Posts
I. General Areas for Presentations
- Thomism and Thomistic Issues
- Pre- and Post-Conciliar Theology and Traditional Catholic Issues
- Fundamental, Dogmatic, and Moral Theology
- Fundamental, Dogmatic, and Moral Theology
- Traditional Logic
- Natural Philosophy
- Philosophical Psychology
- Epistemology
- Ethics (General and Applied)
- Metaphysics
- Natural Theology
- History of Philosophy
- Ecclesiastical Latin, Paleography, Chant, and Other Skills
- Practical Issues (see suggestions below)
- Ecclesiastical Latin, Paleography, Chant, and Other Skills
- Practical Issues (see suggestions below)
II. Specific Suggested Topics. Below is a list of suggested topics. The list is not meant to be comprehensive, and was made mostly with a lay/beginner audience in mind. The few topics marked with an asterisk (*) can only be delivered to non-beginners and presuppose some previous knowledge. We welcome topic suggestions beyond this list, in particular any topic from the Summa theologiae or any of the standard scholastic philosophical and theological manuals.
Introduction to Theology
- A Theological Introduction to St. Thomas' Summa.
- What is Sacred Theology? A Non-Modernist Introduction.
- The Superiority of Traditional Scholastic Theology.
- Apologetics: The Popular Notion vs. the Scholastic Notion.
Fundamental Theology
- The Nouvelle Theologie Exposed.
- "Heretical," "Erroneous," or "Offensive to Pious Ears"? An Introduction to Theological Censures.
- What Exactly is Modernism?
- Where is Sacred Tradition? The Sources of Theology for Beginners.
- Biblical Inerrancy: How to Prove It.
- Extra Ecclesiam Nulla Salus: The Dogma Most Hated in Our Times.
De Deo Uno, Trino, et Creatore
- The Five Ways of St. Thomas on God's Existence.
- Can God's Existence Really Be Proven? What Kind of Proof Could Be Offered? (ST I.2.1-2)
- Creation in Time by an Eternal God?
- The Divine Attributes.
- The Soul's Existence and Relation to the Body.
- The Exterior and Interior Senses.*
- The Three Acts of the Intellect.
- The Passions and the Acts of the Will.
- The Freedom of the Will: Its Object and Its Limits.
- Divine Causality and Human Free Will.
- Predestination: What It Is and What It Is Not.
- Predestination: Thomism vs. Molinism.
- Was Aquinas a Male-Chauvinist?
- Evolution: Its Presuppositions and Problems.
Moral Theology
- Human Acts: An Overview.
- The Natural Law: An Overview.
- The Virtues and its Parts.
- Is the Mosaic Covenant Still In Force?
- The Spiritual Organism According to Garrigou-Lagrange: Virtues, Gifts, Fruits, and Beatitudes.
- Justice and Rights: A Thomistic Account.*
- Religious Worship: What It Is and Why We Owe it to God.*
- The End of Religious Worship: God or Man?
- Abortion: How to Prove It is Intrinsically Immoral.
- Religious Liberty and the Social Kingship of Christ.
Christology, Mariology, and De Sacramentis
- Did God Suffer on the Cross? Getting Language Straight About of God and Christ (Communication of Idioms).
- Three Persons in the Trinity, Two Natures in Christ: An Overview of Trinitarian Theology and Christology.
- The Athanasian Creed: A Theological Commentary.
- Mariology, An Overview.
- Three Persons in the Trinity, Two Natures in Christ: An Overview of Trinitarian Theology and Christology.
- The Athanasian Creed: A Theological Commentary.
- Mariology, An Overview.
- Our Lady, Dei Genitrix: How to Refute Protestant Nestorianism.
- The Necessity of Baptism for Salvation.
- Baptism of Desire: A Positive Theological Proof.
- Baptism of Desire: A Positive Theological Proof.
- General Sacramental Theology: Minister, Intention, Matter and Form.
- The Blessed Eucharist: Metaphysical Considerations.
- The Blessed Eucharist: Metaphysical Considerations.
- The Superiority of the Traditional Mass.
The Four Last Things
- Is There Really Fire in Hell and in Purgatory?
- Limbo: A Positive Theological Proof of its Existence.
- Does God Really Wish All Men to Be Saved? Why Are Not All Saved, Then?
- Dare We Hope that Von Balthasar Be Saved? Universalism, Old and New.
