On Pity and Resentment
A Philosophical Happy Hour on pity, resentment, mercy, justice, vengeance, and the multitude of human weaknesses. The two titular terms here present a conflict we have all doubtless encountered at one point or another: one person pitying another, and the pitied person reacting with resentment. Much could and ought to be said about resentment and […]
Complete Lyceum Catalog – 2025
We have completed our 2025 catalog and preliminary schedule for all seminars and courses! While the unpredictability of life means these offerings are subject to change, we nevertheless have a very exciting line-up to offer: Seminar Catalog winter (q1 1/11–3/8) » Ethics: The Good Life [Registration open!] » Semiotics: Thought and Contributions of John Deely […]
On the Personal Reception of Tradition
A Philosophical Happy Hour discussing how personal relations affect our reception and transmission of tradition, especially intellectual tradition. Intellectual Tradition Recently, I was fortunate enough to attend, along with a number of colleagues and friends, the 2024 Annual Meeting of the American Catholic Philosophical Association. This year’s president was Dr. Mary-Catherine Sommers, Director of the […]
On Artistic Judgment
A Philosophical Happy Hour on the habit of artistic judgment and both the means and importance of its formation. Why do we care about art? (We will bypass the question of why we care about anything.) It provides us no corporeal benefits, except perhaps an opportunity or excuse for rest and relaxation. Were this the […]
Digital Identity and the Disintegration of the Human Soul
As part of the Humanitas Technica project, the Lyceum Institute is hosting a discussion panel at the American Catholic Philosophical Association’s Annual Meeting, in Chicago, Illinois, this weekend (November 15 at 11am CT) on “Digital identity and the Disintegration of the Human Soul”. A description of this panel is below: lyceum institute acpa satellite session […]
On the Allure of Secret Knowledge
A Philosophical Happy Hour on the allure of secret knowledge—as found in esotericism, gnosticism, the occult, and secret societies. of every kind Spend enough time on the internet—and “enough” is not very long—and you will encounter either an individual or a group proposing to know something that you do not. They will intimate that this […]
The Depth and Extension of Semiotics [an excerpt]
The following is an excerpt from the lectures for the Semiotics: Thought and Contributions of John Deely seminar offered at the Lyceum Institute. This seminar will be offered again in January (Q1) of 2025. Sign up for our Newsletter to be notified of when to register! Few truths elude our awareness, let alone our full […]
On Authenticity
The problem of authenticity—which we might also name as the struggle for authenticity—appears “upstream” of our current situation… but not far. For, in speaking of what is “authentic”, we most of all mean persons. Today, by contrast, our skepticism concerns the authenticity of events and of their presentation (especially events remote in time and space […]
On Propaganda
A Philosophical Happy Hour on propaganda’s causes, consequences, and cures. The advent of mass communication—beginning with the national newspaper but greatly accelerated first through radio and second, with great totalization, through television—ushered in a new paradigm for shaping the actions of human beings: propaganda. It has been used to impose faux cultural homogeneity, to establish […]
On the Significance of Fictitious Entities
A Philosophical Happy Hour on the moral, psychological, and cultural significance of fictitious entities in human life. Cultural Role of Fictitious Entities Fictitious entities, myths, and media entertainment saturates much of our cultural ethos and society today. Many references we use and employ, metaphors we construct, the subterranean moralizing messaging we find is more often […]
