philosophy
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What does it mean to be “Rational”?
Common sense. “Practical.” “She has a good head on her shoulders.” “You’re being irrational!” Sayings uttered with frequency—but are they said with understanding? What do we mean by “being rational”? We contrast reason with feeling or emotion. We contrast reason or the rational, also, with the “irrational”. Does this mean that feelings or emotions are…
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Philosophy’s relation to Natural and Positive Law
Can we understand the law in a non-philosophical manner? Can the jurist afford to disdain questions of philosophy? We must have consensus in certain disciplines, and the positive law is one of them—but what grounds this consensus? Must we have a philosophical theory of the natural law? Can law truly be itself without a relation…
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Connection of the Philosophical and the Pragmatic
One could argue—and I have myself many a time—that never before in human history has there been greater need for the presence of philosophical habit and the realization of philosophical wisdom. We find ourselves engaged in constant communication. Therefore, we find ourselves also immersed ever more in ideas. A theoretical grasp of those ideas seems…
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Podcast – How Does One Know?
I recently joined John Johnson and Larissa Bianco over at the Albertus Magnus Institute to talk about all things (or, at least, a lot of things) related to knowledge and the specifically human difference in how that knowledge unfolds in our experience. Be sure to check out the AMI website, especially the two summer courses…
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Time and the Ordering of Self-Motion
What is time? Many a philosopher has wrestled with this question, resulting in rather diverse results. Famous is Aristotle’s definition, which can be stated most simply as, “the measure of motion” (though, in truth, his claims are more complex than this). Famous also are the struggles to understand time in Book XI of Augustine’s Confessions…
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The Problem of Christian Philosophy
The colloquium lecture delivered in May 2022 by James Capehart, PhD, “The Problem of Christian Philosophy” is now available to the public. You can listen or download below (full lecture at the bottom). If you enjoy the lecture, please consider supporting our Summer fundraising campaign! Your donations allow us to support the work of philosophers…
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Phenomenology: An Introduction
What is phenomenology? This question has been asked, indeed, seemingly since the word “phenomenology” was first introduced. It is a question, also, which gives testimony to a point often made by John Deely: efforts at philosophical innovation require either the posit of a neologism, in which case no one understands its significance, or the effort…
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Political Philosophy: A Thomistic Defense of Democracy
This seminar has been cancelled and will be offered instead at a later date TBD. Can we have a democratic government in an increasingly post-liberal world? Must we return to a strict hierarchy if we are to abandon the “liberal experiment” that has rendered increasing ailment in recent decades? These are not questions with simple…
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What is Philosophical Habit?
What are habits? And what does it mean to have a philosophical habit? As I discuss in the above, it is a way of inquisitively holding ourselves towards the world—and with an attitude of genuine humility before the object. Or to put this otherwise: how often do we find not only others but also ourselves…
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Guide to Enrollment
If you have ever wanted to know more about the different levels of enrollment at the Lyceum Institute, this short video provides some explanation!