On What Could Be
A Philosophical Happy Hour on the distinction of potentiality and possibility in both being and knowing. When we speak about what “could be”, we often unthinkingly use the words “possible” and “potential” as though they were interchangeable. Yet beneath this ordinary use lies a subtle but nevertheless important distinction: a distinction that reaches into the […]
Lecture: The Analogous Use of Words
Last year, the Lyceum Instituted hosted Dr. Domenic D’Ettore (Dean, Division of Liberal Studies and professor of Philosophy with the Center for Thomistic Studies at the University of St. Thomas, TX), a careful and insight scholar of the Latin Thomist tradition and an expert on analogy. Drawing on his great expertise, Dr. D’Ettore presents for […]
On Limits to the Freedom of Expression
A Philosophical Happy Hour on an issue of perennial contention in liberal democracies everywhere: where do we draw the lines around the freedom of expression? In his dissent from the Supreme Court’s 7-2 ruling in Abrams et al. v. United States, Oliver Wendell Holmes Jr. wrote this since-famous line: “the ultimate good desired is better […]
On the Recovery of Time
A Philosophical Happy Hour exploring the experience of time, its loss, and the possible paths to its recovery. Imagine yourself outdoors and alone—truly alone. No friends, no family, no strangers. No living human being in sight, no voice close enough to be heard (or ears to hear). No phone; no connection to anything but the […]
A New Kind of School
Today’s needs for education are no longer being met. It is time for a new kind of school: one rooted in the wisdom of ancient traditions but adapted to the digital age. This video introduces the Lyceum Institute’s unique conception of education for the 21st century.
Seminar: Steps toward Dialectical Logic [Fall 2025]
Announcement of our Fall 2025 seminar, “What Kind of Certainty?: Steps Toward Dialectical Logic”—have we overlooked an important Aristotelian text and tradition in our understanding of reasoning? Description Details All Lyceum Institute seminars include weekly readings, lectures, and live discussion sessions. The discussion sessions are recorded. This seminar includes extensive readings, but does not require […]
Seminar: The Opportunities of Technology [Fall 2025]
Announcement of our Fall 2025 seminar, “The Opportunities of Technology”—how can we redeem the technological from its current abused status? Description Details All Lyceum Institute seminars include weekly readings, lectures, and live discussion sessions. The discussion sessions are recorded. This seminar includes extensive readings, but does not require advanced philosophical knowledge (nor does it have […]
On Christianity and the Interpretation of Philosophy
A Philosophical Happy Hour on the influences of Christian belief on philosophical interpretation, and of philosophical wisdom on the practice of the Christian faith. Is there such a thing as “Christian philosophy”? Today, thinking of antiquity draws new interest. The texts of Plato and Aristotle, Plotinus and Porphyry—even the fragments of Parmenides and Heraclitus, the […]
On Violence
A Philosophical Happy Hour on the concept of violence, both physical and cognitive. When I was five years old, I was hit in the face with a croquet mallet, and not gently. It was an accident—the consequence of mutual carelessness between my brother and I while goofing around in the garage one evening, neither paying […]
New Faculty Fellow: Herbert Hartmann
The Lyceum Institute is delighted to welcome a third new Faculty Fellow for 2025-26, Dr. Herbert Hartmann. I received my M. A. and Ph.D. in philosophy from the University of Toronto, where I studied under such distinguished Thomistic scholars as Fathers Joseph Owens, Armand Maurer and James Weisheipl, and, as well, Anton C. Pegis, under […]
