The Thomistic Institute

Prof. Jonathan Lunine tells the story of Georges Lemaître—the Catholic priest and physicist who proposed the Big Bang theory—showing how his pioneering science, deep faith, and personal humility revolutionized modern cosmology and bridged the perceived gap between religion and science.

This lecture was given on October 5th, 2023, at the Thomistic Institute in Limerick, Ireland.

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About the Speakers:

Jonathan Lunine is the Chief Scientist at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory and Professor of Planetary Science at Caltech in Pasadena, California. Beforehand, he was the David C. Duncan Professor in the Physical Sciences and Chair of the Department of Astronomy at Cornell University. Lunine is interested in how planets form and evolve, what processes maintain and establish habitability, and what kinds of exotic environments (methane lakes, etc.) might host a kind of chemistry sophisticated enough to be called "life".  He pursues these interests through theoretical modeling and participation in spacecraft missions.  He is co-investigator on the Juno mission now in orbit at Jupiter, using data from several instruments on the spacecraft, and on the MISE and gravity science teams for the Europa Clipper mission. He was on the Science Working Group for the James Webb Space Telescope, focusing on characterization of extrasolar planets and Kuiper Belt objects.  Lunine has contributed to concept studies for a wide range of planetary and exoplanetary missions. Lunine is a member of the National Academy of Sciences and has participated in or chaired a number of advisory and strategic planning committees for the Academy and for NASA.

Keywords: Astronomical Observation, Big Bang Theory, Cosmological Constant, Georges Lemaître, Hubble–Lemaître Law, Humility, Primeval Atom, Religious Science Dialogue, Scientific Legacy, Steady State Model

Dr. Edmund Lazzari’s lecture critically assesses claims that artificial intelligence systems might possess souls, arguing from Thomistic philosophy and computational neuroscience that AI lacks genuine abstraction, intentionality, and the ontological requirements for immaterial intelligence.

This lecture was given on October 2nd, 2025, at University of Houston.

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About the Speakers:

Edmund Lazzari is Teaching Fellow in the Department of Catholic Studies at Duquesne University. Dr. Lazzari is also a member of the Aquinas and 'the Arabs' International Working Group and affiliated faculty of the Carl G. Grefenstette Center for Ethics in Science, Technology, and Law. A former Basselin Fellow, he earned an ecclesiastical licentiate degree in philosophy from the Catholic University of America, as well as a doctorate in systematic theology and ethics from Marquette University. He has previously taught philosophy and theology at Mount St. Mary's University, Marquette University, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and other universities not starting with the letter "M." Dr. Lazzari has published on a wide variety of topics in theology, such as theology and science, the thought of St. Thomas Aquinas, Catholic-Muslim dialogue, liturgical theology, machine learning/AI, Catholic ethics, and extraterrestrial intelligence. He is the author of two books: Why Nature Matters: Unlocking Catholic Doctrine through Commonsense Philosophy (2022) and Miracles in Said Nursi and Thomas Aquinas (Routledge, 2024).

Keywords: Abstraction And Universals, Artificial Neural Networks, Computational Neuroscience, Intentionality, LaMDA Case, Language Models, Ontological Requirements, Predication, Sentience Debate, Thomistic Analysis

Dr. William Hurlbut explores the profound questions raised by neuroscience, biotechnology, and artificial intelligence, emphasizing that the human soul—understood as the organizing principle of embodied, personal, and purposeful life—remains irreducibly distinct from animal, mechanical, and computational processes.

This lecture was given on October 7th, 2025, at The Ohio State University.

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About the Speakers:

William B. Hurlbut is a physician and Adjunct Professor in the Department of Neurobiology at Stanford University Medical Center.  After receiving his undergraduate and medical training at Stanford, he completed postdoctoral studies in theology and medical ethics, studying with Robert Hamerton-Kelly, the Dean of the Chapel at Stanford, and subsequently with the Rev. Louis Bouyer of the Institut Catholique de Paris. 

His primary areas of interest involve the ethical issues associated with advancing biomedical technology, the biological basis of moral awareness, and studies in the integration of theology and philosophy of biology.  He was instrumental in establishing the first course in biomedical ethics at Stanford Medical Center and subsequently taught bioethics to over six thousand Stanford undergraduate students in the Program in Human Biology.

Dr. Hurlbut is the author of numerous publications on science and ethics including the co-edited volume Altruism and Altruistic Love: Science, Philosophy, and Religion in Dialogue (2002, Oxford University Press), and “Science, Religion and the Human Spirit” in the Oxford Handbook of Science and Religion.  He has organized and co-chaired three multi-year interdisciplinary faculty projects at Stanford University, “Becoming Human: The Evolutionary Origins of Spiritual, Religious and Moral Awareness,” “Brain Mind and Emergence,” and the ongoing “The Boundaries of Humanity: Human, Animals, and Machines in the Age of Biotechnology.”  In addition, he was Co-leader, together with U.C. Berkeley professor Jennifer Doudna of  “The challenge and opportunity of gene editing: a project for reflection, deliberation and education.”

