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.
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.
Episodes
Mentioned books
7 snips
Mar 19, 2026 • 44min
Beyond Work and Play: Aristotle on Friendship, Contemplation, and The Value of Human Activity – Prof. Marshall Bierson
Marshall Bierson, assistant professor of philosophy focused on ethics and Thomistic-informed psychological questions. He explores Aristotle’s distinction between work, play, and deeper energetic activities. He highlights why friendship and contemplation uniquely allow us to “rest” in what is truly good. He also shows how Aquinas radicalizes this by making friendship with God central to human fulfillment.
Mar 18, 2026 • 46min
St. Thomas Aquinas on Pleasure and the Good Life – Dr. Erik Dempsey
Dr. Erik Dempsey, scholar of Aristotle and Aquinas and professor of government, classics, and religious studies, explores pleasure as a natural, God-given signal of human ends. He contrasts modern hedonism with genuine delight, explains Aquinas’s distinctions among pleasures and joy, and shows why temperance and virtue are needed to order desire toward the good.
12 snips
Mar 17, 2026 • 53min
Suffering and the Communion of Saints – Prof. Timothy O'Connor
Timothy O'Connor, Mahlon Powell Professor of Philosophy and Cognitive Science at Indiana University, explores why an all-loving God permits horrendous suffering. He contrasts theoretical and pastoral approaches and examines Stump and Adams on narrative, postmortem meaning, freedom, and divine love. He ends by considering how the communion of saints might integrate diverse sufferings into a shared eternal union with God.
13 snips
Mar 16, 2026 • 52min
Friendship: The Art of Striving and Thriving Together – Sr. Mary Madeline Todd, O.P.
Sr. Mary Madeline Todd, O.P., a Dominican theologian and teacher with a doctorate in Sacred Theology, explores friendship through Aristotle and Aquinas. She discusses types of friendship, virtuous mutuality, benevolence as willing another's good, sacrifice, shared life and conversation, and how prayer and communion with Christ transform and deepen human bonds.
Mar 13, 2026 • 50min
Burnout Society – Dr. R.J. Snell
R. J. Snell, Editor-in-Chief of Public Discourse and academic at Princeton, explores our achievement-obsessed culture. He discusses student anxiety, fragmented attention in the information age, and the shift from disciplinary to achievement society. He contrasts fleeting activity with lingering contemplation, argues we quantify life at the cost of narrative, and urges practices like silence, Sabbath, and a rule of life to restore meaning.
54 snips
Mar 12, 2026 • 42min
From the Dictatorship of Relativism to the Tyranny of Pathos – Dr. Kevin Kambo
Dr. Kevin Kambo, assistant professor of philosophy at the University of Dallas who studies Platonic moral psychology, explores the cultural shift from relativism to a ‘tyranny of pathos.’ He discusses how appeals to hurt and empathy displace deliberation, Plato and Aristotle on order and logos, and the political effects of empathy-based morality. The talk probes restoring nature and logos in public life.
55 snips
Mar 11, 2026 • 50min
Are Right and Wrong Just a Matter of Opinion? – Prof. Steven Jensen
Prof. Steven Jensen, a Thomistic philosopher at University of St. Thomas specializing in bioethics and natural law, defends moral realism over relativism. He contrasts objective vs subjective wrongdoing and tackles the argument from disagreement. He explores how human nature, ends, and factual disputes ground moral claims and reframes right and wrong as relations to human goals.
19 snips
Mar 10, 2026 • 50min
Is the Church Anti-Capitalist? – Fr. Jacques-Benoît Rauscher, O.P.
Fr. Jacques-Benoît Rauscher, O.P., a Dominican moral theologian and teacher at the Catholic University of Lyon, explores whether Church teaching opposes capitalism or critiques its underlying spirit. He contrasts Catholic social doctrine with Marxism, examines biblical warnings about wealth, outlines four Catholic responses to capitalism, and proposes a Thomistic, prudential way to live faithfully in modern economic life.
Mar 9, 2026 • 50min
Dante and Aquinas – Prof. George Corbett
George Corbett, Professor of Theology at St. Andrews and specialist in Dante and Aquinas, guides listeners through medieval debates and modern readings. He traces Leo XIII’s campaign to read Dante as Thomist and critiques Etienne Gilson’s opposing view. Short, lively takes explore papal initiatives, scholarly controversies, and Dante’s portrayal of Aquinas in the Heaven of the Sun.
Mar 6, 2026 • 56min
Catholic Scientists – Prof. Jonathan I. Lunine
Prof. Jonathan I. Lunine, NASA JPL Chief Scientist and Caltech planetary scientist, tells of his conversion and life balancing faith with cutting‑edge space science. He spotlights Georges Lemaître and Gregor Mendel as pivotal priest‑scientists. He discusses planetary habitability, Europa and the search for life, and how historical figures shaped cosmology and genetics.
