For several millenia, "Euclid’s Elements" was considered the indispensable gateway to higher studies. Like St. Thomas’s "Summa Theologiae", the Elements is that rare work that is both an excellent textbook attentive to the needs of new students and one of the great masterpieces of geometry. This course will lead participants on a broad tour of the first ten books of the Elements, which encompasses all of Euclid’s plane geometry. Participants will get a taste of demonstrating prepositions, while seeing proofs for fundamental equalities concerning triangles, parallelograms, and circles. Then attention will be turned to Euclid’s treatment of measurement, similarity, and incommensurability. Discussions will center on understanding Euclid’s arguments & order, with comparisons to modern developments in mathematics. Dr. Andrew Seeley has decades of experience in leading discussions of great texts of all kinds, including original texts in ancient and modern mathematics and science.

An introduction to Aristotle’s Ethics which includes a consideration of his definition of happiness, the moral virtues and the intellectual virtues, the special role of justice and friendship, the nature of pleasure and pain, and his argument that contemplative activity is the goal of human life.   Aristotle’s Ethics is the most accessible of the Aristotelian treatises, and for most people it provides the best pathway into understanding Aristotle’s thought. For Catholics, Aristotle’s Ethics is highly important as serving as the philosophical basis for the moral theology of St. Thomas Aquinas.  The first hour of each class will be an overview and a general discussion.  The second hour will be a seminar-type, careful discussion of a particular passage.

This course introduces logic as a liberal art, i.e., an art of things which are made in being known and known in being made. Logic directs the fundamental acts of the human intellect—simple apprehension, composition and division, inference—in realizing what they make and know, the forms of discursive understanding: definition, judgment, and argument.

In this course, we will investigate the reality and meaning of the famous categories of Aristotle. He introduces them as logical concepts, as modes of predication occurring in various sorts of propositions. He does this work in the book called the Categories. He goes on to argue, however, in Book 5 of the Metaphysics, that the categories correspond to modes of being, a claim that sets the stage for many of the conclusions he draws in the Metaphysics, for example, in Book 7. Ultimately, they underpin theology itself, as he shows in Book 12. Prior to these metaphysical considerations, Aristotle shows that the categories are necessary in defining concepts belonging to natural philosophy, for example, the definitions of nature and motion.

Consequently, in order to lay out an overarching view of Aristotle’s use of the categories in his philosophy, we will first consider his view of them in the Categories as logical concepts, i.e., as predications (kategoria in Greek). Then we will look at the role of the categories in the definitions of nature and motion in Book 2 of the Physics. Finally, we will look at the role they play in defining being itself in Books 5 and 7 of the Metaphysics, along with a glimpse of their application to the Divine Being itself in Book 12.

This course in the liberal art of arithmetic introduces students to the art and science of arithmetic. We discuss counting and numbers, the difference between arithmetic demonstration and arithmetic calculation, consider the nature of numbers, their species, and their various relationships, and learn about key differences between Greek arithmetic and modern mathematical notions of algebra and the number system. Students will gain fundamental facility in the liberal art of arithmetic and some philosophical understanding of the ancient versus the modern approach to arithmetic, calculation, and number theory.

In this course we will be taking a look at the liberal art of Astronomy. The course will have three objectives. First we will consider what it means to call Astronomy a liberal art. There are other kinds of astronomy, for example, what is nowadays called astrophysics. The liberal art of Astronomy is a preparation for Philosophy, and so we want to have a sense of the nature of this art. Second, we will explore some of the mathematical tools made use of by Astronomy. This part of the course will be introductory only. We won’t be doing any heavy math, but we do want to get an appreciation of the sort of math this liberal art uses, especially the geometry of the circle. Third, we will consider specific ways in which the liberal art of Astronomy is a preparation for Philosophy. Continued below...

This course will focus on a distinctively Thomistic approach to bioethics and the resources that Aquinas’s natural law theory and metaphysics may provide in addressing some of the most important contemporary bioethics issues. The first part of the course will focus on the foundations and principles of Thomistic ethical theory through a selection of Thomistic primary texts as well as secondary sources such as Ralph McInerny's Ethica Thomistica and Jason Eberl's Thomistic Principles and Bioethics. In the second part of the course we will turn to a careful examination of several of the most important and difficult controversies in contemporary Catholic Bioethics: the moral status of zygotes, embryos, fetuses, and anencephalic infants, embryonic stem cell research, ANT-OAR, vital conflicts, embryo adoption and transfer, artificial wombs, life-saving interventions, genethics, designer children, human enhancement, neuroethics, issues at the end of human life, the ordinary/extraordinary means distinction, artificial hydration and nutrition, euthanasia, organ donation, complicity in evil, conscientious objection, and health care law and policy.

Boethius has been called the last ancient or first medieval thinker, and he seems to have coined the term “quadrivium.” His Consolation of Philosophy was one of the most influential books in the Middle Ages, and he is widely credited with being a primary conduit of Greek thought to the Latin West throughout that period. Though a rather short work, the Consolation packs a punch with its alternating prose and verse as well as its sweeping discussions of science and philosophy, poetry and theology. One cannot possibly do justice to this book in any particular reading of it (especially in translation), but an introduction to it may well begin a lifelong affection for it and an increased understanding of its sources and influences.

