A polemic on why the lukewarm “center” cannot hold. There is an episode of the sitcom Parks and Recreation featuring a cult that named themselves “the Reasonabilists”.[1]  The cult worships “Zorp, the giant lizard god who will destroy the earth with his cleansing fire of judgment.”  When asked why the cultists call themselves “the Reasonabilists”, Amy Poehler’s character answers, “Well, they figure if people criticize them, it’ll seem like they’re attacking something very reasonable.”  As Adam Scott’s character remarks, “that’s weirdly brilliant”; if one may package their beliefs in the right way, it almost does not matter how absurd, ridiculous, or antithetical to reason they are—especially if they can be made to seem reasonable, or even as though those beliefs are the grounds of reason itself.

Dr. Brian Kemple of the Lyceum Institute joins Anthony Alberino for a discussion on digital technology and its relation to the human soul. Together they reflect philosophically on: the way to resist the malformation of the human soul in the digital age the nature of technology the way in which technology psychologically attunes and structures us the prevalence of conspiratorial thinking in the digital environment…

In this conversation, Dr. Jacob Joseph Andrews discusses his journey into the intellectual life, emphasizing the importance of personal development, moral formation, and the role of classical education. He highlights the significance of language study, particularly Latin, in understanding culture and fostering intellectual habits. Andrews also reflects on the value of specialized study and the necessity of cultivating intellectual habits across different educational environments.

A Philosophical Happy Hour on Jacques Ellul’s “Meditation on Inutility”, challenging us to think about the uselessness of human action. For this week’s Philosophical Happy Hour, we will take up a specific short text to read and discuss: the postscript to Jacques Ellul’s Politics of God and Politics of Man, titled “a meditation on inutility”.  You may find this…

In addition to our reprints, the Lyceum Institute also publishes original works intended to continue and advance the intellectual inheritance of the tradition. These works will grow to comprise a wide range of studies, with focus on the trivium, philosophy, and more.

I would like to draw attention to two episodes of the American Maritain Association’s podcast, Maritain Musings, hosted by our own Dr. Matthew Minerd. The first features friend of the Lyceum Institute, Dr. Jim Jacobs, Director of Philosophy Programs at Notre Dame Seminary in New Orleans, Louisiana. Together with Dr. Minerd, Dr. Jacobs discusses the relationship between church and state in Maritain’s work, …

Dr. Kanzelberger discusses a diverse intellectual life, shaped by love of music, literature, science, & philosophy—bound through the study of signs.

A Philosophical Happy Hour on distinctions, the doctrine of their kinds, and the importance making them correctly.

Listen to Dr. Kirk Kanzelberger as he relates his intellectual journey through life—the continuous thread of learning—from young tragedy and early literacy, through music, moral formation through the literature of Tolkien, work in science, technology, semiotics, philosophy, and more. An enlightening and moving conversation that sheds great light on what it means to pursue knowledge and wisdom. 00:00 – The Journey into Intellectual Life…

The Lyceum Institute provides a digital environment dedicated to fostering the philosophical habit–of questioning the truth of things and the good of life–in...

A Philosophical Happy Hour on distinctions, the doctrine of their kinds, and the importance making them correctly. The failure to make good distinctions characterizes the stupidity of our age.  Observe the social networks and see how few distinctions are proposed, how unquestioning the categories, how obstinate every adherent to his or her ideology!  How many relationships are ruined or concepts muddled because someone refuses to make—or acknowledge—a distinction?  

In this conversation, Adam Pugen explores how new technologies amplify aspects of the human psyche, particularly focusing on the differences between auditory and visual cultures. He discusses how these sensory modalities shape our experiences and perceptions in distinct ways—and the need for media literacy, the changes between television and digital, the thinking of Marshall McLuhan, and a phenomenology of technological environments.

A Philosophical Happy Hour on... whatever! The fourth installment in our Felictates de Quodlibet series for 2025, in which we talk about whatever we want, so long as it is interesting, and for as long as we are interested. Or, to put this otherwise: do you have a philosophical question—any question whatsoever—you want seriously to discuss with other people? In the Scholastic university, renowned thinkers would regularly engage in open debate on questions posed by other scholars or students at the institution.

In this conversation, Francisco Plaza shares his journey into the intellectual life, influenced by his experiences moving from the US to Venezuela. He discusses the current state of education, the importance of classical education, and the role of political philosophy in understanding justice and order. Plaza emphasizes the need for a hierarchy of values in education, the interplay between education and politics, and the importance of cultivating intellectual habits in students.