Keywords: Artificial Intelligence, Biotechnology, Embodied Cognition, Human Dignity, Imago Dei, Neurobiology, Personal Identity, Rational Soul, Reductionism, Transhumanism

Fr. Ambrose Little’s lecture explains why medieval philosophers studied astrology as part of natural science, showing how its connection to astronomy, cosmology, and causal mechanisms shaped intellectual inquiry, yet warns that modern astrology lacks scientific legitimacy and poses spiritual risks.

This lecture was given on September 19th, 2025, at University of Michigan

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About the Speakers:

Fr. Ambrose Little is the director of the Thomistic Institute.  He is originally from Connecticut and entered the Dominican Order in 2007 and was ordained a priest in 2013. Before entering the Dominican Order, he graduated from The Catholic University of America with a BA in philosophy. After ordination, he completed a Licentiate in Philosophy at The Catholic University of America and then taught for two years at Providence College. After completing his Ph.D. in philosophy at the University of Virginia in the summer of 2021, he started teaching at the Pontifical Faculty of the Immaculate Conception. He specializes in the philosophies of Aristotle and St. Thomas Aquinas, with an emphasis on their study of nature and the soul. He also studies topics at the intersection between philosophy and science.

Keywords: Albert The Great, Aristotelian Cosmology, Augustine’s Critique, Causal Mechanisms, Geocentrism, Horoscopes, Medieval Natural Philosophy, Natural Science, Spiritual Risk, Subalternation Of Sciences

Prof. Christopher Malloy argues that theology, properly understood as a classical science, involves intellectual habits of certain knowledge through causes grounded in faith, integrating poetry and philosophy to guide believers toward truth and beatific union with God.

This lecture was given on September 25th, 2025, at University of Pittsburgh.

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About the Speakers:

Christopher J. Malloy is married to Flory with whom he has seven children. He earned his B.A. in Theology (second major in Philosophy) from the University of Notre Dame in 1992. He earned his Ph.D. in Systematic Theology (minor in Philosophy) from The Catholic University of America in 2001. Since then he has taught at The University of Dallas, where he currently serves as Professor and Chair of Theology. He has published three books: Engrafted into Christ: A Critique of the Joint Declaration [on Justification], Aquinas on Beatific Charity and the Problem of Love, and False Mercy: Recent Heresies Distorting Catholic Truth. He has published numerous blind peer-reviewed articles for journals such as The Thomist, Nova et Vetera, Freiburger Zeitschrift für Philosophie und Theologie, Josephinum, Angelicum, etc. He loves academia, especially publishing and teaching systematic theology, but he has always been fired up to give popular presentations highlighting the intelligibility and beauty of the Catholic faith, since that was the reason he got into Theology in the first place.

Keywords: Classical Science, Divine Illumination, Faith And Reason, Intellectual Habits, Mystical Theology, Poetry In Theology, Proper And Improper Statements, Sacred Doctrine, Theological Epistemology, Truth And Beatific Union

Prof. Michael Dauphinais explores how Thomas Aquinas integrates philosophical wisdom and divine revelation, showing that genuine knowledge of God arises from both reason and the transformative experience of Christ’s incarnation and the Holy Spirit.

This lecture was given on June 28th, 2025, at Dominican House of Studies.

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About the Speakers:

Michael A. Dauphinais, Ph.D., serves as the Fr. Matthew Lamb Professor of Catholic Theology and the co-director of the Aquinas Center for Theological Renewal at Ave Maria University, Ave Maria, Florida.  He has co-authored with Matthew Levering Knowing the Love of Christ: An Introduction to the Theology of Thomas Aquinas; Holy People, Holy Land: A Theological Introduction to the Bible; and The Wisdom of the Word: Biblical Answers to Ten Questions about Catholicism.  He specializes in C.S. Lewis, the Bible, and St. Thomas Aquinas. He speaks frequently in both academic and popular settings, and particularly enjoys visiting Thomistic Institute student chapters.  Dr. Dauphinais hosts The Catholic Theology Show podcast to help a wide audience discover the richness of coming to know and love God as he has revealed himself in Jesus Christ.

Keywords: Christian Wisdom, Divine Revelation, Faith And Reason, Fulton Sheen, Idolatry, Incarnation, Sacred Doctrine, Spiritual Union, Theological Study

Fr. Gregory Pine explains Nicene Trinitarian theology and Chalcedonian Christology through key councils and controversies, showing how Christ’s incarnation and union with humanity unveil the path to salvation and divine participation.​

This lecture was given on September 11th, 2025, at University of Dallas.

