2024 Summer: A Thomistic Defense of Democracy

May 11, 2024May 10, 2024 Brian KempleLeave a comment

Can democracy be saved? Ours, on both the left and the right, seems to be a world viewed increasingly through post-liberal lenses. Must we return to a strict hierarchy if we are to abandon the “liberal experiment” that has rendered increasing ailment in recent decades—if, that is, we are not to lapse into socialist totalitarianism? These are not questions with simple or straightforward answers. To answer them, we would be foolish both to ignore St. Thomas Aquinas and to caricaturize his thought to fit facile solutions. Thankfully, though under the auspices of a somewhat different world, great Thomistic thinkers have already anticipated the question and can provide us guidance going forward. Consider these words of Jacques Maritain (1882—1973):

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The famous saying of Aristotle that man is a political animal does not mean only that man is naturally made to live in society; it also means that man naturally asks to lead a political life and to participate actively in the life of the political community. It is upon this posulate of human nature that political liberties and political rights rest, and particularly the right of suffrage. Perhaps it is easier for men to renounce active participation in political life; in certain cases it may even have happened that they felt happier and freer from care while dwelling in the commonwealth as political slaves, or while passively handing over to the leaders all the care of the management of the community. But in this case they gave up a privilege proper to their nature, one of those privileges which, in a sense, makes life more difficult and which brings with it a greater or lesser amount of labor, strain and suffering, but which corresponds to human dignity.
Jacques Maritain, The Rights of Man and Natural Law.

Many are familiar with Jacques Maritain, great Thomist author and figure of the twentieth century: a man who wrote on topics far and wide, and strove most of his life to bring a living Thomism into a broader public. Fewer are familiar with the thought of Yves Simon, scion of Maritain’s approach to understanding St. Thomas, and an adept thinker and careful author in his own right.

Among Simon’s many contributions is his Philosophy of Democratic Government, a work which presents the core insights of Maritain concerning the nature of democracy in a more deeply-rooted scholarly appraisal of St. Thomas, and rife with many additional insights of Simon’s own. Using this text as our basis, this seminar, taught by Dr. Francisco Plaza, will revisit these twentieth-century thinkers and discern how their thought can help address the troubles of our own times. Registration closes June 6.

Schedule

Discussion Sessions 11:15pm ET (World times)	Study Topics & Readings
Week I 06/02–06/08	Lecture 1: *Christianity and Democracy* Readings: » Jacques Maritain, Christianity and Democracy, pages 3 to 63
Week II 06/09–06/15	Lecture 2: *General Theory of Government* Reading: » Yves Simon, Philosophy of Democratic Government, pages 1 to 71.
Week III 06/16–06/22	Lecture 3: *Democratic Freedom* Reading: » Yves Simon, Philosophy of Democratic Government, pages 72 to 143.
Week IV 06/23–06/29	Lecture 4: *Sovereignty in Democracy* Reading: » Yves Simon, Philosophy of Democratic Government, pages 144 to 194.
	BREAK
Week V 07/07–07/13	Lecture 5: *Democratic Equality* Reading: » Yves Simon, Philosophy of Democratic Government, pages 195 to 259.
Week VI 07/14–07/20	Lecture 6: *Democracy and Technology* Reading: » Yves Simon, Philosophy of Democratic Government, pages 260 to 321.
Week VII 07/21–07/27	Lecture 7: *The Failure of Liberalism* Readings: » Patrick Deneen, Why Liberalism Failed, pages 1 to 42; pages to 179 to 198.
Week VIII 07/28–08/03	Lecture 8: Freedom, Nature, Community, and Democracy Readings: » Yves Simon Reader, pages 134 to 148; pages 267 to 284; pages 289 to 298; pages 399 to 414; pages 433 to 446.

Registration

Lyceum Institute seminar costs are structured on a principle of financial subsidiarity. There are three payment levels, priced according to likely levels of income. If you wish to take a seminar but cannot afford the suggested rate, it is acceptable to sign up at a less-expensive level. The idea is: pay what you can. Those who can pay more, should, so that those who cannot pay as much, need not. Lyceum Institute members receive a further discount (see here for details).

One payment covers all 8 weeks.

If you prefer an alternative payment method (i.e., not PayPal), use our contact form and state whether you prefer to pay as a Participant, Patron, or Benefactor, and an invoice will be emailed to you.

Benefactor

[2024 Summer] Thomistic Defense of Democracy – Public Benefactor

Recommended for those with fulltime employment in well-paying professions and sufficient resources to provide a little more.

$200.00

Patron

[2024 Summer] Thomistic Defense of Democracy – Public Patron

Recommended for those in professions that do not pay as well as they ought and for whom continued education is especially important (including professors and clergy).

$135.00

Participant

[2024 Summer] Thomistic Defense of Democracy – Public Participant

Recommended for those who are currently students or with part-time employment.

$60.00

Pricing Comparison

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Benefactor	$200 per seminar	$90	3 seminars included $90 after	8 seminars included $90 after
Patron	$135 per seminar	$65	3 seminars included $65 after	8 seminars included $65 after
Participant	$60 per seminar	$40	3 seminars included $40 after	8 seminars included $40 after

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2024 Summer: Aristotle’s Physics

May 11, 2024May 10, 2024 Brian Kemple1 Comment

Join us on an intellectually rigorous journey through Aristotle’s conception of physics as a scientific discipline in our upcoming Lyceum Institute Seminar. Why study the physics of an ancient thinker? One might think (and many do) Aristotle’s scientific work obsolesced by the discoveries of modernity. In truth, while he may have been mistaken in particular conclusions, the insights produced by the Stagyrite pass the test of time; and persisting in ignorance of them undermines much thinking today. Through this seminar, we will demonstrate the perennial merits of the Physics and bring to light essential truths concerning the study and understanding of nature.

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This study begins with a foundational examination of Aristotle’s logical methods, placing emphasis on discerning first principles, then turns to a structured analysis of pre-Socratic and Platonic challenges. With these preparations, participants will be primed to approach Aristotle’s Physics as proper hearers, equipped to grasp the profound depth of the Stagyrite’s scientific discourse in our rigorous examination of the scientific structure of the Physics.

