Why Becoming More Philosophical is a Good Idea I Prof. Michael Gorman

The Thomistic Institute

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

4.8 • 729 Ratings

🗓️ 11 September 2025

⏱️ 44 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

Prof. Michael Gorman demonstrates why becoming more philosophical is essential for intellectual autonomy and deeper understanding, emphasizing the importance of fundamental questioning, sustained attention, and personal intellectual effort over dependence on artificial intelligence.

This lecture was given on June 27th, 2025, at Dominican House of Studies.

Secular campuses are being transformed, but the students need your help! Your gift before September fifteenth can launch a new TI chapter and change lives. Visit thomisticinstitute.org/bts25podcast to give today!

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

About the Speakers:

Michael Gorman is Professor of Philosophy at The Catholic University of America in Washington, D.C. He has doctorates in philosophy and theology, and his work covers both areas, with a special emphasis on metaphysical themes. He is the author of over thirty-five scholarly articles, a book entitled Aquinas on the Metaphysics of the Hypostatic Union (Cambridge University Press, 2017), and a book that will appear in the spring of 2024 entitled A Contemporary Introduction to Thomistic Metaphysics (The Catholic University of America Press, 2024).

Keywords: Artificial Intelligence, Attention, Autonomy, Critical Thinking, Digital Minimalism, Education, Intellectual Virtue, Philosophy of Science, Revelation, Technology and Learning

Transcript

Click on a timestamp to play from that location

0:00.0	Secular campuses are being transformed, but the students need your help.
0:03.6	Last year, students at 41 secular universities asked to start TI chapters.
0:08.6	Only 10 can be funded. The rest are still waiting.
0:11.5	Please, give a student a yes they've been praying for.
0:14.6	They're ready, but they can't share the truth without you.
0:17.5	Your gift before September 15th can launch a new TI chapter and change lives. Go to
0:22.8	to temistic institute.org slash donate or use the link in this episode to give today.
0:31.1	Welcome to the Timistic Institute podcast. Our mission is to promote the Catholic intellectual
0:36.3	tradition in the university, the church, and the wider public square.
0:40.3	The lectures on this podcast are organized by university students at Thomistic Institute chapters around the world.
0:46.7	To learn more and to attend these events, visit us at Thomisticinstitute.org.
0:52.4	I don't know whether you got the title of this talk, but it's why becoming
0:55.8	more philosophical is a good idea with remarks on a pair of non-obvious prerequisites to
1:03.2	becoming philosophical. So what I'm going to do is I'm going to talk about what philosophy is
1:09.1	and why you want to be more philosophical
1:15.6	or why you should, but you do, I think.
1:20.6	And then at the end I'll talk about two prerequisites, and I'll try to keep it moving
1:25.6	so we have plenty of time to talk amongst ourselves.
1:29.9	So first, what philosophy is. What I'm going to say is that philosophy is the use of un-aided reason
1:39.0	or natural reason to ask and answer fundamental questions.
1:45.5	Okay?
1:45.9	So it's unaided reason or same thing, natural reason,
	...

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.