Bored to Tears: Confronting the Taedium Vitae with Thomas Aquinas | Fr. Stewart Clem

The Thomistic Institute

Christianity, Society & Culture, Catholic Intellectual Tradition, Catholic, Philosophy, Religion & Spirituality, Thomism, Catholicism

4.8 • 729 Ratings

🗓️ 17 January 2025

⏱️ 43 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

Fr. Stewart Clem examines the concept of boredom ("taedium vitae") through the lens of Thomistic moral theology, defining it, exploring its subjective and objective dimensions, and distinguishing it from related concepts like sloth (acedia).

This lecture was given on September 7th, 2024, at Dominican House of Studies.

For more information on upcoming events, visit us at thomisticinstitute.org/upcoming-events.

About the Speaker:

Dr. Clem's research interests include the thought of Thomas Aquinas, the Anglican intellectual tradition, virtue ethics, health care ethics, and the intersection of religion and morality. Before joining the faculty at Aquinas Institute, he was Visiting Assistant Professor of Theology at Valparaiso University. He is a priest in The Episcopal Church.

Dr. Clem is a member of the Anglican - Roman Catholic International Commission (ARCIC) and serves on the Board of Trustees of the Anglican Theological Review and The Living Church Foundation.

Keywords: Acedia, Boredom, Emotions, Moral Theology, Passions, Sloth, Taedium Vitae, Virtue

Transcript

Click on a timestamp to play from that location

0:00.0	Did you know the Timistic Institute offers two full-ride scholarships for the
0:03.8	Masters in Theology at the Dominican House of Studies in Washington, D.C.?
0:07.8	If you or someone you know has a passion for the Catholic intellectual tradition, especially
0:12.5	the thought of St. Thomas Aquinas, this could be the opportunity of a lifetime.
0:16.9	Visit tamistic institute.org slash ma-dolarships to learn more and apply today.
0:22.5	This is a competitive scholarship. To be considered, please apply for the 2025-26 academic year
0:27.9	by January 28, 2025, the feast of St. Thomas Aquinas.
0:32.5	That's tomistic institute.org slash MA-S scholarships.
0:39.9	Welcome to the Tomistic Institute.org slash m a dash scholarships. Welcome to the Thomistic Institute podcast.
0:42.8	Our mission is to promote the Catholic intellectual tradition in the university, the church,
0:47.4	and the wider public square.
0:49.1	The lectures on this podcast are organized by university students at Temistic Institute
0:53.7	chapters around the world.
0:55.6	To learn more and to attend these events, visit us at to mystic institute.org.
1:00.9	I'm really going out on a limb here. We just heard a delightful talk on wonder and awe.
1:07.6	Now it's the middle of the afternoon on a Saturday. It's the last talk of the conference, and I'm talking about boredom, so the stakes are high. I'm sure the name Timothy Radcliffe is a familiar name to many of you. Father Radcliffe was previously the master of the order of preachers.
1:30.8	Those of you who have read his book, Why Go to Church,
1:33.8	may remember that it opens with the following anecdote.
1:37.2	One Sunday, a mother shook her son awake,
1:39.6	telling him it was time to go to church.
1:42.3	No effect.
1:43.6	Ten minutes later, she was back. Get out of bed immediately
	...

Please login to see the full transcript.

Previous episode | Next episode

Disclaimer: The podcast and artwork embedded on this page are from The Thomistic Institute, and are the property of its owner and not affiliated with or endorsed by Tapesearch.

Generated transcripts are the property of The Thomistic Institute and are distributed freely under the Fair Use doctrine. Transcripts generated by Tapesearch are not guaranteed to be accurate.