Artificial Intelligence in a Thomistic Key
22nd January: 5:00 pm - 6:30 pm GMT
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 for contemporary reflection on artificial intelligence. Drawing on Thomas Aquinas and modern Neo-Thomist interlocutors such as Stanley Jaki, OSB, it considers ontological questions concerning the nature of AI, anthropological questions regarding its relation to human intelligence and agency, and ethical questions surrounding its design, use, and governance. It further situates these reflections within the horizon of Catholic Social Teaching, highlighting its resources for evaluating the societal implications of emerging AI technologies.
Joseph R. Laracy (S.T.D. Pontifical Gregorian University) is a priest of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Newark and serves as associate professor and chairman of the Department of Systematic Theology at Seton Hall University, New Jersey, USA. He is also affiliated with the Seton Hall Department of Mathematics and Computer Science, the Program in Catholic Studies, the University Core Curriculum, and the University Honors Program. Father Laracy is the author of Theology and Science in the Thought of Ian Barbour: A Thomistic Evaluation for the Catholic Doctrine of Creation (Peter Lang, 2021) and the co-editor with Paul Haffner of 2015 Stanley Jaki International Congress (Gracewing, 2020). He is currently on a research sabbatical with the Faculty of Theology and Blackfriars Hall at Oxford University.
This event is part of this term’s lecture series, Thursdays at 5pm unless otherwise noted, presenting the breadth of Thomistic thought and its applications. Open to all, no registration required.
upcoming events in this series
Wk 2 Liam McDonnell (Blackfriars), ‘On Studying Aquinas in an Aquinas-like Manner’
Wednesday Wk 3 Fr Michael Sherwin OP (Angelicum), ‘Nietzche or St Thomas: Thoughts on Alasdair MacIntyre’
Wk 5 Jan Bentz (Blackfriars), ‘Aquinas and the Real Distinction: Historical-Philosophical Notes’
Wk 6 Jack Norman (Blackfriars), ‘McCabe’s Social Ontology: Sin, Sacraments, and the New Left’
Wk 8 Fr Richard Conrad OP (Blackfriars), ‘“Faith Believes, nor Questions How”: St Thomas on How (Not) to Understand the Eucharist’
Venue: Blackfriars Hall -
St Giles
Oxford,
OX1 3LY
United Kingdom
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Contact:
Aquinas Institute
aquinas@bfriars.ox.ac.uk