoris, Voluntarism Debate

    51 min
  2. In the Beginning Was the Word: Augustine, Aristotle, and Aquinas – Fr. Dominic Legge, O.P.

    1 DAY AGO

    In the Beginning Was the Word: Augustine, Aristotle, and Aquinas – Fr. Dominic Legge, O.P.

    Fr. Dominic Legge’s lecture traces the theological development of the concept of the Word through Augustine, Aristotle, and Aquinas, illuminating the evolution of Trinitarian analogy and the nature of human understanding in medieval philosophy. This lecture was given on June 16th, 2025, at Schloss St. Emmeram. Will you hand on the Faith to those who need it the most? Give by October 31st to film the next season of Aquinas 101! https://aquinas101.thomisticinstitute.org/oct25podcast For more information on upcoming events, visit us at thomisticinstitute.org/upcoming-events. About the Speakers: Fr. Dominic Legge is the President of the Pontifical Faculty of the Immaculate Conception and Associate Professor in Systematic Theology at the Pontifical Faculty of the Immaculate Conception in Washington, D.C.  He is an Ordinary Member of the Pontifical Academy of St. Thomas Aquinas, and holds a J.D. from Yale Law School, a Ph.L. from the School of Philosophy of the Catholic University of America, and a doctorate in Sacred Theology from the University of Fribourg in Switzerland. He entered the Order of Preachers in 2001, after having practiced constitutional law for several years as a trial attorney for the U.S. Department of Justice. He has also taught at The Catholic University of America Law School and at Providence College. He is the author of The Trinitarian Christology of St. Thomas Aquinas (Oxford University Press, 2017). Keywords: Albert The Great, Aristotelian Abstraction, Bonaventure, Illumination, Intellectual Procession, Inner Word, Marius Victorinus, Medieval Trinitarian Debates, Philosophical Cognition, Plotinus

    51 min
  3. Memory, Intellect, and Will: The 13th Century Reception of Augustine – Dr. Albert von Thurn und Taxis

    3 DAYS AGO

    Memory, Intellect, and Will: The 13th Century Reception of Augustine – Dr. Albert von Thurn und Taxis

    Dr. Albert von Thurn und Taxis explores the 13th-century reception of Augustine’s account of memory, intellect, and will, analyzing how medieval philosophers navigated the tension between Augustinian and Aristotelian models of the rational soul. This lecture was given on June 15th, 2025, at Schloss St. Emmeram. Will you hand on the Faith to those who need it the most? Give by October 31st to film the next season of Aquinas 101! https://aquinas101.thomisticinstitute.org/oct25podcast For more information on upcoming events, visit us at thomisticinstitute.org/upcoming-events. About the Speakers: Dr. Albert von Thurn und Taxis is the twelfth Prince of Thurn und Taxis and the current head of the Princely House. Born in Regensburg in 1983, his academic career reflects a diverse range of studies across economics, theology, and philosophy. Prince Albert completed his early education in Regensburg and at the German School in Rome. He went on to study economics and theology at the University of Edinburgh, graduating with a Master of Arts in 2008. He further honed his financial expertise by training as a chartered financial analyst in Zurich from 2008 to 2010. He later returned to Rome to pursue philosophy, earning a doctorate in 2022 from the Pontificia Universitas Studiorum a Sancto Thoma Aquinate in Urbe (Pontifical University of St. Thomas Aquinas). His research interests touch on morality and agency, evident in his publication, "John Stuart Mill and the Criterion of Morality: The Good, the Self and the Other" (2011), and his Licentiate Thesis, "Triumph of the Will? Rationality and Freedom in Aquinas' Theory of Agency" (2014). He is also a member of several other noble and religious orders, including the Royal Order of Saint George for the Defence of the Immaculate Conception (2005) and an honorary knight of the Sovereign Order of Malta (2010). Keywords: Albert The Great, Aristotelian Anthropology, Augustinian Triad, Faculty Psychology, Human Rationality, Imago Dei, Medieval Controversies, Memory Intellect And Will, Philosophical Anthropology, Trinitarian Psychology

    21 min
  4. Flannery O'Connor and the Perils of Governing By Tenderness – Dr. Jerome Foss

    23 OCT

    Flannery O'Connor and the Perils of Governing By Tenderness – Dr. Jerome Foss

    Dr. Jerome Foss uses Flannery O’Connor’s stories to warn against the pitfalls of governing by abstract tenderness, advocating for a vision rooted in faith, realism, and the transformative power of suffering. This lecture was given on February 12th, 2025, at University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign. For more information on upcoming events, visit us at thomisticinstitute.org/upcoming-events. About the Speakers: Jerome C. Foss is Professor of Politics, Endowed Director of the Center for Catholic Thought and Culture, and Director of the SVC Core Curriculum at Saint Vincent College in Latrobe, Pennsylvania. Foss earned his BA from the University of Dallas and his MA and PhD from Baylor University. His research focuses on Catholic political thought, American political thought, and literature and political philosophy. His most recent book, Flannery O'Connor and the Perils of Governing by Tenderness, brings these interests together. He has also published on the history of political philosophy, the U.S. Constitution, Constitutional Law, James Madison, and Abraham Lincoln. He is currently working on a scholarly book on the first ten amendments to the Constitution (commonly known as the Bill of Rights) and a book for a more general Catholic audience on the Declaration of Independence. Foss enjoys teaching a variety of courses, including courses on the Constitutional Convention and Shakespeare as a political thinker. As Director of the CCTC, Foss helps administer the college's Benedictine Leadership Studies Program, has developed and led the colleges summer program in Rome, founded and edits an academic journal entitled Conversatio, and organizes conferences, seminars, and other events. Keywords: Abstract Tenderness, Alexis De Tocqueville, Christian Vision, Evil And Suffering, Flannery O’Connor, Moral Clarity, Nihilism, Real Presence, Storytelling Vocation, Theological Realism