It has often been a fault of philosophers—particularly in recent centuries, and sadly even among many who wish to retain the wisdom of tradition—that the natural world is not studied or understood, consigning its study to the sciences that investigate it through specialized means and instruments. But a philosophical grasp of nature is fruitful not only for the intellectual development of every individual: it is necessary for any scientist. Attaining insight into the meaning of natural phenomena cannot be achieved by the methods of modern science. Resolving their discovery into a coherent whole—seeing how the belong to the whole universe of experience—demands a higher study.

Challenge yourself. Registration closes June 6.

Schedule

Discussion Sessions 1:30pm ET (World times)	Study Topics & Readings
Week I 06/02–06/08	Aristotelian Science (ἐπιστήμη/episteme) » Lecture 1: The Logical Method for Knowing Nature (φύσις/phusis) with Necessity » Readings: »» Aristotle: *Topics* I.5, 9; *Categories* 1-5; *Posterior* *Analytics* I.1-10, 13, 18, and II.1-14, 19; *Physics* I.1.
Week II 06/09–06/15	Change and Nature » Lecture 2: The General Definition of Natural Beings as Changing (κινούμενα/kinoumena) and the Parmenidean Challenge (ἔλεγχος/elenchos) » Readings: »» Aristotle: Physics, I.2-4. »» Parmenides: Truth (ἀλήθεια/aletheia).
Week III 06/16–06/22	Principles of Nature » Lecture 3: The Principles (ἀρχαί/archai) of Nature (φύσις/phusis) & a Complete Response to the Parmenidean Challenge » Readings: »» Aristotle: Physics, I.5-9.
Week IV 06/23–06/29	Definition, Division, and Causes » Lecture 4: The Definition of Nature, its Proper Division in the Sciences, and a general Account of Causes (αἴτιαι/aitiai) in Natural Demonstration » Readings: »» Aristotle: Physics, II.1-3, and 7.
	BREAK
Week V 07/07–07/13	Chance and Necessity » Lecture 5: On Chance (αὐτόματον/automaton) as a Per Accidens Cause, Necessarily Presupposing Natural Causal Purpose/Perfection/Completion (τέλος) » Readings: »» Aristotle: Physics, II.4-6.
Week VI 07/14–07/20	Teleological Necessity » Lecture 6: On the Necessity of Nature as Teleological and on Natural Demonstration on the Hypothesis (ἐξ ὑποθέσεως/ex hupotheseos) of the End (τέλος) » Readings: »» Aristotle: Physics, II.7-9.
Week VII 07/21–07/27	Being in Motion » Lecture 7: Motion, Place, Void, Time, and the Classification and Continuity of Movement » Readings: »» Aristotle: Physics, III-VI.
Week VIII 07/28–08/03	Unmoved Mover » Lecture 8: The Last First Principle of Nature: The Primary Un-Moved Mover, Comprehending all Natural Being as the Cause of Motion and Existence » Readings: »» Aristotle: Physics, VII-VIII.

Registration

Benefactor

[2024 Summer] Aristotle’s Physics – Public Benefactor

Recommended for those with fulltime employment in well-paying professions and sufficient resources to provide a little more.

$200.00

Patron

[2024 Summer] Aristotle’s Physics – Public Patron

Recommended for those in professions that do not pay as well as they ought and for whom continued education is especially important (including professors and clergy).

$135.00

Participant

[2024 Summer] Aristotle’s Physics – Public Participant

Recommended for those who are currently students or with part-time employment.

$60.00

Pricing Comparison

	Standard price	Basic Lyceum Enrollment	Advanced Lyceum Enrollment	Premium Lyceum Enrollment
Benefactor	$200 per seminar	$90	3 seminars included $90 after	8 seminars included $90 after
Patron	$135 per seminar	$65	3 seminars included $65 after	8 seminars included $65 after
Participant	$60 per seminar	$40	3 seminars included $40 after	8 seminars included $40 after

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2024 Spring: Philosophers and History

February 29, 2024April 5, 2024 Brian Kemple

In the forthcoming seminar, we present an in-depth philosophical examination of history, inspired by Etienne Gilson’s proposition that the History of Philosophy is analogous to a laboratory for chemists and biologists. The seminar proposes an exploration into the idea that history is not merely a chronological record but a spatial and present reality, as exemplified by the history written in the stars. This perspective challenges the traditional view of the past as a distant, inert collection of events, suggesting instead that it is a dynamic and present force in our lives.

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The seminar aims to cultivate a robust philosophical methodology for understanding human time and history. It addresses the complexity of chronology as an inherent aspect of humanity, engaging with theological concepts of salvation history and critically assessing modern ideologies like Hegelianism, Marxism, and various postmodernist movements. These ideologies, which often attempt to transcend or reinterpret historical narratives, will be examined for their implications on understanding history.

Can there be a science of history? Aristotle rather famously denied this—but if we believe, with St. Augustine, that an intelligible rationale synchronically permeates the cosmos, it stands to reason that meaning may be found also in the diachronic unfolding of the centuries. That our interpretations of this diachronic unfolding themselves often conflict does not undermine that intelligibility; rather, such conflict should drive us to dig deeper.

The initial sessions will focus on fundamental concepts such as the nature of motion, change, and time, along with the roles of tradition, transmission, and translation. This will set the stage for discussions on human freedom versus determinism, and the unique historical nature of human beings.

Further, the seminar will delve into the faculty of memory, drawing from St. Augustine and Eastern philosophies, to better understand the shaping of historical perception. Subsequently, different paradigms of interpreting historical change—the linear vs. cyclical, the Great Protagonists vs. the longue durée—the relationship between history and myth, and the examination of various modern approaches to history (in, e.g., Hegel, Darwin, Spengler, Vico, Rosenstock-Huessy, and others) will be key topics of discussion.

Concluding with an analysis of the Abrahamic traditions, the seminar will explore the unique commonality of these religions in their capacity for not only articulating but embodying their historical narratives. This scholarly seminar invites participants to engage in a comprehensive and critical exploration of time, history, and the human experience within it.

All texts for this course will be provided in PDF. The seminar will be conducted remotely through Microsoft Teams. Learn more about our seminars here. Discussions will be held each Saturday. Early access to the platform begins on 16 March 2024. Deadline to register is 4 April 2024. Download the Syllabus for more details.

