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Curated playlist

Catholic philosophers

  • Thomas AquinasThomas Aquinas's family held him prisoner for nearly a year. At nineteen he chose to join the Dominican preachers.
  • Luis de MolinaHow can God know the future without taking away human freedom? Jesuit Luis de Molina proposed middle knowledge.
  • Dante AlighieriDante was condemned to exile from Florence and threatened with burning at the stake.
  • Augustine of HippoAugustine of Hippo once prayed, "Grant me chastity and continence, but not yet."
  • Pope John Paul IIPope John Paul II visited the man who shot him in 1981 and called him a brother.
  • René DescartesRené Descartes had three dreams in a heated room in 1619. He believed they revealed a new philosophy to him.
  • Clement of AlexandriaClement of Alexandria argued that Greek philosophy prepared the way for the Gospel.
  • Gregory of NyssaGregory of Nyssa, a fourth-century bishop, argued that slavery itself was sinful.
  • Gregory of NazianzusGregory of Nazianzus offered to be thrown overboard like Jonah. He told a council of 150 bishops in 381 to seize him.
  • Pope Benedict XVIPope Benedict XVI was born Joseph Alois Ratzinger on Holy Saturday, the 16th of April 1927, and was baptised the same day. For years as a cardinal, he said what he wanted most was a quiet life in his house in Pentling, a Bavarian village…
  • Teresa of ÁvilaAt age seven, Teresa of Ávila ran away to seek martyrdom fighting the Moors.
  • Thomas MoreThomas More taught his daughters Greek when almost no one did. He also approved burning heretics.
  • ErasmusErasmus, born to a priest and orphaned by plague, became the most read author of his age.
  • Leon Battista AlbertiAt twenty, Leon Battista Alberti wrote a comedy that fooled a famous printer.
  • Blaise PascalBlaise Pascal rediscovered geometry on a tile floor as a boy. His father had tried to keep math from him.
  • Gabriel MarcelGabriel Marcel wrote at least thirty plays, but readers kept turning to his philosophy.
  • Frederick CoplestonWorld War II closed Frederick Copleston's path to a Rome doctorate. He taught at Heythrop instead.
  • Giovanni Pico della MirandolaAt 23, Giovanni Pico della Mirandola offered to pay any scholar's way to Rome to debate his 900 theses.

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