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FALL 2023 EVENTS

  • Nov 16, 2023, 12:00 PM – 1:30 PM
    Rowling Hall (Room 4.314), 300 W Martin Luther King Jr Blvd, Austin, TX 78705, USA
    Among the Catholic political thinkers of the 20th century, Augusto Del Noce stood out for his ability to trace the deep theological and philosophical roots of modern politics. In this talk, his English translator will discuss Del Noce's analysis of the rise of modern totalitarian movements...
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  • Oct 19, 2023, 4:00 PM – 7:00 PM
    Texas Public Policy Foundation, 901 Congress Ave., Austin, TX 78701, USA
    For the past 10 years, the Austin institute and its fellows have answered the same questions and relentlessly and bravely defended the eternal truths of human nature and of the family from the attacks of modern culture. Join us and our fellows in discussing the next 10 years!
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  • Oct 09, 2023, 7:00 PM – 9:00 PM
    Stumberg Hall, 3206 Fairfax Walk, Austin, TX 78705, USA
    What's the big deal about divorce? Why should we read and talk about it when everyone around us seems to be fine with it? The truth is: no matter what our family background, our age, or our state in life is, we all need to rediscover the immense impact that family life has on us and on our culture.
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  • Oct 04, 2023, 7:00 AM – 9:00 AM
    Stumberg Hall, 3206 Fairfax Walk, Austin, TX 78705, USA
    Bagels, coffee, and male-only discussions on what matters most. Once a month, attendees will have the chance to read and talk about issues and challenges that the men of today are facing and that too often remain undisclosed: for fear of judgment or misunderstanding.
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  • Sep 27, 2023, 7:00 PM – Dec 31, 2023, 9:00 PM
    Stumberg Hall, 3206 Fairfax Walk, Austin, TX 78705, USA
    This program is reserved for UT graduate students (and spouses) and is structured as a series of conversations around a dinner table. Dinner is provided, but prior registration is required. One or two short articles --our conversations starters--will be sent beforehand.
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  • Sep 21, 2023, 7:00 PM
    Stumberg Hall or Zoom, 3206 Fairfax Walk, Austin, TX 78705, USA
    This coming fall, we are starting a new Good Life Reading Group + (Level 2). It will be open to all individuals above forty --or younger, but who do not feel they are "young professionals" anymore. Our first meeting will be in September and then continue every other week.
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What Is Prudence, and How Can I Get It?

Tue, Sep 29

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Stumberg Hall

Join Professor J. Budziszewski in a seminar series on prudence. Prudence is practical wisdom. It isn’t the same as being smart–you could be smart and not have it. Our readings will be drawn from the "Summa" of St. Thomas Aquinas, one of the two or three wisest teachers about the subject in history.

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What Is Prudence, and How Can I Get It?
What Is Prudence, and How Can I Get It?

Time & Location

Sep 29, 2020, 7:00 PM – Oct 13, 2020, 8:30 PM

Stumberg Hall, 3206 Fairfax Walk, Austin, TX 78705, USA

About The Event

Prudence is practical wisdom.  It isn’t the same as being smart – you could be smart and not have it.  So what is it?  What is its “anatomy?”  How do we acquire it?  How is it related to the other virtues?  And how is it related to happiness?  Our readings will be drawn from the Summa of St. Thomas Aquinas, one of the two or three wisest teachers about the subject in history.

Week 1: The anatomy of the virtues in general, and of prudence in particular.

Week 2: How the virtues in general are acquired; how prudence is acquired; the interdependence of the virtues, and how their interdependence affects their acquisition.

Week 3: “Ordinary” and ‘infused” prudence; prudence and the other virtues in relation to “imperfect” and “perfect” happiness.

About our scholar:

J. Budziszewski

Professor of Government and Philosophy, University of Texas at Austin

J. Budziszewski (Ph.D. Yale, 1981) is a professor of government and philosophy at the University of Texas at Austin. His main area of research is the natural moral law, in which he is best known for his work on moral self-deception – on what happens when we tell ourselves that we don't know what we really do know. Among his other research interests are moral character, family and sexuality, religion and public life, toleration and liberty, and the unraveling of our common culture.

Budziszewski tries to compose his scholarly work in such a way that it is accessible to general readers, and his work for general readers in such a way that it offers something to scholars. Representative of his books in the former category are Commentary on Thomas Aquinas's Treatise on Law and Commentary on Thomas Aquinas’s Virtue Ethics (Cambridge), as well as The Line Through the Heart: Natural Law as Fact, Theory, and Sign of Contradiction (ISI Books).

Representative of those in the latter category are What We Can’t Not Know: A Guide(Ignatius) and On the Meaning of Sex (ISI Books). Presently he is writing a book about happiness and ultimate purpose.

About this year's theme for our programs:

Prudence: a Word, a Virtue, a Theme

This year, following the requests of our students, the Austin Institute has developed its academic programming around a common theme that will unify the activities of the semester.

The focus of our fall programming is on the most underestimated and yet most needed virtue of prudence.

Prudence will also guide our practical choices for our programs. All in-person and/or online programming conform to current health guidelines. We want to keep everyone safe while providing program opportunities during this pandemic.

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