Schedule – topics and readings not yet complete

Discussion Sessions 10:00am ET (World times)	Study Topics & Readings
April 6	1. Time: the Measure of Motion and the Motor of History in the Three Migrations of Tradition, Transmission and Translation Readings: » [Primary] John M. Quinn. The Doctrine of Time in St. Thomas, Literary Licensing, 2013 [1959] 17-43; A.K. Coomaraswamy. Time and Eternity, “Introduction,” Artibus Asiae, 1947, 1-7. » [Secondary] Quinn, ibidem, 1-16; Coomaraswamy, Time and Eternity, V. “Christian and Modern,” 105-140.
April 13	2. Freedom, Personhood and Creation in History Readings: » [Primary] Vernon Bourke. Will in Western Thought, Sheed & Ward, “What Does Will Mean?”, 1964, 5-27. Jacques Maritain. The Thomist Idea of Freedom, PDF. » [Secondary] Norris Clarke. Being and Person, Marquette, 1958; P-M Emonet. The Greatest Marvel of Nature, Crossroads, 2000, 14-23. S.R. Paine. “Scholia on an Implicit Person,” parts 1 and 2: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1oqMNOO–mKk3ADaDh1OSHOwlcR6cV8Hj/view
April 20	3. Memory: the “Great Harbor” (Aug.) – on Hearing and Remembering Readings: » [Primary] St. Augustine. Confessions, bk. X » [Secondary] Todd Breyfogle. “Memory and Imagination in Augustine’s Confessions”, PDF.
April 27	4. History: Cycles or Stories? Protagonists or Currents? Readings: » [Primary]. Mircea Eliade. Cosmos and History, U. of Chicago, 1949, 147-162. » [Secondary] Huston Smith. “Hope, Yes; Progress, No,” from Forgotten Truth, Harper, 1992 [1976] 118-145.
May 4	BREAK
May 11	5. History and Myth Readings: » [Primary] Eugen Rosenstock-Huessy, Out of Revolution. “Articulating Periods and Coordinating Memories,” Berg, 1969, 689-707. » [Secondary] Norman Fiering. “Heritage vs. History: ERH as a “Physician of Memory,” from Understanding Rosenstock-Huessy, 60-93.
May 18	*6. Vis-à-vis the Sciences – History and the Irreducible* Readings: » [Primary] Gianbattista Vico; Georg Hegel; Karl Marx » [Secondary] Spengler, Toynbee, McNeil, Hayden White
May 25	*7. Big History, Deep History and Other Idioscopic Ventures* Readings: [Primary] [Secondary]
June 1	*8. The Only Scripture That Tells a Story* Readings: [Primary]. From St. Augustine. City of God, …. [Secondary]

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Benefactor	$200 per seminar	$90	3 seminars included $90 after	8 seminars included $90 after
Patron	$135 per seminar	$65	3 seminars included $65 after	8 seminars included $65 after
Participant	$60 per seminar	$40	3 seminars included $40 after	8 seminars included $40 after

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2024 Spring: Metaphysics – Discovery of Ens inquantum Ens

February 26, 2024April 5, 2024 Brian KempleLeave a comment

“Do we in our time have an answer to the question of what we really mean by the world ‘being’? Not at all. So it is fitting that we should raise anew the question of the meaning of Being.” With these words, published in 1927, Martin Heidegger reignited a question—tamped down by modern thought for the previous few centuries—that had dominated most of the previous two millennia. Since the provocative words of Being and Time first hit bookshelves, countless authors have taken up the question again, including many within the Aristotelian-Thomistic tradition. It was, after all, Aristotle who initiated the inquiry in the first place, and Scholasticism had much to contribute: most notably in its most-famous figure, Thomas Aquinas.

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But, despite the frequency with which the question again was asked, misunderstandings have continued, as ever, to cloud our vision—just the sort of misunderstandings that left Kant frustrated at the apparent “lack of progress” in metaphysics and propose his constrained “epistemological” system as defining the bounds of inquiry.

Yet, the prevalence of misunderstandings in so abstruse a question as “what is being?” should not prevent us from continuing to inquire. It belongs to us to seek such knowledge, as intimated by the opening line of Aristotle’s Metaphysics, insofar as we are human. We may never answer the question with the kind of narrow certitude one obtains in mathematics. That we obtain such certainties, after all, follows form the narrowness of the inquiry. No object proves as broad and impossible to encompass as being. Nevertheless, Thomist and Aristotelian alike hold that we may discover its meaning truly, if incompletely. In this seminar, we will take up the Aristotelian-Thomistic tradition of inquiry into ens inquantum ens, and begin our entrance into the study of metaphysics. To undertake such a study will require a calm and disciplined mind.

…it is desirable for each thing to be united to its principle; for through this unity consists the perfection of anything whatsoever. For this reason as well is circular motion the most perfect, as Aristotle proves in book VIII of the Physics, for it conjoins the end to the principle. Now, the separate substances—which are the principles of the human intellect, and to which the human intellect is related from itself as the imperfect to the perfect—are not conjoined to the human being except through the intellect: and it is for this reason, too, that the ultimate felicity of the human being consists in this union. Therefore, the human naturally desires knowledge.

Nor is it a valid objection to this that some human beings do not pursue the study of this science: for often are those who desire some end held back from pursuing it by some cause: either on account of the difficulty of seeing the quest through to its conclusion or on account of other occupations. Thus although all human beings desire this knowledge, nevertheless not all can devote themselves to the pursuit of its study, because they are detained by other things: whether by pleasures, or the necessities of the present life, or even because they avoid the labor of learning out of laziness…

…[but] a natural desire does not exist in vain.
Thomas Aquinas 1270/71: Super Sententiam Metaphysicae, lib.1, lec.1, n.4.

The primary texts for this seminar are all available online for free (PDFs will be provided of both primary and supplemental readings) but it is recommended that one have physical copies of both Aristotle’s Metaphysics and Aquinas’ Commentary on Metaphysics. This latter is available in 2 volumes, including Greek, Latin, and English texts of Aristotle’s work, from the Aquinas Institute through the St. Paul Center for Biblical Theology [Volume I] [Volume II]. These large but handsome and sturdy volumes prove beneficial to a contemplative study of the works they contain (and the multi-language-facing layout allows for scholarly precision). The seminar will be conducted remotely through Microsoft Teams. Learn more about our seminars here. Discussions will be held each Saturday. Early access to the platform begins on 16 March 2024. Deadline to register is 4 April 2024. Download the Syllabus for more details.