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About the Speakers:

Fr. Gregory Pine, O.P., is an instructor of dogmatic and moral theology at the Dominican House of Studies and the Assistant Director of the Thomistic Institute. He holds a doctorate from the University of Fribourg (Switzerland). He is the author of Prudence: Choose Confidently, Live Boldly and Your Eucharistic Identity: A Sacramental Guide to the Fullness of Life, and is co-author of Credo: An RCIA Program and Marian Consecration with Aquinas. His writing also appears in Aleteia, Magnificat, and Ascension’s Catholic Classics series. In addition to the TI podcast, he regularly contributes to the podcasts Godsplaining and Pints with Aquinas, and Catholic Classics.

Keywords: Chalcedonian Christology, Council Of Chalcedon, Divine Participation, Ecumenical Councils, Exemplar Cause, Homoousios, Hypostatic Union, Incarnational Solidarity, Nicene Theology, Soteriology

Fr. Philip-Neri Reese examines Thomas Aquinas’s theory of intellectual memory, tracing how Aquinas navigates conflicting authorities and ultimately defends the preservation of intelligible species in the possible intellect.

This lecture was given on June 17th, 2025, at Schloss St. Emmeram.

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About the Speakers:

Fr. Philip-Neri Reese, O.P. is a Dominican Friar of the Province of St. Joseph and a professor of philosophy at the Pontifical University of St. Thomas (the Angelicum), where he also serves as the assistant director of the Angelicum Thomistic Institute. Though his scholarly research mainly focuses on metaphysics (especially the scholastic metaphysics of St. Thomas and his later interpreters), he has also published on ethics, economics, Christology, and philosophical anthropology.

Keywords: Aristotelian Anthropology, Avicennian Epistemology, Habitual Knowledge, Imago Dei, Intellectual Memory, Intelligible Species, Memory, Possible Intellect, Verbal Dispute, Voluntary Cognition

Fr. Reginald Lynch’s lecture explores Augustine’s account of the Trinitarian image and its reception by Aquinas, illuminating how the development of grace, human anthropology, and sacramental life shape the Christian journey toward likeness with God.

This lecture was given on June 17th, 2025, at Schloss St. Emmeram.

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About the Speakers:

Fr. Reginald Lynch is a Dominican priest of the Province of St. Joseph and a faculty member at the Dominican House of Studies in Washington, DC (USA). His research focuses on a range of issues in the History of Christianity area, especially medieval and early modern theology. His most recent work has focused on Aquinas’ reception history in the early-modern West. He has recently completed the book, Aquinas’s Summa Theologiae and Eucharistic Sacrifice in the Early Modern Period (Oxford University Press, 2023), which focuses on Dominican and Jesuit receptions of Aquinas in the sixteenth and early seventeenth centuries. He is also the author of The Cleansing of the Heart: The Sacraments as Instrumental Causes in the Thomistic Tradition (Catholic University of America Press, 2017).

Keywords: Aristotelian Categories, De Trinitate, Divine Likeness, Essence And Powers, Habitual Grace, Human Anthropology, Liturgical Virtue, Sacramental Character, Sanctification, Threefold Image

Dr. Albert von Thurn und Taxis analyzes the Augustinian and Thomistic accounts of the rational mind, will, and the hierarchy of the soul, exploring how sin emerges from the complex interplay of reason, freedom, and non-rational agency.

This lecture was given on June 15th, 2025, at Schloss St. Emmeram.

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About the Speakers:

Dr. Albert von Thurn und Taxis is the twelfth Prince of Thurn und Taxis and the current head of the Princely House. Born in Regensburg in 1983, his academic career reflects a diverse range of studies across economics, theology, and philosophy.

Prince Albert completed his early education in Regensburg and at the German School in Rome. He went on to study economics and theology at the University of Edinburgh, graduating with a Master of Arts in 2008. He further honed his financial expertise by training as a chartered financial analyst in Zurich from 2008 to 2010. He later returned to Rome to pursue philosophy, earning a doctorate in 2022 from the Pontificia Universitas Studiorum a Sancto Thoma Aquinate in Urbe (Pontifical University of St. Thomas Aquinas). His research interests touch on morality and agency, evident in his publication, "John Stuart Mill and the Criterion of Morality: The Good, the Self and the Other" (2011), and his Licentiate Thesis, "Triumph of the Will? Rationality and Freedom in Aquinas' Theory of Agency" (2014).

He is also a member of several other noble and religious orders, including the Royal Order of Saint George for the Defence of the Immaculate Conception (2005) and an honorary knight of the Sovereign Order of Malta (2010).

Keywords: Augustinian Voluntas, Freedom And Agency, Hierarchy Of The Soul, Imago Dei, Intellectual Appetite, Liberum Arbitrium, Moral Evil, Non-Rational Agency, Ordo Amoris, Voluntarism Debate