Published by the Center for the Study of The Great Ideas (founded in 1990 by Mortimer J. Adler and Max Weismann)
In association with the The Adler-Aquinas Institute and Aquinas School of Leadership
A Founding Member of the Alliance for Liberal Learning

Saturday, September 8, 2018

Aquinas Leadership International Update - September 2018

Dr. Peter Redpath again writes to update you about some developments related to the Aquinas Leadership International (ALI), affiliate organizations, and other groups interested in ALI’s work.


AS PART OF THE 150TH ANNIVERSARY OF ITS FOUNDING, SEE PROGRAM ATTACHED FOR THE ÉCOLE PRATIQUE DES HAUTES ÉTUDES's SORBONNE COLLOQUIUM

"Étienne Gilson (1884–1978), Medievalist and Philosopher, Man of Faith and Man of Action"  

Dates: 19 and 20 September 2018, 9:30 am-7:00 pm

Location: The Sorbonne (Liard Amphitheater), Paris, France

Organized by: Michel Cacouros  (michel.cacouros@ephe.psl.eu), Maître de conférences Habilité, Sciences Historiques et Philologiques

Scientific Committee: Michel Cacouros, EPHE, PSL; Patrick Henriet, EPHE, PSL; Christophe Grellard, EPHE, PSL

Honorary Committee: Hubert Bost, President of the EPHE; Olivier Boulnois, EPHE, PSL; James K. Farge, CSB, Pontifical Institute of Mediaeval Studies, Toronto; Ruedi Imbach, Univ. Sorbonne Paris 4; Thierry-Dominique Humbrecht, O.P., Catholic Institute of Toulouse; Gilles Pécout, Rector of the Île-de-France Academic Region, Rector of the Paris Academy, Chancellor of the Universities of Paris.

Participants : I. Agostini (Centro Internazionale di Ricerca su Descartes and Il Seicento, Lecce, Italy); J. Chr. Bardout (University of Rennes 1); Mr. Borghesi (Università di Perugia); O. Boulnois (EPHE, PSL); Mr. Cacouros (EPHE, PSL);H. Donneaud op (Catholic Institute of Toulouse); RJ Fafara (International Étienne Gilson Society, USA); JK Farge CSB (Pontifical Institute of Mediaeval Studies, Toronto); Mr. Fourcade (Univ Paul-Valery Montpellier 3); Ch. Grellard (EPHE, PSL); P. Henriet (EPHE, PSL); Th.-D. Humbrecht, op (Catholic Institute of Toulouse); F. Jacquemain (Paris); P.-Ph. Jandin (International College of Philosophy, Paris); J. Lagouanère (Univ Paul-Valéry Montpellier 3); P. Jaroszynski (International Étienne Gilson Society, Poland; University of Lublin, Poland); F. Michel (Panthéon-Sorbonne University Paris 1); FA Murphy (Indiana University, USA); J. Prévotat (Univ Charles de Gaulle Lille 3); P. Redpath (International Étienne Gilson Society, USA); Mr. Veuille (EPHE, PSL).

For more information about this international colloquium, see:




·  Copy of Richard Fafara's 2017 Pontifical Institute of Mediaeval Studies Étienne Gilson Lecture Now Available

To obtain a copy of Richard Fafara's 2018 PIMS Gilson Lecture, please email Megan Jones (megan.jones@utoronto.ca) at the Pontifical Institute of Mediaeval studies in Toronto. For more information about the lecture and publication, see:

and



·  The Angelicum Academy Great Books Program Announces It is Now Enrolling Students for Its REVOLUTIONARY:

"Angelicum Academy at Holy Apostles College"

Among other reasons, this Program is Revolutionary because:

1) It enables students to acquire an Associate's degree in the Great Books totally online by the end of 12th grade and a Bachelor's degree as little as two years later.

2) Thanks to the agreement between the Angelicum Academy and Holy Apostles College, total tuition cost for the BA degree is under $30,000, while the average total cost of a four-year BA in private colleges is $180,000+.

3) This program includes 12 credits of online Theology courses developed for the Angelicum Academy by Fr. Joseph Fessio, S.J.