Schedule

Discussion Sessions 11:15am ET (World times)	Study Topics & Readings
Week I 03/31–04/06	The Question of Being »Lecture 1: The Meaning of the Word » Readings: »» Required: Kemple: Being and Metaphysics »» Recommended: Blanchette 2003: The Philosophy of Being, 3-42.
Week II 04/07–04/13	Metaphysics as Wisdom » Lecture 2: Understanding from Principles » Readings: »» Required: Aristotle i.348-30bc: Metaphysics I.1-3; Aquinas 1270/1: Super Sententiam Metaphysicae lib.1, lec.1-3. »» Recommended: Ashley 2006: The Way Toward Wisdom, 3-21
Week III 04/14–04/20	Metaphysics as Science, Part I » Lecture 3: Discovery of Principles » Readings: »» Required: Aquinas c.1257-59: Super Boetium de Trinitate, q.5. »» Recommended: Aristotle i.348-30bc: Metaphysics II.1-3; Aquinas 1270/1: Super Sententiam Metaphysicae, lib.2, lec.1-5.
Week IV 04/21–04/27	Metaphysics as Science, Part II » Lecture 4: The Mode of Intellect » Readings: »» Required: Aquinas c.1257-59: Super Boetium de Trinitate, q.6. »» Recommended: Wippel 2000: The Metaphysics Thought of Thomas Aquinas, c.23-62.
04/28–05/04	BREAK
Week V 05/05–05/11	Principles of Being as Being » Lecture 5: Defining the Subject » Readings: »» Required: Aristotle i.348-30bc: Metaphysics IV.1-5; Aquinas 1270/1: Super Sententiam Metaphysicae, lib.4, lec.1-3, 6-7, 11-13. »» Recommended: Aristotle i.348-30bc: Metaphysics IV.6-8; Aquinas 1270/1: Super Sententiam Metaphysicae, lib.4, lec.4-5, 8-10, 14-17.
Week VI 05/12–05/18	Science of Being as Being » Lecture 6: Demonstrating the Subject » Readings: »» Required: Aristotle i.348-30bc: Metaphysics VI.1-4; Aquinas 1270/1: Super Sententiam Metaphysicae, lib.6, lec.1-4. »» Recommended: Ashley 2006: The Way Toward Wisdom, 132-71.
Week VII 05/19–05/25	Being as Substance » Lecture 7: The Centrality of Substance » Readings: »» Required: Aristotle i.348-30bc: Metaphysics VII.1-4; Aquinas 1270/1: Super Sententiam Metaphysicae, lib.7, lec.1-3. »» Recommended: Blanchette 2003: The Philosophy of Being, 264-84.
Week VIII 05/26–06/01	Being as Actus Essendi » Lecture 8: Toward a Deeper Center: Existence » Readings: »» Required: Aquinas: De substantiis separatis, c.9; Summa contra Gentiles, c.52. »» Recommended: Blanchette 2003: The Philosophy of Being,334-64.

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Benefactor	$200 per seminar	$90	3 seminars included $90 after	8 seminars included $90 after
Patron	$135 per seminar	$65	3 seminars included $65 after	8 seminars included $65 after
Participant	$60 per seminar	$40	3 seminars included $40 after	8 seminars included $40 after

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2024 Spring: An Introduction to Semiotics

February 25, 2024April 5, 2024 Brian KempleLeave a comment

It is important to understand what I mean by semiosis. All dynamical action, or action of brute force, physical or psychical, either takes place between two subjects (whether they react equally upon each other, or one is agent and the other patient, entirely or partially) or at any rate is a resultant of such actions between pairs. But by “semiosis” I mean, on the contrary, an action, or influence, which is, or involves, a coöperation of three subjects, such as a sign, its object, and its interpretant, this tri-relative influence not being in any way resolvable into actions between pairs.
Peirce 1907: “Pragmatism” in The Essential Peirce, vol.2: 411.

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The answer we give to this simple-seeming question, “what is a sign?”, bears far more weight than it might initially appear. Signs are everywhere; we cannot think without them, we cannot do anything except through them. Despite their ubiquity, however, they are little understood in what they do or how we human beings have a unique mode of holding ourselves to signs. Indeed, they have been much neglected through the whole history of philosophy.

This seminar aims to rectify this neglect and, by a close and careful study of the works of Charles Sanders Peirce (1839—1914), the founder of semiotics (the study of the action of signs), we will bring to light an awareness of the central role of the sign in the economy of human life.

Peirce was, according to John Deely, the last of the modern philosophers and first of the genuinely postmodern: that is, not postmodern in the sense the term ordinarily is used (which, in fact, signifies nothing other than the carrying of modernity to its ultimate conclusion), but in the sense that philosophy—after centuries, finally by Peirce’s efforts—begins to free itself from the flawed foundations of modern thought.

The core texts of this seminar can be found in the two-volumes of The Essential Peirce. These are available on Amazon [Volume 1] [Volume 2] and may be found used for low costs (I also recommend checking Bookfinder.com). All additional readings will be provided in PDF by the instructor. The seminar will be conducted remotely through Microsoft Teams. Learn more about our seminars here. Discussions will be held each Saturday. Early access to the platform begins on 16 March 2024. Deadline to register is 4 April 2024. Download the Syllabus for more details.