    45 min
  5. Newman and Tolkien: The Humility of (Hi)story – Prof. Giuseppe Pezzini

    22 OCT

    Newman and Tolkien: The Humility of (Hi)story – Prof. Giuseppe Pezzini

    Prof. Giuseppe Pezzini explores the biographical and spiritual connections between Newman and Tolkien, revealing how their shared organic vision of historical development and renewal challenges modern tensions between nostalgia, progress, and Christian identity. This lecture was given on March 27th, 2025, at University of Edinburgh. Will you hand on the Faith to those who need it the most? Give by October 31st to film the next season of Aquinas 101! https://aquinas101.thomisticinstitute.org/oct25podcast For more information on upcoming events, visit us at thomisticinstitute.org/upcoming-events. About the Speakers: Giuseppe Pezzini is Associate Professor in Latin at Corpus Christi College, Oxford, which he joined in 2021, after five beautiful years of teaching in St Andrews (2016–2021), and research fellowships at Magdalen College Oxford (2013–2015) and the Institute for Advanced Study in Princeton (2016). He worked as an assistant editor for the Oxford Dictionary of Medieval Latin, and has published especially on Latin language and literature, philosophy of language, and the theory of fiction, ancient and modern. He is the Tolkien Editor for the Journal of Inklings Studies, one the founders of the Oxford Tolkien Network, and the author of many publications on Tolkien, including a forthcoming monograph on Tolkien’s literary theory (Cambridge University Press). He is also a member of the Young Academy of Europe, an Associate Member at the Institute of Theology, Imagination and the Arts at the University of St Andrews, and has published and curated exhibitions on John Henry Newman (2011, 2014) and Oscar Wilde (2015). Keywords: Birmingham Oratory, Decline And Renewal, Historical Change, J.R.R. Tolkien, John Henry Newman, Organic Vision Of History, Sacred Memory, Seed And Tree Symbolism, Spiritual Influence, Vatican II

    58 min
  6. Psalms, Hymns, and Spiritual Canticles: Gregorian Chant and the Joy of the Gospel – Fr. Innocent Smith, O.P.

    21 OCT

    Psalms, Hymns, and Spiritual Canticles: Gregorian Chant and the Joy of the Gospel – Fr. Innocent Smith, O.P.

    Fr. Innocent Smith’s lecture illuminates how Gregorian Chant, rooted in Psalms, hymns, and spiritual canticles, enriches Catholic liturgy by shaping Christian spirituality and expressing the deep joy of the Gospel through sung prayer. This lecture was given on April 10th, 2025, at Clemson University. For more information on upcoming events, visit us at thomisticinstitute.org/upcoming-events. About the Speakers: Innocent Smith, O.P., is Assistant Professor of Theology at the University of Notre Dame. After undergraduate studies in music and philosophy at Notre Dame, he entered the Order of Preachers in 2008 and was ordained priest in 2015. Fr. Innocent served in parish ministry for several years before completing a doctorate in liturgical studies at the University of Regensburg in 2021. After teaching for several years in Baltimore and Washington, DC, he joined the Department of Theology in 2025. His research focuses on the material and musical aspects of medieval liturgical books as well as the relationship between liturgy and theology. His monograph Bible Missals and the Medieval Dominican Liturgy explores medieval manuscripts of the Bible that also contain liturgical texts for the celebration of Mass. Keywords: Biblical Canticles, Christian Liturgy, Ecclesiastical Music, Eucharistic Thanksgiving, Gregorian Chant, Liturgical Solemnity, Psalms Of David, Sacramental Joy, St. Augustine, Sung Prayer

    37 min
  7. The Incarnation and the Machine: The Visions of Fra Angelico and Le Corbusier –  Fr. Irenaeus Dunlevy O.P.

    20 OCT

    The Incarnation and the Machine: The Visions of Fra Angelico and Le Corbusier – Fr. Irenaeus Dunlevy O.P.

    Fr. Irenaeus Dunlevy's lecture contrasts the incarnational vision of Fra Angelico with Le Corbusier’s machine aesthetic, revealing how Christian art and architecture communicate spiritual beauty, theological wisdom, and the presence of Christ through the transformation of physical space. This lecture was given on March 14th, 2025, at Rhode Island School of Design. Will you hand on the Faith to those who need it the most? Give by October 31st to film the next season of Aquinas 101! https://aquinas101.thomisticinstitute.org/oct25podcast For more information on upcoming events, visit us at thomisticinstitute.org/upcoming-events. About the Speakers: Fr. Irenaeus Dunlevy, O.P. is a Coordinator for Campus Outreach at the Thomistic Institute in Washington, DC. He has served as a parochial vicar at St. Pius V Church in Providence, RI, as well as an adjunct professor and assistant chaplain at Providence College. He originates from Columbus, OH, studied architecture in Virginia and Switzerland, and practiced in the DC area before entering the Order of Preachers in 2013. He was ordained a priest in 2020 at the Dominican House of Studies during the quarantine. In his work with the Thomistic Institute, he has given talks on the virtue of penance, loving God with the mind, and the intersection of theology and architecture. He often travels the country visiting Thomistic Institute Campus Chapters, leading seminars that help students grasp Thomistic concepts. Additionally, he coordinates the TI's intellectual retreat programming, which affords students time to pray and integrate into their lives Thomistic theology and philosophy. Keywords: Art And Spirituality, Beauty And Incarnation, Christian Architecture, Conceptual Art, Letter To Artists, Marie-Alain Couturier, Minimalism, Religious Pedagogy, Sacramental Presence, San Marco Frescoes

    48 min

Ratings & Reviews

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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.

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