COLLEGE CREDITS: Angelicum Academy students may earn from 1-75 college credits while home schooling (in grades 9-12) or while in high school, or later. They may earn their accredited Associate’s degree (from Holy Apostles College requires 60 credits) while in high school or home school (grades 9 –12, or later), or they may take individual college-level courses for transfer elsewhere – to other of the hundreds of colleges and universities that accept ACE recommended credits. Students who earn their Associate’s degree while in home school (grades 92) or high school, may earn a further 15 credits then as well, enabling them to complete 75 credits toward their accredited bachelor’s degree (requires 120 credits)--that is nearly 2/3rds of their bachelor’s degree, for a fraction of the cost elsewhere.
For more information about this program, see:



·  See the Following Link for a List of Fall Events Offered by the Thomistic Insititute:


·  Call for Papers for Medieval Philosophy at the 2019 Saint Louis Annual Symposium for Medieval and Renaissance Studies 

Dates:  June 17–19, 2019

Location: St. Louis University, St. Louis, Mo.

Organizers and Contact Information: Susan Brower-Toland (susan.browertoland@slu.edu) Jenny Pelletier (jenny.pelletier@kuleuven.be)

Conference Details: Every year, the Center for Medieval and Renaissance Studies at Saint Louis University (https://www.slu.edu/arts-and-sciences/medieval-renaissance-studies/index.php) hosts a symposium on medieval and Renaissance studies. As with other large, inter-disciplinary conferences of this kind, there is ample to room to expand the representation of philosophy. Moreover, the symposium provides historians of philosophy the opportunity to see what research is being conducted in other areas, e.g. medieval and Renaissance intellectual history, art history, literature, etc. We would like to organize two sessions, broad thematically, devoted to philosophy and philosophical theology. Proposed Sessions: 1. Medieval Philosophy: Metaphysical Themes 2. Medieval Philosophy: Ethical Themes We welcome abstracts on any topic and any philosopher that falls within these two areas, extending into the Renaissance and late Scholasticism.
Please submit abstracts of about 200 words and include a short CV. Deadline for abstracts: November 30, 2018; Notification date: December 15, 2018

·  Call for Papers for the 2019 Telos-Paul Piccone Institute Conference

Topic: “Political Theology Today as Critical Theory of the Contemporary: Reason, Religion, Humanism”

Dates: February 15–17, 2019

Location: New York, NY

Conference Details: 

Across the globe the liberal logic of capitalism and technocracy has seemingly triumphed, and with it a culture of secularism, now the dominant ideology of the liberal establishment that prefers progress to tradition, an individualized identity to a sense of shared belonging, and free choice to common purpose. As much as this regime has produced wealth, it has also generated inequality and dissatisfaction. The populist insurgency that is sweeping the West is in large part a repudiation of this secular politics, opening the space for a post-liberal political theology. A resurgence of religion is underway that marks the failure of the secularization thesis and the need for alternative cultural resources, beyond positivism, to understand the place of humanity within the cosmos. Is this our new "Great Awakening"?
Amid the crisis of rationalism, critical theorists such as Jürgen Habermas have sought to rescue the project of a reasonable humanism from the twin threats of religious fundamentalism and secular naturalism. Yet Habermas's conception of postsecularity remains residually secularist because he does not permit faith to make any substantive or critical contribution to public discussion that could undermine the primacy of formal, procedural reason. In response Pope Emeritus Benedict invoked Adorno and Horkheimer's dialectic of enlightenment because the slogan "reason alone" leads to the dissolution of reason—to the conclusion that only will and power have any reality. The only way to avoid this outcome is to recall—so Benedict's argument in his much-commented but poorly understood 2006 Regensburg address—that the West's commitment to humanist reason is grounded in the classical and Christian idea that human rationality participates in the infinite reason of transcendence. Otherwise the rational is but the illusion of our own and of nature's will to power.

Meanwhile, new movements such as "accelerationism" appeal to "the dark enlightenment" in an attempt to reclaim nihilism as the ultimate logic of liberation from the limits of history, tradition, and nature. Its response to the crisis of secularism is to double down on the destruction of tradition in the pursuit of an explicit post-humanism. Accelerationism may therefore only be an extension of liberalism, not an alternative. In that case, only political theology—advocacy of a transcendent dimension that upholds humanity against nihilism—remains as today's critical theory.