Schedule

Discussion Sessions 1:45pm ET (World times)	Study Topics & Readings
Week I 03/31–04/06	Opening Inquiry: What is a Sign? » Lecture: Introducing Semiotics » Reading: »» Required: Kemple 2024: “The Familiar Unknown”. »» Recommended: Sebeok 1993: “Foreword” to Charles Sanders Peirce: A Life. »» Recommended: Brent 1993: “Preface” and “Introduction” in Charles Sanders Peirce: A Life.
Week II 04/07–04/13	Categories and Experience » Lecture: Phaneroscopy » Reading: »» Required: Peirce 1867: EP.1, “On a New List of Categories”. »» Recommended: Kemple 2019: “The Categories of Experience” in The Intersection of Semiotics and Phenomenology, 130-50.
Week III 04/14–04/20	Thought through Signs » Lecture: What is Thinking? » Reading: »» Required: Peirce 1868 and 1869: EP.1, “Questions Concerning Certain Faculties Claimed for Man” and “Some Consequences of Four Incapacities”.
Week IV 04/21–04/27	Signs of Thinking » Lecture: Discerning the Signs of our Thoughts » Reading: »» Required: Peirce 1903: EP.2, “What is a Sign?” and “Of Reasoning in General”. »» Recommended: Maritain 1957: “Language and the Theory of Sign”.
04/28–05/04	BREAK
Week V 05/05–05/11	The Structure of the Sign » Lecture: Triadic Relations » Reading: »» Required: Peirce 1906-09: EP.2, Excerpts from Letters to Lady Welby and William James. »» Recommended: Kemple 2019: “The Categories of Experience” in The Intersection of Semiotics and Phenomenology, 150-71.
Week VI 05/12–05/18	Logic and Signs » Lecture: Signs in the Process of Reasoning » Reading: »» Required: Peirce 1903: EP.2, “Sundry Logical Conceptions” and “Nomenclature and Division of Triadic Relations”. »» Recommended: Deely 1981: “The Relation of Logic to Semiotics”.
Week VII 05/19–05/25	Semiotic Realism » Lecture: The Direction of Thought » Reading: »» Required: Peirce 1905: EP.2, “What Pragmatism Is”. »» Recommended: Deely 2001: “…and First of the Postmoderns” in Four Ages of Understanding, 614-28.
Week VIII 05/26–06/01	The Continuity of Thought » Lecture: Semiotics as Synechistic » Reading: »» Required: Peirce 1908: EP.2, “A Neglected Argument for the Reality of God”. »» Recommended: Deely 2001: “Peirce’s Grand Vision” in Four Ages of Understanding, 628-37. »» Recommended: N. Houser 2014: “The Intelligible Universe” in Romanini et al., Peirce and Biosemiotics: A Guess at the Riddle of Life, 9-32.

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Pricing Comparison

	Standard price	Basic Lyceum Enrollment	Advanced Lyceum Enrollment	Premium Lyceum Enrollment
Benefactor	$200 per seminar	$90	3 seminars included $90 after	8 seminars included $90 after
Patron	$135 per seminar	$65	3 seminars included $65 after	8 seminars included $65 after
Participant	$60 per seminar	$40	3 seminars included $40 after	8 seminars included $40 after

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2024 Winter: Good and Freedom in Aquinas’ De Veritate

December 28, 2023January 6, 2024 Brian KempleLeave a comment

Why do we call a thing “good”? We have been calling things good since childhood, but, as with any conception so fundamental, it is challenging to unfold its meaning. Given the multifarious use of this name, “good”, is there even a unity of meaning to discover? Is it just that we call anything good merely because it occasions feelings of a certain kind, or is there something in things themselves that justifies calling them good?

Thomas Aquinas proposes that, indeed, the conception of the good has a central meaning – “that which is perfective in the manner of a final cause” – and so approves the dictum of Aristotle, that “the good is that which all seek”.

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Affectivity is thus relevant to this central meaning of the good, but affectivity understood, in those beings that have it, as essentially correlated with real possibilities, with the relationship of a thing to that which would perfect or fulfill it. This is the order to an end, or final cause – a challenge to a reductive modern paradigm in which reality contains no real possibilities, but only “actual facts” of a mechanical kind.

In this seminar, we will follow Aquinas’s treatment of the good in questions 21-26 of his great work known as De veritate. Our considerations will include the metaphysics of the good, the divine will, and the human faculties that engage with the good, namely human will and the capacity for free choice, and human sensuality. We will also touch on the connections between some important passages in De veritate and the topic of evil.

Therefore, among these three things that Augustine affirms, the last one, namely order, is the relation which the name of goodness implies. But the other two, that is species and mode, cause that relation. For species pertains to the very notion of the species which, inasmuch as it has being in another, is received in some determinate mode, since whatever exists in another exists within it in the manner of the receiver. Therefore, every good thing, inasmuch as it is perfective with respect to the notion of species and being, as taken together, has mode, species, and order. It has species with respect to the notion itself of species, it has mode with respect to existence, and order with respect to the condition of what perfects.

Thomas Aquinas i.1256-59: Quaestiones disputatae de veritate, q.21, a.6, c.

Schedule – Details TBD

Discussion Sessions 10:00am ET (World times)	Study Topics & Readings
January 13	The Good and Being » Lecture 1 Readings: » DV q. 1, art. 1 (corpus) » DV q. 21, art. 1 (corpus, obj/resp 1-4, contra/resp 1-2); art. 2 (corpus, obj/resp 1-2, 4, 7); art. 3 (corpus) » Summa theologiae I, q. 5, art. 6 (complete)
January 20	The Diffusion of the Good » Lecture 2 Readings: » DV q. 21, art. 4 (corpus, obj/resp 3, 5); art. 5 (corpus), art. 6 (complete) Suggested reading: » Summa Theologiae I, q. 6, art. 4 (complete) (parallels DV q. 21, art. 4) » Summa Theologiae I, q. 5, art. 5 (complete) (parallels DV q. 21, art. 6)
January 27	Appetite and Human Will » Lecture 3 Readings: » DV q. 22, art. 1 (corpus, obj/resp 1-3, 6-7); art. 2 (complete); art. 3 (corpus); art. 4 (complete); art. 5 (corpus, obj/resp 2-3, contra/resp 6)
February 3	Human Will (cont’d) » Lecture 4 Readings: » DV q. 22, art. 6 (corpus, obj/resp 3-4); art. 8 (complete); art. 9 (corpus, obj/resp 1,3); art.12 (corpus); art. 13 (corpus); art. 15 (corpus)
February 10	Break
February 17	Divine Will » Lecture 5 Readings: » DV q. 23, art. 1 (complete); art. 2 (complete); art. 3 (complete); art. 4 (complete); art. 5 (complete)
February 24	Free Choice » Lecture 6 Readings: » DV q. 24, art. 1 (corpus, obj/resp 1-6); art. 2 (corpus); art. 3 (corpus); art. 6 (complete); art. 14 (complete); art. 15 (complete)
March 2	Sensuality and Passions » Lecture 7 Readings: » DV q. 25, art. 1 (corpus); art. 2 (corpus); art 4 (corpus) » DV q. 26, art. 4 (corpus); art. 5 (complete); art. 7 (corpus, obj/resp 1)
March 9	The Reality of Evil, Or, Non-Being and the Good » Lecture 8 Readings: » TBD

Registration

Benefactor

[2024 Q1] De Veritate: Good & Freedom – Public Benefactor

Recommended for those with fulltime employment in well-paying professions and sufficient resources to provide a little more

$200.00

Patron

[2024 Q1] De Veritate: Good & Freedom – Public Patron

Recommended for those in professions that do not pay as well as they ought and for whom continued education is especially important (including professors and clergy).