This course explores the theory and practice of communism and the life and writings of Karl Marx. It is commonly assumed that the historical failures of communism are due to the theory not being implemented correctly or not implemented fully. As we read the theory of communism in the writings of Karl Marx and then compare this with the Soviet experience, we will assess whether or not this claim has any merit. We will also examine the life of Karl Marx in order to better understand the man behind the political theory that has left almost no part of the world untouched. What is the connection between Marx’s personal life and psychology and his philosophical writings?

Dante makes Thomas Aquinas the first voice of the Heaven of the Sun (Paradiso, Canto 10), and hence offers him as an emblem—perhaps the emblem—of redeemed creaturely wisdom. Dante recognized in Thomas the "teacher for everyone" (doctor communis) long before that usage became general; and so Dante reflects (and reflects deeply upon) Thomas' comprehensive Sacra Doctrina as he constructs his comprehensive allegory of love and responsibility.  This course will read The Divine Comedy with an eye for important junctures at which Thomas' teaching proves especially relevant, and the course will address Dante's text in light of that teaching.

Alexis de Tocqueville wrote Democracy in America in order to examine the effects of the “democratic revolution” that had swept “the entire Christian universe,” the end of aristocratic hierarchy and the birth of democratic equality. Tocqueville regarded this revolution as a fait accompli. But he observed that this new age could take better or worse forms, and he argued that human agency could make some difference in how democracy manifested itself in a given society. Democracy in America examines the most thoroughly democratic society of Tocqueville’s time, the United States of the 1830s, as an example of the distinct benefits offered and challenges posed by the new democratic era. We approach Tocqueville’s magnum opus in order better to understand ourselves, for good and for ill, as democrats and as Americans, and to see what we might learn from him about how to cultivate freedom and pursue excellence in an age of equality.

In this course we will read, contemplate, and discuss some of the great lyric poems of the English-speaking tradition. Through instruction and practice, students will become better at reading and appreciating poetry as poetry.

This course will study the short stories of Flannery O'Connor. One or two stories will be assigned for each of the eight classes. We will also discuss the life and influence of Flannery O'Connor as one of the great and most-respected Catholic writers of the twentieth century. The short stories to be read include 'The River,' 'Good Country People,' 'Revelation,' 'Parker's Back' and 'Everything That Rises Must Converge.' The only text students need to acquire is The Complete Short Stories of Flannery O'Connor (Farrar Straus and Girioux).

JRR Tolkien’s great work, "The Lord of the Rings," continues to be prescient and relevant to our present situation. Through the vehicle of a secondary world, Tolkien explores universal questions of the human person’s place in a world of contesting forces. Tolkien examines the control of external, hostile forces over the human person and to what extent the person has freedom to respond. Tolkien masterfully responds both to the modernist elevation and exultation of human autonomy and the postmodernist devaluation of the same by presenting a strongly Christian understanding of free will and the human person’s inherent dignity and worth.

JRR Tolkien’s great work, "The Lord of the Rings," continues to be prescient and relevant to our present situation. Through the vehicle of a secondary world, Tolkien explores universal questions of the human person’s place in a world of contesting forces. Tolkien examines the control of external, hostile forces over the human person and to what extent the person has freedom to respond. Tolkien masterfully responds both to the modernist elevation and exultation of human autonomy and the postmodernist devaluation of the same by presenting a strongly Christian understanding of free will and the human person’s inherent dignity and worth.

JRR Tolkien’s great work, The Lord of the Rings, continues to be prescient and relevant to our present situation.  Through the vehicle of a secondary world, Tolkien explores universal questions of the human person’s place in a world of contesting forces.  Tolkien examines the control of external, hostile forces over the human person and to what extent the person has freedom to respond.  Tolkien masterfully responds both to the modernist elevation and exultation of human autonomy and the postmodernist devaluation of the same by presenting a strongly Christian understanding of free will and the human person’s inherent dignity and worth.

In this live, online summer institute we will dive into texts from 1600 BC - AD 140. Through guided readings and lively discussion, explore the themes of friendship and political community in the ancient world. This 9-week (June–August 2022) course will meet once a week. Future courses will address texts and themes from the Medieval/Christian and Modern historical periods.

In this course, we will read four novels by George Bernanos (1888-1948): The Diary of a Country Priest, Mouchette, Under the Sun of Satan, and Monsieur Ouine. Bernanos stands with Sigrid Undset, Flannery O'Connor, Walker Percy, G.K. Chesterton, Evelyn Waugh, and Francios Mauriac as the greatest Catholic novelists of the 20th century. Students will be encouraged to watch the three films made of these novels, two directed by Robert Bresson and one by Maurice Pialat. (Bresson, by the way, is the greatest Catholic director in the history of film.) I will provide directions on how to find and view these films online. Students will also be encouraged to pursue supplemental readings in the non-fiction works of Bernanos and other critical works about his life and work. In all eight sessions, we will put aside some time to discuss the life of Bernanos against the background of French and European history and of the Church.

In this course, we will engage in a close reading of John's gospel, looking very closely at John's poetic interweaving of theological motifs embodied in such important words as "word," "name," "glory," "truth," "light," and "grace." We will assume that John the apostle is the author, that he is a native speaker of Aramaic and a reader of Hebrew, but that he is composing directly into Greek -- composing with the poetry of Jesus ringing in his soul.