The 2019 Telos Conference invites contributions on political theology as critical theory of the contemporary: the reappearance of faith in civic life. The focus will not be on intellectual history but rather on how faith is reshaping politics and culture today.

One area of interest will be the changing status of religion and politics in the "secular" West itself: changing understandings of First Amendment issues in the United States, the role of faith-based organizations in civic life, and the significance of tradition and religious identities in the populist movements across Europe. Of vital importance in this discussion is the role of the African American churches in the contemporary political field.

At the same time, these developments in the area of religion may require us to rethink our "secular" social and political institutions. If nationalism has often functioned as a kind of state religion, it will be important to understand the relationship between nationalism and religion, as well as to explore the ways in which different faiths either stabilize or undermine state administrative structures. As these structures have generally enforced a particular perspective on the sacred foundations of the state, it will be important to understand the ways in which these structures might respond to change in this area.

A second concern goes beyond the West to explore the global resurgence of religious allegiances, including the spectacular growth of charismatic movements in Christianity as well as other world religions, and the questions it raises about modernity: for example, in what ways is the present religious awakening an intensification of modern thought and practice or a rupture with it? How can we understand the transformations of Islam, the rise of Hindu nationalism, but also the spread of Pentecostalism and evangelical Protestantism in, for example, Latin America? How will Africa redefine Christianity and challenge liberalism? What are the consequences for political structures and economic activity?

A third issue is the growing bifurcation—within and across different faiths—of traditional, orthodox traditions, on the one hand, and modernizing creeds, on the other hand. Examples of this paradoxical development include the opposition between more liberal and more conservative wings in the Roman Catholic Church and the Anglican Communion or the religious resistance to unbridled "free-market" capitalism and secular liberal democracy that is shared by various faiths. Can one speak of similar political theological divides between orthodox and reform wings of Judaism in comparable terms?

Furthermore, the conference seeks to examine the juxtaposition of confessions, whether in terms of "clashes" or the issues at stake in conversions—the sectarian tensions and conflicts between different denominations, including Catholic, Orthodox, and Protestant but also Shia versus Sunni and political versus apolitical Hinduism and Buddhism. One question that arises is whether forms of literalist extremism are mirror images of rigid secularism and what they mean for political theology today.

The specific topics of the conference include, but are not limited to, the following:

·  religion as a source of post-liberal community
·  liturgy and the critique of positivism
·  tradition as a source of meaning and orientation
·  political theology of secularism and liberalism
·  new nihilism: accelerationist philosophy and transhumanist technology
·  faith, feeling, and habit in the public political sphere
·  the nature of the present religious revival and its relationship to modernity
·  bifurcation within and across political religion
·  the clash of confessions and "secular sectarianism"
·  the role of the sacred in state structures
·  the relationships between religious and political movements

Abstract Submissions 

Please note: Abstracts for this conference will only be accepted from current Telos-Paul Piccone Institute members. In order to become a member, please visit the Telos membership enrollmet page. Telos-Paul Piccone Institute memberships are valid until the end of the annual New York City conference.

Scholars from all disciplines are invited to submit a 250-word abstracts along with a short c.v. to telosnyc2019@telosinstitute.net by September 30, 2018. Please place "The 2019 Telos Conference" in the email's subject line. The criteria for selecting abstracts are as follows:

·  relevance to the conference concern with contemporary ramifications
·  original analysis and argument (not summary or description)
·  focus (conference presentations should be no longer than 15 minutes)

For regular updates about the 2019 Telos Conference, please visit the Conference website.


·  Call for Papers on Biblical Theology before 15 September 2018 

Topic: “Aquinas the Biblical Theologian"

Co-sponsoring Organizations: The Henkels Lecture Fund, St. Paul Center for Biblical Theology and the Aqunas Center of Ave Maria University

Date: February 08–09, 2019

Location: Ave Maria University, Ave Maria, Florid, USA

Conference Details: Through plenary and non-plenary addresses, the Conference seeks to bring together biblical and Thomistic scholars to foster genuine speculative engagement in discussion of theological realities. The Aquinas Center invites scholars to submit abstracts for a 20-minute presentation. For more information about suggested themes for papers and the Conference, contact:



            ▪ Request from Ed Macierowski to Form Reading Group

Dear Colleagues,

I realize that we are all pressed for time and that our primary mission here at Benedictine College is not so much research, but teaching our four undergraduate courses each semester. There are, however, three books that I should like to read or re-read carefully before retirement, preferably in the company of either friends or students:

(1) St. Thomas Aquinas’s Commentary on the Sentences of Peter Lombard;
(2) Aristotle’s Metaphysics;
(3) Avicenna’s Metaphysics from his “Book of Healing.”