$135.00

Participant

[2024 Q1] De Veritate: Good & Freedom – Public Participant

Recommended for those who are currently students or with part-time employment.

$60.00

Pricing Comparison

	Standard price	Basic Lyceum Enrollment	Advanced Lyceum Enrollment	Premium Lyceum Enrollment
Benefactor	$200 per seminar	$90	3 seminars included $90 after	8 seminars included $90 after
Patron	$135 per seminar	$65	3 seminars included $65 after	8 seminars included $65 after
Participant	$60 per seminar	$40	3 seminars included $40 after	8 seminars included $40 after

lyceum institute Seminars

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News and Announcements/Seminar

Complete Lyceum Catalog – 2024

December 18, 2023December 18, 2023 Brian KempleLeave a comment

We have completed our 2024 catalog and preliminary schedule for all seminars and courses! While these are, of course, always subject to change (life being ever-unpredictable), I am happy to announce this very exciting slate of philosophy seminars for the upcoming year:

Seminar Catalog 2024

Winter (Q1)

Introduction to Philosophical Thinking

– Brian Kemple

Phenomenology: Heidegger’s Method II

– Brian Kemple

Thinkers: Aquinas’ De Veritate – Good and Freedom

– Kirk Kanzelberger

Summer (Q3)

Culture & Politics: A Thomistic Defense of Democracy

– Francisco Plaza

Science: The Physics of Aristotle

– Daniel Wagner

Spring (Q2)

Philosophers and History

– Scott Randall Paine

Semiotics: an Introduction

– Brian Kemple

Metaphysics: Discovery of Ens inquantum Ens

– Brian Kemple

Fall (Q4)

Science: An Existential Thomistic Noetics – Maritain’s Degrees of Knowledge and Late-Life Works on Epistemology

– Matthew Minerd

Metaphysics: The Doctrine of Analogy

– Brian Kemple

Semiotics: The Difficulties of Technology

– Group seminar (multiple instructors)

Seven of the eleven seminars on our schedule are new, never before offered. There may also be others added to the Summer schedule, drawing upon our archives (which are undergoing a massive overhaul to be more accessible and useful). All-in-all, I find myself a bit giddy at the line-up for the year. You will find descriptions for each seminar in this PDF.

Download 2024 Seminar Catalog

Trivium, Latin, and Greek

We have also previously announced our Trivium, Latin, and Greek schedules. All of the core courses in these studies are available to every enrolled Lyceum Institute member. Sign up today to begin studying with us in January!

Trivium Schedule [2024]

Art of Grammar I: Foundations [January 8 – March 7].

Art of Logic I: Basics of Argumentation [May 27 – August 8].

Art of Rhetoric I: Discovery of Arguments [September 9 – November 7].

All Trivium courses are taught Monday (6pm ET) and Thursday (12pm ET).

Latin Schedule [2024]

We will offer three courses in our Foundations series and two intermediate courses (Scholastic and Composition) in 2024.

Course	Begin Date	End Date	Day & Time
Foundations: Latin I Foundations: Latin II Foundations: Latin III Scholastic Latin II Latin Composition I Scholastic Latin I	January 09 May 07 September 03 January 09 January 11 September 10	April 16 August 13 November 12 March 05 March 28 November 05	Tuesday 6:00–7:15pm ET Tuesday 6:00–7:15pm ET Tuesday 6:00–7:15pm ET Tuesday 10:30–11:30am ET Thursday 6:00–7:15pm ET Tuesday 10:30–11:30am ET

Greek Schedule [2024]

We will offer two courses in our Foundations series in 2024.

Course	Begin Date	End Date	Day & Time
Foundations: Greek I Foundations: Greek II	May 09 September 05	August 16 November 21	Thursday 6:00–7:15pm ET Thursday 6:00–7:15pm ET

Looking forward to another great year of study and we hope you will join us!

Enroll today

News and Announcements/Seminar

Winter 2024: Introduction to Philosophical Thinking

December 16, 2023December 22, 2023 Lyceum AssistantLeave a comment

We hear the word “philosophy” used often—often in cringe-inducing ways (“My philosophy on this is…” “That’s an interesting philosophy…” “His coaching philosophy…”), where the speaker really means an opinion or a method. For others of us, it might conjure up images of books or a college course catalog; perhaps something having to do with symbolic logic, or stone busts of Grecian figures.

But what is philosophy, really? What does it really, truly mean? What makes someone to be a philosopher—what does it mean to “do” or “study” philosophy?

view syllabus

view schedule

registration

We must contend not only with facile dismissals, today, of the philosophical habit, but because these, often, are rooted in profound misunderstandings about the very nature of human existence, we must uproot these too. Most central to the constitution of a good philosophical understanding, it will prove, is the ability to ask the right questions in the right way.

Because inquiry in philosophy needs no specialized training, it is often assumed that its practice requires minimal to no training at all. Indeed, one could assume that very little is required for the professional philosopher beyond the ability to read, perhaps in a few languages, to take a course or two in logic, and to practice a rhetorical ability to seem profound. But even if, in a certain respect, this is so—certainly, it seems that many within the academy possess little more in the way of genuine capability, regardless of their institutional credentials—the fact is, for the purposes of true philosophical habit, time and study alone are not enough.

Rather, one needs to learn to ask questions and to ask them in the right way.
Kemple 2022: Introduction to Philosophical Principles, 3.

It is just this ability—questioning well—that this seminar aims to accomplish. View the syllabus to learn more, and register below! This seminar is free for all enrolled Lyceum Institute members. Additionally, digital copies of all texts will be provided. Though not all are equal, students may use any translation of Plato they possess.