- Dare We Hope that Von Balthasar Be Saved? Universalism, Old and New.
Thomistic Philosophy
- An Introduction to Thomistic Philosophy for Beginners.
- Does the Church Have an Official Philosophy? (And Why the Answer is "Yes.")
- The Division of the Sciences and the Order of Learning Them.
- Aristotelian-Thomistic Formal Logic: An Introduction to the Categories and Predicables.
- Aristotelian-Thomistic Formal Logic: A Crash-Course on Arguments.
- What Counts as "Proof"? An Introduction to the Aristotelian-Thomistic Doctrine on Demonstration.
- Thomistic Natural Philosophy: Potency, Act, Matter, Form, Substance, Accident.
- Thomistic Metaphysics: An Overview.
- Thomistic Metaphysics: The Analogy of Being.
- Modern Epistemology: A Thomistic Critique.
- Moral Relativism: What it Is and How to Refute It.
- Utilitarianism: What it Is and How to Refute It.
- Positivism, Subjectivism, Emotivism, and Prescriptivism: A Thomistic Critique of Current Meta-Ethical Theories.*
- Bioethics: Peter Singer's Errors.
- Why Brain Death is Not Really Death: A Thomistic Take on the Issue.
History of Philosophy, History of Theology, History of the Church
- Ancient Philosophy: An Overview.
- An Introduction to Plato.
- An Introduction to Aristotle.
- Early Medieval Philosophy: An Overview.*
- An Introduction to the Thought of St. Dionysius the Areopagite.
- An Introduction to the Thought of St. Augustine of Hippo.
- An Introduction to the Life and Thought of St. Thomas Aquinas.
- Medieval Arabic Philosophy: An Overview.*
- Early Modern Philosophy: A Thomistic Introduction and Critique.
- Phenomenology and Personalism: What Do We Make of Them?
- The Reception of Aristotelianism in the Middle Ages: An Overview.
- The History of the Roman Rite: An Overview.
- The Life and Thought of Garrigou-Lagrange.
- Ecclesiastical Latin Pronunciation for Beginners.
- The 5 Latin Declensions of Nouns for Beginners.
- Latin Verbs for Beginners.
- The Greek Alphabet and Ecclesiastical Greek Pronunciation for Beginners.
- Biblical Hebrew Alphabet and Pronunciation for Beginners.
- The Latin of St. Thomas Aquinas: A Grammatical Look at Some of His Texts.*
- Paleography: Reading, Transcribing, and Collating Medieval Latin Manuscripts.*
- Serving the Traditional Latin Mass for Beginners.
- Gregorian Chant for Beginners.
Practical Issues (each is offered only in conjunction with other talks)
- So You Want to Major in Philosophy... Practical Tips for Prospective Philosophy Students.
- So You Want to Major in Theology... Practical Tips for Prospective Theology Students.
- So You Want to Go to Graduate School... Practical Tips for Prospective Graduate Students.
- How to (and How Not to) Market Yourself as a Young Scholar.
- How to Put Together an Attractive Academic CV (curriculum vitae).
- Getting Published: Getting Involved with Journals, Conferences, Book Reviews, etc.
- How to Prepare for the Academic Job Market.
- Homeschooling Your Children: A Must for Catholic Scholars.
“Religión y violencia en Tomás de Aquino” to be read at the XVI Congreso Internacional de Filosofía Filosofía: razón y violencia, Panel: Filosofía Medieval, Toluca, Mexico, October 2011. Exegetical study of Aquinas on the relationship between sins against the faith (e.g., heresy) and violence (in Spanish). Abstract: "En nuestros tiempos, la idea de usar violencia en nombre de la religión es casi sinónimo de irracionalidad y fanatismo religioso. Por esto resulta un poco sorprendente el que Tomás de Aquino, cuyo frío razonamiento sobre la fe cristiana aún hoy día es tomado como modelo de síntesis entre fe y razón, defienda el uso de la violencia física en ciertos casos como medio para reprimir la herejía y defender la religión cristiana. Esta ponencia reúne los textos del Aquinate sobre el tema con el fin de trazar su argumento en defensa de la violencia religiosa. Sin defender la postura de Aquino como verdadera o como viable para nuestros tiempos, el autor pretende demostrar que Tomás, lejos de caer en la irracionalidad cuando aborda este tema, defiende su postura de manera racional y coherente, en su típico estilo escolástico. Para comprender su razonamiento, es preciso tener en cuenta sus principios filosóficos y especialmente los teológicos."
