logo
episode-header-image
Jul 2024
45m 59s

The Transformative Power of Beauty and F...

THE THOMISTIC INSTITUTE
About this episode

Join Fr. Gregory Pine, O.P. of Aquinas 101, Godsplaining, and Pints with Aquinas for an off-campus conversation with Prof. Thomas Hibbs about the transformative power of beauty and friendship, how art, beauty, and morality fit together, and the role of beauty in theological contemplation.


Links referenced:

https://www.nationalgallery.org.uk/paintings/michelangelo-merisi-da-caravaggio-the-supper-at-emmaus https://www.gardnermuseum.org/experience/collection/10953 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T5y99rpk8to


You can watch this interview on YouTube here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pBIWVvveB_g.


About the speaker: Thomas Hibbs is currently J. Newton Rayzor Sr. Professor of Philosophy at Baylor where he is also Dean Emeritus, having served for 16 years as the inaugural Dean of the Honors College. At Baylor he was also the inaugural director of Baylor in Washington, D.C. where he currently runs a summer program on Religion and Social Life. He has served as department chair at Boston College and as president of the University of Dallas.


Hibbs has published more than thirty scholarly articles, the most recent of which is “Aquinas and Black Natural Law.” He has published eight books, the most recent of which is Theology of Creation: Ecology, Art, and Laudato Si’ (University of Notre Dame Press, 2023). He has also published two books on film and philosophy and one book on art. He has published more than 100 reviews and discussion articles on film, theater, art, and higher education in a variety of venues including First Things, The Chronicle of Higher Education, The Wall Street Journal, and National Review. He writes regularly for The Dallas Morning News.


Hibbs’ lectures have been protested by nihilists at Boston University and by communists in Palermo, Sicily.

Up next
Aug 22
Anna Karenina and the Project of Literature I Sr. Jane Dominic Laurel, O.P.
Sr. Jane Dominic Laurel explores the project of literature from the classical to the modern era, highlighting how stories like Anna Karenina shape the moral imagination through themes of virtue, marriage, culture, and the perennial question of what it means to be human.This lectu ... Show More
1h 25m
Aug 21
Getting to Know Tolkien and Lewis and Why It's Worth Your Time I Prof. Lee Oser
Prof. Lee Oser explores the intertwined lives, faith journeys, and literary legacies of J.R.R. Tolkien, C.S. Lewis, and the Inklings, highlighting their countercultural Christian imagination against modernist trends.This lecture was given on November 22nd, 2024, at College of Wil ... Show More
52m 53s
Aug 20
Reading Sacred Scripture with St. Thomas Aquinas I Fr. Isaac Morales, O.P. and Prof. Michael Root
Fr. Isaac Morales and Prof. Michael Root explore how Thomas Aquinas’ biblical commentaries on Matthew and 1 Corinthians illuminate the beatific vision, resurrection, and the role of Scripture in shaping Christian life through literal and spiritual interpretation.This lecture was ... Show More
37m 38s
Recommended Episodes
Feb 2025
Happiness, Sex, and The Spiritual Life (Christopher West) | Ep. 507
Christopher West is a renowned Catholic author, speaker, and theologian, widely recognized for his engaging presentations on St. John Paul II's Theology of the Body. With a passion for making profound theological concepts accessible to modern audiences, Christopher has spent over ... Show More
2h 58m
Jun 2024
Everything Flannery O'Connor (Fr. Damian Ference) | Ep. 470
Fr. Damian Ference is a priest of the Diocese of Cleveland where he serves as Vicar for Evangelization, Secretary for Parish Life and Special Ministries, and as Professor of Philosophy at Borromeo Seminary. He holds a licentiate in philosophy from The Catholic University of Ameri ... Show More
1h 58m
Nov 2024
Phaedo with Dr. John Mark Reynolds
Join the Classical Mind podcast for a captivating exploration of Plato's Phaedo, featuring insightful commentary from Dr. John Mark Reynolds.This episode delves into the profound dialogue where Socrates, facing his own mortality, engages in a compelling argument for the immortali ... Show More
1h 14m
Nov 2024
501. Reality and the Philosophical Framing of the Truth | Dr. Stephen Hicks
Dr. Jordan B. Peterson sits down with philosopher, professor, and lecturer Dr. Stephen Hicks. They discuss their collaboration through the Peterson Academy, the case for philosophy on the practical level,the evolution of human thought across intellectual movements and waves, the ... Show More
1h 44m
Jul 22
Joanna Macy, In Memoriam — Beauty and Wisdom and Courage (and Rilke) to Sustain Us
This rich, gorgeous conversation will fill your soul. The singular and beloved Joanna Macy died at home at the age of 96 on July 20, 2025. She has left an immense legacy of beauty and wisdom and courage to sustain us. A Buddhist teacher, ecological philosopher, and Rilke translat ... Show More
50m 57s
Jul 16
The Church Abandoned Aquinas. Now We're In Crisis. (Fr. Dominic Legge) | Ep. 533
Fr. Dominic Legge, O.P., is the President of the Pontifical Faculty of the Immaculate Conception (PFIC) at the Dominican House of Studies in Washington, D.C. He is an Ordinary Member of the Pontifical Academy of St. Thomas Aquinas, and holds a J.D. from Yale Law School, a Ph.L. f ... Show More
2h 49m
Jan 2025
Why Would ANYONE Want to be Catholic Right Now? Here’s Why. (Larry Chapp) | Ep. 505
Dr. Larry Chapp is a retired professor of theology who taught for twenty years at DeSales University in Pennsylvania. He holds a doctorate from Fordham University, specializing in the theology of Hans Urs von Balthasar. Dr. Chapp is also the co-founder of the Dorothy Day Catholic ... Show More
2h 48m
Oct 2024
Consciousness and the limits of science PART 2 | Sean Carroll, Ellen Langer, and Tamar Gendler
Mind, matter, and everything - PART TWOCan science ever solve the problem of consciousness? Do our methods look for answers in all the wrong places? Join Sean Carroll, Ellen Langer, and Tamar Gendler as they debate the possibility of science providing answers to the hardest probl ... Show More
27m 34s
Aug 2024
Van Gogh and the End of Nature
Episode No. 666 features author and art historian Michael Lobel. Lobel is the author of "Van Gogh and the End of Nature," which was just published by Yale University Press. The book interrogates Van Gogh's presentation of nature, and finds that Van Gogh was looking more intently ... Show More
50m 17s