Schedule

Discussion Sessions 11:15am ET (World times)	Study Topics & Readings
January 13	Opening the Door to Inquiry » Lecture: The Importance of Philosophy Readings: » Kemple, “Misconceptions”. » Wagner, “Our Philosophy of Learning and Teaching”. » Schall, “Introduction” to The Universe We Think In.
January 20	The Examined Life » Lecture: Discovering the Philosophical Attitude Readings: » Plato, The Apology. » Pieper, selection from Leisure: The Basis of Culture.
January 27	Controlling Desires » Lecture: Power or Virtue Readings: » Plato, Crito. » Han, “The Logic of Power” in What Is Power?
February 3	Seeking Knowledge » Lecture: Τί Ἐστι – Discovering What Is Readings: » Plato, Meno. » Pieper, c.9 from Happiness and Contemplation.
February 10	BREAK
February 17	Thinking » Lecture: Scientific Philosophy – Logic Readings: » Kemple, Introduction to Philosophical Principles, c.1: Logic
February 24	Thinking about the World » Lecture: Scientific Philosophy – Nature Readings: » Kemple, Introduction to Philosophical Principles, c.2: Physics
March 2	Thinking about the Self » Lecture: Scientific Philosophy – The Human Person Readings: » Kemple, Introduction to Philosophical Principles, c.3: Person
March 9	Fulfillment or Servitude » Lecture: The Useless Utility of Philosophy Readings: » Kemple, “Inconclusions”. » Spaemann, “The Paradoxes of Love” in Love and the Dignity of Human Life.

Registration

Benefactor

[2024 Q1] Introduction to Philosophical Thinking – Public Benefactor

Recommended for those with fulltime employment in well-paying professions and sufficient resources to provide a little more

$200.00

Patron

[2024 Q1] Introduction to Philosophical Thinking – Public Patron

Recommended for those in professions that do not pay as well as they ought and for whom continued education is especially important (including professors and clergy).

$135.00

Participant

[2024 Q1] Introduction to Philosophical Thinking – Public Participant

Recommended for those who are currently students or with part-time employment.

$60.00

Pricing Comparison

	Standard price	Basic Lyceum Enrollment	Advanced Lyceum Enrollment	Premium Lyceum Enrollment
Benefactor	$200 per seminar	$90	3 seminars included $90 after	8 seminars included $90 after
Patron	$135 per seminar	$65	3 seminars included $65 after	8 seminars included $65 after
Participant	$60 per seminar	$40	3 seminars included $40 after	8 seminars included $40 after

lyceum institute Seminars

Enroll

News and Announcements/Seminar

Last Chance to Register for Fall Seminars

September 18, 2023September 18, 2023 Lyceum AssistantLeave a comment

With discussion sessions beginning this coming Saturday (9/23), I would be remiss if I did not put out a final call for registration in our Fall seminars. We have three provocative offerings, each of which promises to confront the errors of modernity in radically differing ways.

An Encounter with the Thought of Eugen Rosenstock-Huessy

Excerpt from the syllabus:

Rosenstock’s insights have to do above all with speech, time and history – topics infamous for their unpredictability, and fractious in their irreducibility to mere ratiocination or univocal definition. Aristotle, after all, reminds us that, due to the very nature of human events, there will never be a science of history. And yet, with all the ambiguities and surprises, it is in time and history that we live and move and have our being. We use propositions and syllogisms, but they do not provide us with a human dwelling, nor can they console us in our trials.

Join Fr. Scott’s seminar and encounter the thought of Rosenstock!

Phenomenology: Heidegger’s Method

Excerpt from the syllabus:

The term “phenomenology” has received a multitude of meanings over the past several centuries but today refers primarily to the loose collection of approaches initiated by Edmund Husserl with his 1900 (and revised in 1913) Logichse Untersuchungen, or Logical Investigations. Yet these approaches, while all see in phenomenology something foundational about how it is that human beings know, vary widely in their conduct. Prominent among them, and very frequently misunderstood, is the phenomenological approach advocated by Martin Heidegger—who, although perhaps the best-known of Husserl’s students, also perhaps departs the most radically among all the phenomenologists from his one-time teacher.

Discover one of the most profound minds of the 20th century and a true post-modern thinker.

Thomistic Psychology: Human Habits and Experience of the World

Excerpt from the syllabus:

The importance of habit’s influence on action has been well noted by Saint Thomas and his followers (as, indeed, by all thoughtful followers of Aristotle) with respect to virtue and vice. This influence will be only as it were, however, an incidental object of our study. For, of particular importance in this seminar will be not only a consideration of habits as developing the individual, but as constituting the intersubjective reality of environment, community, and culture: of habits not only as they cause a coalescence of actuality in the human being (secundum se) but between human beings and the world (ad aliud).

Put otherwise, if we are to understand the full importance of habit, we cannot see it merely as something within ourselves as individuals but must recognize its influence on how we relate amongst ourselves.

Come think deeply about habits as shaping the person from within and from without!

Registration for all seminars closes on 21 September 2023 at 11pm ET!

News and Announcements/Seminar

Fall 2023: Eugen Rosenstock-Huessy

August 20, 2023August 24, 2023 Lyceum Assistant2 Comments

Rosenstock-Huessy’s is a powerful and original mind. What is most important in his work is the understanding of the relevance of traditional values to a civilization still undergoing revolutionary transformations; and this contribution will gain rather than lose significance in the future.
Lewis Mumford

“Rosenstock-Huessy, Who Is He?”

Join us for an invigorating seminar that delves into the profound thought of Eugen Rosenstock-Huessy, a Jewish convert to Christianity, World War I veteran, and multifaceted thinker of the 20th century. A maverick philosopher and teacher, Rosenstock-Huessy emigrated from Nazi Germany to Harvard—where he was marginalized both for an interdisciplinary approach (before it was fashionable) and for unapologetically using the word “God” frequently in class. Thankfully he found a congenial home at Dartmouth College where his thought was given free reign until his death in 1973. Despite often being overlooked by conventional academia, his vast collection of works continues to resonate with contemporary scholars and has been praised as seminal by many critics.

The seminar promises to unlock the sui generis insights and methodologies that set Rosenstock-Huessy apart. His philosophical contributions defy easy categorization but open doors to understanding aspects of reality previously unnoticed. His ideas, stemming from unexpected cultural corners, offer a refreshing perspective on time, speech, and history—topics notoriously challenging to pin down.

Seminar Goals

Participants will explore Rosenstock’s enduring insights, focusing on his unique “grammatical method” of understanding. This approach safeguards against the modern tendency to reduce human reality to mere “scientific” statements. The discussion will also probe his perspective on the precedence of the second person over the first in our encounter with reality, his critique of prioritizing space over time, and his innovative “Cross of Reality” to reorient human consciousness.