“Extra Ecclesiam Nulla Salus: What It Means and What It Does Not Mean,” read at the Traditional Latin Mass Community of St. Mary's Help of Christians Church, West Allis, Wisconsin, May 2004. An overview of the topic for members of the parish.
- Getting Published: Getting Involved with Journals, Conferences, Book Reviews, etc.
- How to Prepare for the Academic Job Market.
- Homeschooling Your Children: A Must for Catholic Scholars.
III. Upcoming and Past Speaking Engagements
“The Veracity of Historical Affirmations in Scripture,” to be read at the Militia Sancti Petri Meeting, Cuasi-Parroquia San Pedro en Cadenas (FSSP), Guadalajara, Mexico; October 2011. A scholastic argument for the inerrancy of Scripture, to be delivered to the young adults of the parish.
“The Reception of Averroes’s Abstractionist Theory of Intentionality in the Latin West,” to be read at the Annual Fall Research Seminar Conference: Aquinas and ‘The Arabs’, Universidad Panamericana, Mexico City Campus, October 2011. Abstract: "Recent scholarship has paid renewed attention to the medieval problem of intentionality and the internal senses, especially within the texts of Aquinas and Avicenna. Yet less attention has been paid to the influence of Averroes and St. Albert the Great in the process of transmission between Avicenna and Aquinas. This paper aims to fill that lacuna by focusing on Averroes’ abstractionist contribution to the debate and especially on St. Albert’s pivotal role in its reception in the Latin West. The essay is divided into three parts. Part One briefly reviews the polemic among the Arabs. On the one hand, Avicenna—as is well documented—posited principles of interior sense perception that result in a total of five interior senses, which are distinct on the basis of their objects: the common sense and the retentive imagination have ‘images’ as their objects, the estimative and memorative faculties have ‘intentions’ as their objects, and the compositive imagination has the role of joining images and intentions. On the other hand, Averroes rejected Avicenna’s principles, reduced the number of interior senses to four, and assigned to each the role of abstracting an ‘intention’ from an ‘image’. Part Two breaks new ground by examining St. Albert’s reception and assimilation of the two divergent Arabic theories, which result in a clever amalgam between Avicenna’s overall principles and framework and Averroes’ abstractionist account. Part Three closes the paper by taking a fresh look at Aquinas in light of the debate among his predecessors."
“Religión y violencia en Tomás de Aquino” to be read at the XVI Congreso Internacional de Filosofía Filosofía: razón y violencia, Panel: Filosofía Medieval, Toluca, Mexico, October 2011. Exegetical study of Aquinas on the relationship between sins against the faith (e.g., heresy) and violence (in Spanish). Abstract: "En nuestros tiempos, la idea de usar violencia en nombre de la religión es casi sinónimo de irracionalidad y fanatismo religioso. Por esto resulta un poco sorprendente el que Tomás de Aquino, cuyo frío razonamiento sobre la fe cristiana aún hoy día es tomado como modelo de síntesis entre fe y razón, defienda el uso de la violencia física en ciertos casos como medio para reprimir la herejía y defender la religión cristiana. Esta ponencia reúne los textos del Aquinate sobre el tema con el fin de trazar su argumento en defensa de la violencia religiosa. Sin defender la postura de Aquino como verdadera o como viable para nuestros tiempos, el autor pretende demostrar que Tomás, lejos de caer en la irracionalidad cuando aborda este tema, defiende su postura de manera racional y coherente, en su típico estilo escolástico. Para comprender su razonamiento, es preciso tener en cuenta sus principios filosóficos y especialmente los teológicos."
“Los atributos divinos,” to be read at the Militia Sancti Petri Meeting, Cuasi-Parroquia San Pedro en Cadenas (FSSP), Guadalajara, Mexico; September 2011. Overview of Aquinas' doctrine on the divine attributes for the young adults of the parish (in Spanish).
“La existencia de Dios,” read at the Militia Sancti Petri Meeting, Cuasi-Parroquia San Pedro en Cadenas (FSSP), Guadalajara, Mexico; July 2011. Overview of Aquinas' five ways for the young adults of the parish (in Spanish).
