Thomas Aquinas College Lectures & Talks

“The Self-Evidence of the Gradation Principle (of the Fourth Way)” by Michael Bors (St. Mary’s Seminary & University, Baltimore). Presented at the Thomas Aquinas College 2026 Thomistic Summer Conference.

“Contingency and Per Accidens Causality in the Work of St. Thomas” by Michael Bishop (The Catholic University of America). Presented at the Thomas Aquinas College 2026 Thomistic Summer Conference.

“‘The great flood-gates of the wonder-world swung open’: The Baby and the Book in Dante’s Divine Comedy and Melville’s Moby-Dick; Or, The Whale”, a lecture by Dr. Elizabeth Reyes (Thomas Aquinas College, California). Given on August 28, 2026, as part of the 2026-27 St. Vincent de Paul Lecture & Concert Series.

“Sapientis est Ordinare: Order in the Thomas Aquinas College Curriculum,” a lecture by Dr. Josef C. Froula (Thomas Aquinas College, New England). Given on August 28, 2026, as part of the 2026-27 St. Vincent de Paul Lecture & Concert Series.

“The Presence of the Spirit Overcomes All Barriers”, a homily by His Eminence Sean Cardinal O’Malley, Archbishop Emeritus of Boston. Given at Convocation 2026, Thomas Aquinas College, New England.

“We are Called to Be Protectors”, remarks by His Eminence Sean Cardinal O’Malley, Archbishop Emeritus of Boston. Given at Convocation 2026, Thomas Aquinas College, New England.

How should we understand artificial intelligence, and what place should it have in a genuinely human future?

Held at Thomas Aquinas College August 3–6, 2026, The Mind and the Machine brought together philosophers, technologists, educators, and industry leaders to examine artificial intelligence through the perennial questions of the Western intellectual and Catholic traditions.

Across lectures, seminars, and panel discussions, speakers explored whether machines can truly reason or become conscious, the promises and dangers of artificial general intelligence, the distinction between intelligence and wisdom, and the implications of AI for human freedom, education, work, faith, and flourishing.

Rather than asking only what increasingly powerful machines can do, the symposium returned to a more fundamental question: What is the human person, and what constitutes a truly good human life? The talks examine AI not simply as a technological development, but as an occasion to reconsider reason, virtue, freedom, judgment, wisdom, and the purpose of education.

This playlist contains the lectures and conversations from The Mind and the Machine, offering perspectives ranging from optimism about AI as a powerful intellectual tool to serious warnings about its potential to reshape human society and our understanding of ourselves.

How should we understand artificial intelligence, and what place should it have in a genuinely human future?

Held at Thomas Aquinas College August 3–6, 2026, The Mind and the Machine brought together philosophers, technologists, educators, and industry leaders to examine artificial intelligence through the perennial questions of the Western intellectual and Catholic traditions.

Across lectures, seminars, and panel discussions, speakers explored whether machines can truly reason or become conscious, the promises and dangers of artificial general intelligence, the distinction between intelligence and wisdom, and the implications of AI for human freedom, education, work, faith, and flourishing.

Rather than asking only what increasingly powerful machines can do, the symposium returned to a more fundamental question: What is the human person, and what constitutes a truly good human life? The talks examine AI not simply as a technological development, but as an occasion to reconsider reason, virtue, freedom, judgment, wisdom, and the purpose of education.

This playlist contains the lectures and conversations from The Mind and the Machine, offering perspectives ranging from optimism about AI as a powerful intellectual tool to serious warnings about its potential to reshape human society and our understanding of ourselves.

How should we understand artificial intelligence, and what place should it have in a genuinely human future?

Held at Thomas Aquinas College August 3–6, 2026, The Mind and the Machine brought together philosophers, technologists, educators, and industry leaders to examine artificial intelligence through the perennial questions of the Western intellectual and Catholic traditions.

Across lectures, seminars, and panel discussions, speakers explored whether machines can truly reason or become conscious, the promises and dangers of artificial general intelligence, the distinction between intelligence and wisdom, and the implications of AI for human freedom, education, work, faith, and flourishing.

Rather than asking only what increasingly powerful machines can do, the symposium returned to a more fundamental question: What is the human person, and what constitutes a truly good human life? The talks examine AI not simply as a technological development, but as an occasion to reconsider reason, virtue, freedom, judgment, wisdom, and the purpose of education.

This playlist contains the lectures and conversations from The Mind and the Machine, offering perspectives ranging from optimism about AI as a powerful intellectual tool to serious warnings about its potential to reshape human society and our understanding of ourselves.

How should we understand artificial intelligence, and what place should it have in a genuinely human future?

Held at Thomas Aquinas College August 3–6, 2026, The Mind and the Machine brought together philosophers, technologists, educators, and industry leaders to examine artificial intelligence through the perennial questions of the Western intellectual and Catholic traditions.

Across lectures, seminars, and panel discussions, speakers explored whether machines can truly reason or become conscious, the promises and dangers of artificial general intelligence, the distinction between intelligence and wisdom, and the implications of AI for human freedom, education, work, faith, and flourishing.

Rather than asking only what increasingly powerful machines can do, the symposium returned to a more fundamental question: What is the human person, and what constitutes a truly good human life? The talks examine AI not simply as a technological development, but as an occasion to reconsider reason, virtue, freedom, judgment, wisdom, and the purpose of education.

This playlist contains the lectures and conversations from The Mind and the Machine, offering perspectives ranging from optimism about AI as a powerful intellectual tool to serious warnings about its potential to reshape human society and our understanding of ourselves.