The Thomistic Institute

Mahon McCann argues that the real AI apocalypse already happened when social media and platform algorithms took over human judgment, reshaping what we see, think, and do through an attention economy that quietly downgrades our humanity.

This lecture was given on April 11th, 2026, at University of Maynooth.

Apply for the Thomistic Institute Study Abroad program by August 1, 2026. To learn more, visit https://thomisticinstitute.org/study-abroad.

About the Speaker:

Mahon McCann is an Irish philosophy lecturer and PhD researcher based in Dublin. He holds a BA in Philosophy & Economics from University College Dublin and an MA in English from Queen’s University Belfast. In 2022, he was awarded the DCU School of Theology, Philosophy, and Music Scholarship for his research on the attention economy, particularly how social media companies' commodification of user attention shapes their moral character. His academic research is at the intersection of modern cognitive science, ancient virtue ethics and transformative technologies. Outside of academia, he is involved in public philosophy communication and hosts a popular podcast, which has ranked in the top ten for self-improvement and education in Ireland, on the meaning crisis in the West.

Keywords: AI apocalypse, attention economy, social media, algorithms, human judgment, cognitive decline, human agency, digital ethics, platform power, technological formation

Fr. Ezra Sullivan examines artificial intelligence through a theological lens, showing why AI may imitate personhood and judgment, but cannot replace the human capacity for truth, freedom, and communion with God.

This lecture was given on April 11th, 2026, at University of Maynooth.

Apply for the Thomistic Institute Study Abroad program by August 1, 2026. To learn more, visit https://thomisticinstitute.org/study-abroad.

About the Speaker:

Fr. Ezra Sullivan, is a Dominican friar of the Province of St Joseph (USA), with a Doctorate in Sacred Theology and a License in Canon Law. He is currently the Director of the Institute of Spirituality at the University of St. Thomas Aquinas in Rome (Angelicum), where he has taught as professor of Moral Theology and Psychology for eight years. He is occasionally seen on Catholic television, or heard on Catholic radio, and he has preached parish missions and priestly retreats in over twenty countries around the world. Scholarly articles cover bioethics, artificial intelligence, moral theology, and ecclesiastical history. He is the author of various books, such as Habits and Holiness: Ethics, Theology, and Biopsychology (CUA Press 2020), and Alter Christus: Priestly Holiness in Time and Eternity (Sophia Institute Press, 2022). His next book is Yoga: A Theological Investigation (Catholic University of America Press, 2026).

Keywords: Agency, Artificial Intelligence, Flatterer, Golem, Human Intelligence, Imago Dei, Technology, Theological Anthropology, Truth, Utility

Dr. Robert McNamara examines what remains distinctively human in the age of AI, arguing that while artificial intelligence can process and predict with remarkable speed, it cannot replace human understanding, freedom, or wisdom.

This lecture was given on April 11th, 2026, at University of Maynooth.

Apply for the Thomistic Institute Study Abroad program by August 1, 2026. To learn more, visit https://thomisticinstitute.org/study-abroad.

About the Speaker:

Dr. Robert McNamara is lecturer in philosophy and department head at St. Patrick’s Pontifical University, Ireland, adjunct professor of philosophy at Franciscan University of Steubenville, USA, while also tutoring periodically at the ITI Catholic University, Austria, and the Maryvale Institute, England. Robert is an associate series editor of Edith Stein Studies, an associate scholar of the Hildebrand Project, a research fellow at the Institute for the Study of Man and Woman, and a founding member of the Aquinas Institute of Ireland (currently suspended). Having studied physics, computing, philosophy, and theology, Robert brings a multidisciplinary approach to his work while exploring anthropological and metaphysical themes in ancient, medieval, and phenomenological thinkers, with a defined focus on philosophical personalism in the Christian tradition. He currently resides in Carlow, Ireland, with his wife, Caroline, and their five children.

Keywords: AI, Deep Learning, Edith Stein, Human Intelligence, Knowledge, Natural Language, Thomas Aquinas, Truth, Wisdom

Fr. Andrew Hofer, O.P. argues that the Holy Spirit is the real power behind evangelization, showing how Mary, the apostles, and every Christian become instruments of God’s mission through grace, witness, and prayer.

This lecture was given on December 13th, 2026, at Dominican House of Studies.

Apply for the Thomistic Institute Study Abroad program by August 1, 2026. To learn more, visit https://thomisticinstitute.org/study-abroad.

About the Speaker:

Fr. Andrew Hofer, O.P., (Ph.D. Notre Dame) is professor of patristics and ancient languages at the Pontifical Faculty of the Dominican House of Studies where he serves as the director of the doctoral program. He authored Christ in the Life and Teaching of Gregory of Nazianzus (Oxford University Press, 2013) and The Power of Patristic Preaching: The Word in Our Flesh (Catholic University of America, 2023). He co-authored A Living Sacrifice: Guidance for Men Discerning Religious Life (Vianney Vocations, 2019). Editor-in-chief of the academic journal The Thomist, Hofer is editor or co-editor of several volumes including The Oxford Handbook of Deification, The Cambridge Companion to Augustine's Sermons, and Thomas Aquinas and the Greek Fathers. He enjoys speaking with students about their theological and spiritual questions.

Keywords: Apostles, Charity, Confirmation, Evangelization, Holy Spirit, Intercession, Mary, Pentecost, Preaching, Sacraments

Fr. Irenaeus Dunlevy shows how evangelization works by grace from the inside out, arguing that its deepest “form” is the contemplative, witness-filled communication of Christ that moves others to faith.

This lecture was given on December 13th, 2025, at Dominican House of Studies.

Apply for the Thomistic Institute Study Abroad program by August 1, 2026. To learn more, visit https://thomisticinstitute.org/study-abroad.

About the Speaker:

Fr. Irenaeus Dunlevy, OP is a Coordinator for Campus Outreach at the Thomistic Institute in Washington, DC. He has served as a parochial vicar at St. Pius V Church in Providence, RI, as well as an adjunct professor and assistant chaplain at Providence College. He originates from Columbus, OH, studied architecture in Virginia and Switzerland, and practiced in the DC area before entering the Order of Preachers in 2013. He was ordained a priest in 2020 at the Dominican House of Studies during the quarantine. In his work with the Thomistic Institute, he has given talks on the virtue of penance, loving God with the mind, and the intersection of theology and architecture. He often travels the country visiting Thomistic Institute Campus Chapters, leading seminars that help students grasp Thomistic concepts. Additionally, he coordinates the TI's intellectual retreat programming, which affords students time to pray and integrate into their lives Thomistic theology and philosophy.

Keywords: Aquinas, Blessed Virgin Mary, Christ, Contemplation, Evangelization, Formal Cause, Grace Of The Word, Holy Spirit, Sacred Doctrine, Witness