Of these, the first exists in Latin, with parts translated under the sponsorship, I believe, of Scott Hahn. This text has the advantage of showing some of the most explicit reference Aquinas makes to his predecessors and gives an unparalleled look at Aquinas in his workshop as a graduate student under Albert the Great. Some of you may be interested in a Latin reading group.

The second two are available not only in their original languages, but also in English versions. 
I recently taught two courses on Aristotle’s Metaphysics, a one-credit Greek special topics course on linguistic problems in the Metaphysics, and a three-credit seminar on the doctrine of being in the Aristotelian metaphysics.

As to the third, I served as research assistant to Michael Marmura, who first translated Avicenna’s Metaphysics into English (appearing in 2005). Over the course of years I have come to think that Aquinas’s personal metaphysics owes more to his reading of Avicenna than even to that of Aristotle. Van Riet’s critical edition of the Latin version of the Metaphysics came out from 1977-1983, with the third volume containing lexical of key Latin and Arabic terms. Two complete versions have come out since then both in Italian, one by Lizzini and Porro (2002, 2nd ed. 2006) and one by Bertolacci (2007). Accordingly, I’d like  either to host a faculty discussion of Avicenna’s Metaphysics, starting this fall, or to offer an upper level seminar for philosophy majors in the spring of 2019.

The first book I published here at Benedictine College was St. Thomas’s Aquinas’s Earliest Treatment of the Divine Essence, which included a bilingual text of his writing on Book I, Distinction 8 of the Sentences.  To write a book on Aquinas’s metaphysics in the Sentences with special focus upon his use of Arabic sources would require not only a sabbatical but almost certainly three semesters of support from the NEH or an equivalent organization; their next application deadline is August 2019.

If any of you have either interest or time (preferably both), to join in such a reading group especially for topic #3 or topic #2, please do get back to me. My Islamic philosophy course this term offers a general survey with two foci, metaphysics and political philosophy.
Even if you cannot participate in a reading group, I would welcome any suggestions you may have to advance this project.
Best,

Ed
·  Conference and Journal Announcements from the Arts and Humanities Division of ATINER

The Arts and Humanities Division of ATINER would like to announce that the 6th Annual International Conference on Humanities & Arts in a Global World (https://www.atiner.gr/humanities) has been planned and will take place on 0and 04 January 2019 in Athens, Greece. You are more than welcome to submit a proposal for presentation. If you plan to attend, you may also send us a stream proposal to be organized as part of the conference. If you need more information, please let me know and our administration will send it to you.

 You can also always consider the possibility of submitting papers for publication in our academic journals or take part in these publication projects by reviewing papers. Journal publication does not require attendance at our conferences, and it is free of submission and publication charges. For details, see our Journal Policy athttps://www.athensjournals.gr/paper-submission.

Dr. Nicholas Pappas, Honorary President, ATINER & Professor, Sam Houston State University, USADr. David Philip Wick, Director, Arts and Humanities Division, ATINER & Professor, Gordon College, USA


·  Call for Papers for the 2019, Fourth International Conference on Communication & Media Studies on:

"The Future of Democracy in the Digital Age"

Dates: 26–28 September 2019

Location: University of Bonn, Bonn, Germany.

Proposals are invited for paper presentations, workshops/interactive sessions, posters/exhibits, colloquia, virtual posters, or virtual lightning talks.
Go too the following link to submit a proposal:



·  Call for Papers,  Scientia et Fides Journal

The journal Scientia et Fides (a joint-venture, open-access, online journal published twice a year by the Faculty of Theology of Nicolaus Copernicus University, in Torun, Poland, in collaboration with the Group of Research “Science, Reason, and Faith” [CRYF], at University of Navarra) seeks rigorous research works regarding different aspects of the relationship between science and religion. SetF articles are not confined to the methodology of a single discipline and may cover a wide range of topics, provided that the interdisciplinary dialogue between science and religion is tackled. The Journal accepts articles written in English, Spanish, Polish, French, Italian, and German, which will be evaluated by a peer-review process.
For further information about publishing articles in SetF, see:



