Scott Randall Paine

Faculty Fellow

Scott Randall Paine, PhD

I am a priest of the archdiocese of Brasilia and retired full professor of philosophy at the city’s federal university (unb.br). A native of the United States, since 1974 I have lived, studied, and taught in Europe, Asia and South America. In 1983 I was ordained by Pope St. John Paul II in Rome, where, in 1988, I also took my doctorate in philosophy at the Pontifical University of St. Thomas.

My research and publication have long been dominated by the links between the humanities, philosophy, and religion (especially East-West conceptual confrontations, and what is sometimes called comparative religion). I also teach courses in Medieval philosophy, Indian and Chinese philosophy, metaphysics and philosophical anthropology (focus on the notion of person), and philosophy of language. Outside of the classical authors (among whom I include Newman and Chesterton), a few of the writers who have most impacted me have been: Thomas Gilby, Josef Pieper, Cornelio Fabro, John Deely, Eugen Rosenstock-Huessy, Louis Dupré, Richard De Smet, Ananda Coomaraswamy, Rémi Brague and Roy Wilson Organ.

My latest works include an edition of the essays of Bernard Kelly, A Catholic Mind Awake (2017); a study of the thought of G.K. Chesterton, The Universe and Mr. Chesterton (2nd ed., 2019); The Other World We Live In: A Catholic Vision of Angelic Reality (2021), my philosophical travelogue, Seven Islands: A Philosopher Island-Hops Through the World (2021), and my recent book on philosophy’s interfaces, Face to Face with Everything: How Philosophy Looks at the World and What It Sees (2026). I also have two forthcoming titles, one on Newman and the other on Rosenstock-Huessy. My CV (in Portuguese), my current writing and other resources can be found at: 3wisdoms.com.

Curriculum vitae