Thomas Aquinas College Lectures & Talks

Dr. John McCarthy, a tutor and lecturer at Thomas Aquinas College who studies classical political thought, explores Thucydides as a thinker. He traces realism, method, and rhetoric in Thucydides' histories. Short takes: debates over justice versus expediency, how crises reveal human nature, the Melian Dialogue and Sicilian hubris, and history as a guide to prudence.

Dr. John Nieto ('89), a tutor at Thomas Aquinas College, California, gave this informal talk on wisdom to the men of campus in St. Peter & Paul's Hall on February 27. 2026.

Prince Albert von Thurn und Taxis, a scholar-prince who lectured on Augustine and Aquinas, explores the will and the soul. He contrasts Augustine’s mens with Aquinas’ Aristotelian powers. He traces how reason, intellect, senses, and passions interact in choice. He examines sin as inordinate action, the will’s causal role, and how rational faculties can be morally non-rational.

Dr. Adam Seagrave ('05) gives the annual President's Day lecture at Thomas Aquinas College, California, on February 20, 2026, entitled “God Willing: How the Idea of Divine Providence Shaped the Careers of John Brown, Frederick Douglass, and Abraham Lincoln”.

Dr. Thomas West, a scholar of political thought and constitutional history at Hillsdale College, gives a lecture on the Founders' foreign policy principles. He discusses natural rights and duties, how the Constitution limits foreign policy to defense, the founders' wariness of alliances, and the case for non‑intervention and national sovereignty. The talk traces this logic from Vattel to Monroe and contrasts it with 20th century globalism.

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