morals
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Fear, Horror, and the Moral Imagination
What drives an audience—be it of a movie or book—to subject itself to the emotions of fear and horror? What are these emotions? Do they play a role in forming the moral imagination? Our Philosophical Happy Hour gets spooky. I will confess—I have never myself been much a fan of horror movies. On the one…
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On Closed Minds
Pivoting from the dangers of curiosity—the unrestrained desire to know all things—this week our Philosophical Happy Hour takes up the opposite vice: the closed and uninquiring mind. We all likely know a person or two (or twenty) who seem never to change their minds. Just this past Friday, I was reminded of my dissertation director’s…
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Studiousness vs. Curiosity
I begin this inquiry into the contrast of studiousness vs. curiosity by quoting from a perspicacious essay of the literary theorist Allen Tate, penned in 1945, titled, “The New Provincialism”. Tate writes: The provincial attitude is limited in time but not in space. When the regional man, in his ignorance, often an intensive and creative…
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Fall 2023: Thomistic Psychology – Habits and Experience
In a world where habits often seem synonymous with unconscious and automatic reactions, it is time to revisit and explore the true depth and meaning of this vital aspect of human existence. The Lyceum Institute is pleased to present an 8-week intensive seminar on “Thomistic Psychology: Human Habits and Experience of the World.” Guided by…