Furthermore, the seminar will address Rosenstock-Huessy’s theories on the origin of language, emphasizing the primacy of hearing over seeing. It will also explore his alignment with other “speech thinkers” of the last century and his intricate understanding of history as a central theme converging all his insights.

This seminar invites scholars, students, and curious minds to engage with the challenging and inspiring works of this often-underappreciated thinker. It offers a stimulating journey into philosophical realms that continue to enrich and provoke our modern understanding of the cosmos and our place within it. Join us for this enlightening exploration that promises to be both intellectual revelation and tribute to one of the past century’s most intriguing and neglected minds.

Discover Rosenstock-Huessy’s work

Schedule

Discussion Sessions 10:15am ET (World times)	Study Topics & Readings
September 23	1. The “Impure Thinker” that was Eugen Rosenstock-Huessy Readings: » [Primary] ERH. “Teaching Too Late – Learning Too Early,” from I Am an Impure Thinker, 91-114; Wayne Cristaudo et al. “Introduction: Eugen Rosenstock-Huessy (1888–1973)”, in Culture, Theory and Critique, 2015, vol. 56, 1 (12 pages). » [Secondary] Peter Leithart. “The Relevance of Eugen Rosenstock-Huessy,” First Things, 06.28.07 (seven pages); Wayne Cristaudo. “Why Rosenstock-Huessy Matters: Personal reflections on the occasion of the 50th Anniversary of his death,” unpubl., 2023 (29 pages).
September 30	2. Philosophy, Language and 20^th Century “Speech-Thinkers” Readings: » [Primary] ERH. “The Uni-Versity of Logic, Language, Literature,” chapter 3 of Speech and Reality, 67-97. » [Secondary] Harold Stahmer. ” ‘Speech-Letters’ and ‘Speech-Thinking’: Franz Rosenzweig and Eugen Rosenstock-Huessy,” Modern Judaism, Feb. 1984, 57-81.
October 7	3. The Grammar Before and Beyond Our Grade-School Primers Readings: » [Primary] ERH. “In Defense of the Grammatical Method,” chapter 1 in Speech and Reality, 9-44. “The Grammar of the Soul,” from Practical Knowledge of the Soul, ch. 5, 18-33. » [Secondary] ERH. “Grammatical Health,” “Genus (Gender) and Life,” and “Editor’s Postscript,” chapters 12, 13 and 14 of The Origin of Speech, 110-129.
October 14	*4. Time vis-à-vis* Space in the “Cross of Reality” Readings: » [Primary*] ERH. “Articulated Speech,” chapter 2 from Speech and Reality, 45-66. » [Secondary] ERH. “The Penetration of the Cross,” ch. 7 in The Christian Future* (165-198); Peter Leithart. “The Cross of Reality,” unpubl., 2017 (11 pages).
October 21	BREAK
October 28	5. Human Speech – Evolved Ululation, or the Posterity of Poetry? Readings: » [Primary] ERH. “The Authentic Moment of Speech,” “The Four Diseases of Speech,” and “Church and State of Primitive Man,” from The Origin of Speech, the first three chapters, 2-27. » [Secondary] ERH. “The Speech of the Community,” ch. 9 from Practical Knowledge of the Soul, 48-61; “The Four Phases of Speech,” and “The Quadrilateral of Human Logic,” from I Am an Impure Thinker, 53-68.
November 4	6. History and Its Revolutions Readings: » [Primary] selections from Out of Revolution. » [Secondary] Norman Fiering. “Heritage vs. History: ERH as a “Physician of Memory,” from Understanding Rosenstock-Huessy, 60-93.
November 11	7. “Judaism Despite Christianity” Readings: » [Primary] ERH. “Prologue/Epilogue to the Letters – 50 Years Later,” 71-76; 171-194, from Judaism Despite Christianity -The Letters on Christianity and Judaism between ERH and Franz Rosenzweig. » [Secondary] Raymond Huessy. “A Reflection on the 1916 Correspondence between Rosenstock and Rosenberg,” in The Fruit of Our Lips, 303-311.
November 18	8. The Christian Future Readings: » [Primary]chapters from ERH. The Christian Future, 1946, and passages from The Fruit of Our Lips, 2021. » [Secondary] Peter Leithart. “Future and the Christian Era,” Theopolis, 2017.

Registration

[2023 Fall] Rosenstock’s Thought – Public Benefactor

Upper-tier payment. Recommended for those with full-time employment in well-paying professions and sufficient resources to provide a little more.

$200.00

[2023 Fall] Rosenstock’s Thought – Public Patron

Middle-tier payment. Recommended for those with full-time employment and children, or for those in professions that do not pay as well as they ought, such as clergy and teachers.

$135.00

[2023 Fall] Rosenstock’s Thought – Public Participant

Basic payment. Recommended for those who are currently students, with part-time employment, or who cannot afford to pay more at the moment.

$60.00

Pricing Comparison

	Standard price	Basic Lyceum Enrollment	Advanced Lyceum Enrollment	Premium Lyceum Enrollment
Benefactor	$200 per seminar	$90	3 seminars included $90 after	8 seminars included $90 after
Patron	$135 per seminar	$65	3 seminars included $65 after	8 seminars included $65 after
Participant	$60 per seminar	$40	3 seminars included $40 after	8 seminars included $40 after

lyceum institute Seminars

Enroll

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Seminar Catalog 2024

Winter (Q1)

Introduction to Philosophical Thinking

Phenomenology: Heidegger’s Method II

Thinkers: Aquinas’ De Veritate – Good and Freedom

Summer (Q3)

Culture & Politics: A Thomistic Defense of Democracy

Science: The Physics of Aristotle

Spring (Q2)

Philosophers and History

Semiotics: an Introduction

Metaphysics: Discovery of Ens inquantum Ens

Fall (Q4)

Science: An Existential Thomistic Noetics – Maritain’s Degrees of Knowledge and Late-Life Works on Epistemology

Metaphysics: The Doctrine of Analogy

Semiotics: The Difficulties of Technology

Trivium, Latin, and Greek

Trivium Schedule [2024]

Latin Schedule [2024]

Greek Schedule [2024]

Schedule

Registration

Benefactor

Patron

Participant

Pricing Comparison

“Rosenstock-Huessy, Who Is He?”

Seminar Goals

Schedule

Registration

Pricing Comparison