“La religión y los derechos de Dios,” read at the Militia Sancti Petri Meeting, Cuasi-Parroquia San Pedro en Cadenas (FSSP), Guadalajara, Mexico; June 2011. Overview of the virtue of religion and God's rights, for the young adults of the parish (in Spanish).
“La filosofía aristotélica,” read at the Militia Sancti Petri Meeting, Cuasi-Parroquia San Pedro en Cadenas (FSSP), Guadalajara, Mexico; May 2011. Overview of Aristotelian philosophy for the young adults of the parish (in Spanish).
“Bioethics: Life and Death Issues,” taught intensive undergraduate philosophy course as visiting professor at the Universidad Panamericana, Mexico City Campus; April-May 2011. This seminar focuses on the philosophical study of ethical issues surrounding life and death, especially abortion, infanticide, brain death, and euthanasia. The perspectives of utilitarianism and natural law on each issue are compared and evaluated. Mind-body theories such as dualism, materialism, and hylemorphism are also examined in connection with life and death issues. Some important biological principles (from anatomy, physiology, genetics, etc.) that are ethically relevant are studied throughout the course as well. Students contribute to the course with their own presentations, employing methods of effective reasoning, thus reflecting critically upon values and ethical standards, and developing a philosophical understanding of human conduct in relation to life and death. All aspects of the course are in English.
“El Limbo Todavía Existe,” read at the Militia Sancti Petri Meeting, Cuasi-Parroquia San Pedro en Cadenas (FSSP), Guadalajara, Mexico; April 2011. Overview of the topic of limbo for the young adults of the parish (in Spanish).
“El ayuno y abstinencia tradicionales,” read at the Militia Sancti Petri Meeting, Cuasi-Parroquia San Pedro en Cadenas (FSSP), Guadalajara, Mexico; March 2011. Overview of traditional fasting and abstinence practices for the young adults of the parish (in Spanish).
“The Finality of Religion in St. Thomas Aquinas,” read at the Coloquio de Profesores, Universidad Panamericana, Mexico City Campus, October 2010. Abstract: In this paper I ask the question “what is the end of religious worship?” The end cannot be God, for he cannot be perfected; nor can it be the worshipper, for that would imply a certain selfishness which must be absent in a perfect act of worship. I examine the standard Thomistic account, represented by Cajetan, and I argue that a more nuanced view of the issue is to be developed in view of Aquinas’ many texts on the issue, scattered about his corpus. The paper aims to reach this nuanced view.
“La virtud de la religión en Santo Tomás,” taught intensive undergraduate philosophy course as visiting professor at the Universidad Panamericana, Mexico City Campus; October 2011. Este curso examina el culto divino desde una perspectiva filosófica, basándose en la síntesis de Santo Tomás. El curso tiene dos partes. En la primera parte del curso se estudia el trasfondo doctrinal del tratado de la religión de la Suma Teológica (II-II.81-100). Esto se logra en tres secciones. Primero (1.1) se estudia el contexto histórico (que acabamos de esbozar arriba) a profundidad, donde el enfoque es la naturaleza filosófica del tema del culto divino. Luego se analiza el contexto doctrinal de la síntesis tomista sobre el tema, especialmente (1.2) el tratado de los actos humanos (ST I-II.6-21), donde se explican los tres determinantes morales de un acto humano (objeto, fin, y circunstancias), tratado que muchos consideran la parte más esencial y original de la doctrina ética de Santo Tomás de Aquino. Y finalmente (1.3) se estudia la doctrina tomista sobre las virtudes, con especial enfoque en las partes potenciales de (o ‘virtudes anexas a’) la virtud de la justicia. En la segunda mitad del curso, se examinará primero (2.1) la doctrina del Santo sobre la virtud de la religión en sí misma, pasando principalmente a través del tratado de la virtud de la religión (ST II-II.81) aunque, para entender dicho texto a una profundidad adecuada, se examinarán otros textos dentro y fuera de la ST relacionados al tema.. Luego se estudian los actos particulares de la religión (ST II-II.82-89). Y finalmente el curso cierra con una cuestión disputada: la finalidad de la religión.
“La Castidad,” appeared on TV show Ponte las Pilas, on María Visión channel, Guadalajara, Mexico; September 2010. A popular-level explanation of the virtue of chastity (in Spanish).