·  Dr. Stacy Trasancos among Featured Speakers at The Catholic Answers 2018 National Conference, San Diego

Topic: "Faith and Science"

Dates: 27 to 30 September, 2018

Location: Hyatt Regency La Jolla at Aventine, San Diego, California

For Conference details, contact the link immediately below:



·  Call for Papers, Metaphysical Society of America 2019 Annual Meeting

Dates: 28 to 31 March 2019

Topic: “Metaphysics and Political Thought”

Contact Information: 500-word abstracts should be distributed electronically by September 1, 2018 to: Daniel Dombrowski, Professor of Philosophy, Seattle University at:   ddombrow@seattleu.edu

Those whose abstracts are chosen by the Program Committee should submit completed papers by January 15, 2019 to allow review by commentators and publication of the program.  Further information on the conference will become available at: www.metaphysicalsociety.org

Aristotle Prize: Papers submitted by persons who have not yet earned a Ph.D. or who have received a Ph.D. within five years of the submission date will be considered for the Aristotle prize, if the Program Committee is made aware of their eligibility.  The prize carries a cash award of $500, inclusion in the program, and assistance with the costs associated with attending the meeting.  Graduate students and relatively recent Ph.D.s are encouraged to apply. Full papers must be submitted for the prize by September 1, 2018.

Travel Grants: Thanks to the generous support of past presidents of the MSA and a grant from the Hocking-Cabot Fund for Systematic Philosophy, we are pleased to offer travel grants to graduate students whose papers are selected for the program for our annual meeting.  More information and an application can be found on the Society’s website.


·  The University of South Africa and the John Paul II Catholic University of Lublin Thomistic Studies Research Doctoral Programs:

The University of South Africa in Pretoria has an online research doctoral program (PhD) in Philosophy that includes Thomistic studies. The Aquinas School of Leadership in the US is helping to promote this program for students contemplating, or currently, pursuing a graduate Master’s degree in Thomistic Studies and link this degree from the University of South Africa to  a follow-up, second Ph. D. degree from the John Paul II Catholic University of Lublin.
The costs of the program include 7,840 South African Rand for the research proposal, which equals $643 US Dollars, then, 15,400 South African Rand per year, which equals $1,263 US Dollars per year. The time limit for completion of the Pretoria program is 6 years.
For information about this program, contact Dr. Peter A. Redpath at:



·  Aquinas School of Philosophy Site: Rich in Resources related to St. Thomas

For anyone interested in studying, or teaching courses on, St. Thomas, the Aquinas School of Philosophy site offers a wealth of educational information you might want to check out. See:

Also, see a list of thought-provoking articles by Aquinas School of Philosophy founder Dr. Dennis Bonnette at this site:



·  The International Étienne Gilson Society, Studia Gilsoniana

The IEGS again congratulates Fr. Pawel Tarasiewicz and his Editorial Staff for the exceptionally high quality of the recent issue of the Studia Gilsoniana journal. Go to this link to see the April to June 2018 issue: http://gilsonsociety.com/?7-2-(april-june-2018),49
If you are not yet a member of the IEGS, please consider joining to support our ongoing work. If you are a member and have not yet paid your annual dues, please do so.
See the following link to join or pay dues:


See the following link to make a donation to the work of the IEGS:


·  From The Center for the Study of The Great Ideas
Give Someone a Present of a Membership in the Center. See: 


to post information on the Center’s blogspot:




·  Thomas International Center Recent Events are Now Listed at: http://www.ticenter.net/ 


·  Aquinas and “the Arabs”

For information about Richard Taylor's "Aquinas and the 'Arabs'" International Working Group and upcoming conferences and seminars hosted by this organization, see:


      
·  En Route Books & Media and St. Augustine’s Press

Check out the following links for recent publications by En Route Books & Media and St. Augustine Press:




PLEASE FORWARD THIS ALI UPDATE TO ANYONE YOU THINK MIGHT FIND IT OF INTEREST!

If you would like us to post something related to your organization, please email your request to: peterredpath@aquinasschoolofleadership.com

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