Aquinas Institute, Oxford

21/05/2026

MacIntyre in the Conflicts of Modernity

Thursday & Friday, June 11-12, 2026

The Aquinas Institute are co-sponsoring a conference with the Canterbury Institute, and The Centre for Theology, Law, and Culture at Pusey House, on 11 and 12 June at Campion Hall, Christ Church, and Pusey House.

Speakers include: Professor Jason Blakely, Pepperdine; Dr Dominic Burbidge, Regent’s Park; Professor David Cloutier, Notre Dame; Professor John Cottingham, Reading; Dr Daniel De Haan, Blackfriars & Campion; Professor Anne Jeffrey, Baylor; Professor Christopher Kaczor, Loyola; Andreas Masvie, Christ Church; Professor Melissa Moschella, Notre Dame; Professor Stephen Mulhall, New College; Professor Mark C. Murphy, Georgetown; Professor Tracey Rowland, Notre Dame, Australia.

https://www.bfriars.ox.ac.uk/event/macintyre-in-the-conflicts-of-modernity/

17/05/2026

"Christian Life Beyond Virtue: Aquinas on the Gifts of the Holy Spirit"

John Berkman, University of Toronto and Visiting Fellow at Campion Hall.

19th May: 4:00 pm - 5:00 pm BST
Aula, Blackfriars Hall

John Berkman, University of Toronto and Visiting Fellow at Campion Hall, will deliver this lecture at 4pm, Tuesday the 19th of May.

Dr Nicholas Austin SJ, Campion, will respond.

The event is free and open to everyone, no registration is required.

https://www.bfriars.ox.ac.uk/event/christian-life-beyond-virtue-aquinas-on-the-gifts-of-the-holy-spirit/

06/05/2026

Annual Aquinas Lecture

Professor John Cottingham

Can “Existence Itself” be Personal? Interpreting Aquinas’s God

Thursday the 7th of May (Week 2 TT), at 4pm
Aula, Blackfriars Hall

Can “Existence Itself” be Personal? Interpreting Aquinas’s God This year’s Annual Aquinas Lecture will be given by John Cottingham (Prof Emeritus, Reading; Hon Fellow, John’s Oxford) Thursday the 7th of May...

06/03/2026

Next week Dean Zimmerman will be giving a talk at Blackfriars Hall,

Wednesday, March 11, from 3:00-4:45
Aula, Blackfriars Hall

"Divine Bootstrapping: Do Abstract Objects Lead to Atheism"

Realism about a certain kind of “abstract object”, namely, universals or properties, has been thought to pose a problem for theism. To be a realist about universals or properties is just to believe that they exist. First, I talk about two different kinds of reason to believe in them, which lead to two different roles they are supposed to play. For the sake of argument, I’ll assume they’re both good reasons. Does realism about universals lead to a problem for theism — for a certain specific kind of theism, one that says only God exists “a se”, not dependent upon anything? We’ll look at two arguments that say there would be a bad kind of circle of dependence. Paying attention to the two roles universals are supposed to play will show that the two arguments fail, for two different reasons. The arguments were developed before the relatively recent growth of the “grounding” literature; but they have to do with inadmissible grounding structure; so I’ll be connecting these debates, which make use of notions of priority, to the metaphysics of grounds.

Sponsored by the Aquinas Institute and Humane Philosophy Project

25/02/2026

Upcoming Aquinas Institute conference sponsored by the Thomistic Institute, Oxford and hosted by Campion Hall.

The Virtues as Sources of Moral Guidance
March 9th and 10th
Featured Speakers:

Gabriele De Anna | Roger Teichmann | Terence Irwin | John Cottingham | Sr. Blandine Lagrut | Roger Pouivet | Fr. Nicholas Austin | Daniel De Haan | Richard Kim

Details and schedule in the link below

https://www.bfriars.ox.ac.uk/event/the-virtues-as-sources-of-moral-guidance/

https://thomisticinstitute.org/events/the-virtues-as-sources-of-moral-guidance

A conference discussing the virtues and their role in guiding morality.

21/02/2026

Online International Thomistic congress Monday-Wednesday, February 23–25, 2026 | 2 p.m.–10 p.m. (UTC)

For three days, professors and researchers from North America, Latin America, and Europe will discuss and delve into the philosophy and theology of Thomas Aquinas, offering a broad panel on what is being studied worldwide regarding this inexhaustible author. It is an exceptional occasion for exchang...

22/01/2026

Join us for the Aquinas Institute's first early evening lecture this Hilary Term, 2026 from 5-6pm in the Aula, Blackfriars Hall.

Fr Joseph Laracy (Seton Hall University) will deliever a lecture entitled: 'Ontological, Anthropological, and Ethical Reflections on Artificial Intelligence in a Thomistic Key'

Fr Joseph LaracY (Seton Hall University), ‘Ontological, Anthropological, and Ethical Reflections on Artificial Intelligence in a Thomistic Key’ This lecture offers a Thomistic retrieval of perennial metaphysical and moral insights...

16/01/2026

Aquinas Institute term card for Hilary Term, 2026

For more information, follow the QR codes or check out the webpage.

https://www.bfriars.ox.ac.uk/research/the-aquinas-institute/current-activities/

22/12/2025

Please share with doctoral students in theology and philosophy.

Additional information below. This additional information will be posted on the Aquinas Institute webpage in the new year.

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Aquinas Summer Seminar
Thomas Aquinas on the Trinity (June 1–4, 2026)

The Aquinas Institute at Blackfriars Hall, Oxford University is pleased to announce a call for applicants for the Aquinas Summer Seminar on the theme of trinitarian theology in St Thomas Aquinas. The event will run from Monday morning of June 1st, through Thursday evening of June 4th, 2026.

We invite applications from doctoral students and recent Ph.D. graduates for this exciting event.

Successful applicants (whether from within the UK or internationally) will have their meals and accommodation covered during their residential stay in Oxford, and travel costs up to $1000 can be reimbursed by students without institutional support.

Participants will arrive in Oxford on Sunday, May 31, and depart on Friday, June 5.

The focus of the seminar will be St Thomas Aquinas’s treatise on the Trinity from the Summa theologiae I, qq. 27-43. The seminar also aims to engage questions and challenges from contemporary Trinitarian theology.

Participants will be expected to have read the whole of Summa theologiae I, qq. 27-43. before coming to Oxford for the summer seminar.

After successful applicants have been notified and have confirmed their attendance, each participant will be assigned a different question from ST I.27-43, which they will need to prepare ahead of time for a seminar presentation.

The seminar will be led by distinguished scholars:

• Rector Magnificus, Fr. Thomas Joseph White, O.P. (Angelicum)
• Prof. Bruce Marshall (Southern Methodist University)
• Prof. Daniel Gordon (Ave Maria University)

Applications are welcomed from doctoral students in UK and international programmes (as well as those who have recently completed doctoral studies in the 2024-2025 academic year). Successful applicants will be working in theology and philosophy, or adjacent disciplines (such as the study of religion or biblical studies), but need not be specialising in the thought of Aquinas or focusing on Trinitarian theology.

Application by CV, covering letter, and one letter of reference to [email protected]
by February 15, 2026.

23/11/2025

Professor Jason Eberl.
Thomism and Transhumanism: Can Biotechnology enhance Human Flourishing?

Tuesday, 25 November 5pm
Blackfriars Hall – Aula

Lecture Series The Aquinas Institute visiting fellow Professor Jason Eberl, Saint Louis University, will deliver three lectures at the Institute this term. What is the True Death of a Human...