“Los verbos latinos,” read at the Militia Sancti Petri Meeting, Cuasi-Parroquia San Pedro en Cadenas (FSSP), Guadalajara, Mexico; July 2010. A crash-course on Latin verbs (in Spanish).
“Las cinco declinaciones,” read at the Militia Sancti Petri Meeting, Cuasi-Parroquia San Pedro en Cadenas (FSSP), Guadalajara, Mexico; June 2010. A crash-course on Latin nouns (in Spanish).
“Aquinas and Cajetan on the Finality of Worship,” read at the Coloquio de Profesores, Universidad Panamericana, Guadalajara, October 2005. Earlier version of the paper above.
“Aquinas on the Interior Senses,” read at Sacred Heart Major Seminary, Detroit, Michigan; January 2007. An overview of the topic for philosophy students at the seminary.
“Aquinas and Cajetan on the Finality of Worship,” read at The Midwestern Conference on Medieval Philosophy, Marquette University; September 16, 2005. Earlier version of the paper of the same title above.
“Where do I Find Sacred Tradition?” read at the Catholics United for the Faith Meeting, Milwaukee, Wisconsin; April 20, 2005. Abstract: In this paper, aimed at the general Catholic public, I present the traditional (preconciliar, “manualist-style”) doctrine on the witnesses, organs, and monuments of Sacred Tradition (testes, organa, monumenta traditionis), in order to give a concrete idea of which sources traditional Catholic theologians use to draw the truths revealed through Sacred Tradition.
“Averroes’ Retrograde Revision of Avicenna’s Theory of Internal-Sense Intentionality,” read at The International Conference on Ancient and Medieval Philosophy, Fordham University, Section: “Averroes, Aquinas, and Avicenna,” October 23, 2004. Abstract: In this paper I compare Avicenna’s and Averroes’ notions of “intention” (ma‘na, intentio) and show how Averroes’ understanding aims to revise Avicenna’s and make it conform to a more orthodox Aristotelian framework, thus preparing the way for the adoption of this notion in Western Medieval thought.
“Extra Ecclesiam Nulla Salus: What It Means and What It Does Not Mean,” read at the Traditional Latin Mass Community of St. Mary's Help of Christians Church, West Allis, Wisconsin, May 2004. An overview of the topic for members of the parish.
“For the Love of God! The Common Good as Aquinas’ Way Out of Pantheism,” read at the Philosophy Graduate Student Association’s Conference on the Common Good, Marquette University, May 2004. Abstract: "This paper presents a problematic argument in Aquinas’ Summa (I.60.5), where he claims that, in general, the part loves the whole more than itself and, therefore, all creatures love God more than themselves. I contend that this argument, apart from it being very odd, implies that creatures are parts of God. But in view of Aquinas’ doctrine elsewhere, it is difficult to see how this pantheism is coherent within the whole of his metaphysics. The paper makes an attempt at resolving this difficulty by appealing to Aquinas’ doctrine of the common good."
“The Possibility of Altruism within an Eudaimonistic Framework,” read at the Philosophy Graduate Student Colloquium, Marquette University, October 2001. Abstract: "Eudaimonism claims that every being seeks its own perfection and happiness. This seems to be an essentially egoistic claim. Yet in Aquinas, whose ethical thought represents an unmitigated sort of eudaimonism, allows for the possibility altruism. The paper argues that eudaimonism is possible within this eudaimonistic framework given the Aristotelian-Thomistic doctrine of friendship, where the “other” (the friend) is considered to be “another self.” This breaches the gap, for the eudaimonist, between the self and the other."
“Freedom and the Goodness-Aspect of Choice,” read at the Philosophy Graduate Student Colloquium, Franciscan University of Steubenville, December 2000. Abstract: "In this paper, the author uses the Thomistic doctrine of the will to lay out the foundations for a critique of some phenomenological analyses of choice. Aquinas claims that, since the object of the will is the good, the will can only seek that which is good, or at least apparently good. This seems to preclude the possibility of committing truly culpable acts, since it implies that all that is sought is sought under the appearance of good. This is further complicated by Aquinas’ claim that all things (and presumably all choices) are to some degree good, at least insofar as, to some extent at least, they all have being, which is convertible with goodness. The paper solves this issue by arguing that “nolition” (from the Latin, nolo) is what accounts for the evil in an immoral act, where the will shuns a good that is commanded by the natural law in favor of a good that precludes the subject from doing what is commanded by the natural law."
