We are all looking for answers on how to act and live to be fulfilled and happy. There is perhaps no more important and practical question. But the answers vary. The most common answer is to be true to oneself and to act the way one feels. But is that true? Ancient and medieval Christian wisdom has a different and, at first glance, somewhat dry answer: one should always act first and foremost sensibly. Rationality must be learned.
Gregory Pine, who is a rising star in contemporary Dominican theology, will argue in his lecture that rationality (Lat. prudentia) is the most important virtue needed for a fulfilled and happy life, even in the 21st century. Only a prudent person can use freedom creatively and not cling to false certainties. The virtue of rationality is also a remedy for the fragility of identity, as it enables one to live courageously and make confident choices. Pine, also known from the Pints with Aquinas podcast, is an excellent speaker who can bring great philosophical and theological truths to non-academic audiences, especially young people and students, in an engaging and often humorous way.
Father Gregory Maria Pine is a Dominican friar who actively spreads the teaching of St. Thomas Aquinas through the podcasts Pints with Aquinas and Godsplaining. In his latest book, Prudence: Choose Confidently, Live Boldly, he discusses prudence as the chief virtue that brings to one's life order, integrity, happiness, and freedom. Father Gregory studied at the University of Steubenville and the Dominican House of Studies. He is currently pursuing a doctorate in dogmatic theology at the University of Fribourg (Switzerland). In the past, he worked with students at the Thomistic Institute as an assistant director.
Jakub studied International Relations and Political Economy at the Università di Bologna, later Philosophy at KU Leuven and is currently completing his PhD in Philosophy (Meta-Ethics) at the University of Durham, where he is looking at the links between the philosophies of G.E.M Anscombe and Bernard Williams. In the summer of 2018, he founded the podcast Pravidelna davka (Regular Dose) and later co-founded the podcast Kvantum ideí (Quantum of Ideas).
