Listen to Dr. Kirk Kanzelberger as he relates his intellectual journey through life—the continuous thread of learning—from young tragedy and early literacy, through music, moral formation through the literature of Tolkien, work in science, technology, semiotics, philosophy, and more. An enlightening and moving conversation that sheds great light on what it means to pursue knowledge […]

A Philosophical Happy Hour on distinctions, the doctrine of their kinds, and the importance making them correctly. The failure to make good distinctions characterizes the stupidity of our age.  Observe the social networks and see how few distinctions are proposed, how unquestioning the categories, how obstinate every adherent to his or her ideology!  How many […]

In this conversation, Adam Pugen explores how new technologies amplify aspects of the human psyche, particularly focusing on the differences between auditory and visual cultures. He discusses how these sensory modalities shape our experiences and perceptions in distinct ways—and the need for media literacy, the changes between television and digital, the thinking of Marshall McLuhan, […]

Our Faculty Fellow and Professor, Director of Catholic Studies, and Chair of Philosophy as Aquinas College in Grand Rapids, MI, Dr. Daniel Wagner, joined Dcn. Harrison Garlick of Ascend: The Great Books Podcast to discuss one of his favorite Platonic dialogues, The Meno. You can find (and follow) Ascend on X.com here, and listen to […]

A Philosophical Happy Hour on… whatever! The fourth installment in our Felictates de Quodlibet series for 2025, in which we talk about whatever we want, so long as it is interesting, and for as long as we are interested. Or, to put this otherwise: do you have a philosophical question—any question whatsoever—you want seriously to […]

In this conversation, Francisco Plaza shares his journey into the intellectual life, influenced by his experiences moving from the US to Venezuela. He discusses the current state of education, the importance of classical education, and the role of political philosophy in understanding justice and order. Plaza emphasizes the need for a hierarchy of values in […]

A Philosophical Happy Hour on the relationship between morality and law, and what falls to our exercise of choice. St. Thomas Aquinas defines law as an ordinance of reason ordered to the common good, promulgated by one who holds responsibility for the community.  This broad but precise definition allows us to distinguish kinds of law […]

The Lyceum Institute’s Humanitas Technica project returns to the American Catholic Philosophical Association’s annual conference. Below is the abstract around which our discussion panel, “Reintegration of the Human Soul in the Digital Age”, will be ordered. We plan to record the panel. We are subject to a technologically-mediated fragmentation of our very souls. This fracturing […]

In this conversation, Richard Sharpe discusses his journey into the intellectual life, the significance of classical education, and the importance of language study. He emphasizes the integration of thinking and living well, the cultivation of habits in education, and the role of community in fostering a love for learning. The discussion highlights the virtue of […]

A Philosophical Happy Hour inquiring into the nature of enmity, the distinction of public and personal enemies, and the morally rightful manner of holding oneself in opposition to others. We hear a lot these days about friends and enemies, and—it seems—not unreasonably.  The world seems awash in hostility.  But what is it, in fact, that […]