Abraham Lincoln is remembered for some of the greatest speeches in American history. But what made them so powerful? In this episode of Th e TAC Podcast, John Finley and Chris Decaen explore Lincoln's greatest public addresses, including the Cooper Union Address, the Gettysburg Address, and the First and Second Inaugural Addresses, to uncover the principles that made him one of America's greatest statesmen. Rather than relying on empty rhetoric, Lincoln sought to persuade through reason, history, Scripture, and an appeal to the highest aspirations of the human person. His speeches reveal a remarkable combination of moral clarity, political prudence, and profound charity toward both allies and opponents. Together, our hosts discuss: • Why Lincoln remains one of history's greatest political speakers • The relationship between rhetoric, persuasion, and statesmanship • Lincoln's understanding of slavery, the Union, and the Declaration of Independence • The theological themes woven throughout the Gettysburg Address and Second Inaugural • What Lincoln's speeches can still teach us about leadership in times of national division Whether you're interested in American history, political philosophy, the Civil War, or the Great Books tradition, Lincoln's words continue to offer enduring lessons in truth, leadership, and the pursuit of the common good. Learn more about Thomas Aquinas College: https://www.thomasaquinas.edu #AbrahamLincoln #GettysburgAddress #CivilWar #AmericanHistory #GreatBooks #PoliticalPhilosophy #Statesmanship #thomasaquinascollege

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00:00 – Introduction: The Truthful Cause of the War Setting the stage for the Civil War discussion, focusing on the preservation of the Union and the non-negotiable issue of slavery.

00:38 – Overview: Lincoln's Great Civil War Speeches Introducing the key texts: The Cooper Union address, the first and second inaugurals, and the Gettysburg Address.

01:30 – The Genius of Lincoln's Compact Rhetoric Discussing how Lincoln addressed momentous issues like slavery and secession in a brief yet powerful manner to win hearts and minds.

03:40 – Rhetoric as the Art of Persuasion A look at how Lincoln used reason and pleading—rather than force—to engage the South and address their anxieties.

05:58 – The Cooper Union Address: A President in Waiting Analyzing the 1860 speech where Lincoln established himself as a national leader by appealing to the Founders' views on slavery.

07:58 – Biblical Appeals and Moral Authority How Lincoln used shared cultural and religious traditions to connect with his audience and argue against the morality of slavery.

09:53 – Addressing the South's Conscience Lincoln's nuanced approach: acknowledging the North's moral stance while promising not to "smother" the institution where it already existed.

12:13 – Prudence vs. Principle Exploring Lincoln's rare ability to combine high moral truth with a sound sense of practical feasibility and realism.

14:07 – The Stance Toward the Listener How Lincoln's "manly yet sympathetic" tone served to prick the conscience of his detractors.

16:50 – The Lawyerly Logic of Lincoln Breaking down Lincoln's close textual readings of founding documents to prove federal jurisdiction over slavery in the territories.

17:58 – The Highwayman Analogy A forceful illustration from the Cooper Union address regarding the South's threat of secession as a "holdup" of the Union.

19:48 – The Gettysburg Address: A Temporal Sweep Analyzing the three-paragraph masterpiece that connects the nation's past, present, and future in just over two minutes.

22:50 – A New Birth of Freedom Discussing the "American Experiment" and the world-historical significance of ensuring a government "for the people" does not perish.

24:42 – Honoring the Dead Through Continued Work The shift from grieving to rededication: how Lincoln framed the war as an "unfinished work" for the living to complete.

27:40 – Providential Justice in the Second Inaugural A deep dive into Lincoln's most theological speech, framing the war as a divine "scourge" for the offense of slavery.

32:14 – Malice Toward None, Charity for All The famous concluding vision for binding up the nation's wounds and achieving a lasting peace.

36:30 – The Commonality of North and South Reflecting on Lincoln's observation that both sides "read the same Bible and pray to the same God."

41:30 – The Logic Against Secession Lincoln's argument in the first inaugural that physical separation is impossible and secession sets a dangerous, fragmenting precedent.

47:24 – Conclusion: The Better Angels of Our Nature Reflecting on the famous closing of the first inaugural address and its enduring message of national friendship.

Why did Abraham Lincoln believe America could not endure half slave and half free? Why did Stephen Douglas insist that the nation should stop debating the morality of slavery altogether?

In this episode, TAC tutors John Finley and Chris Decaen examine the final two Lincoln-Douglas debates of 1858, the famous political contest that helped launch Lincoln onto the national stage just two years before his election to the presidency. Together, they explore the central questions that divided the candidates: slavery, states' rights, popular sovereignty, the Dred Scott decision, and the future of the American republic.

Far from being a mere political disagreement, the debates reveal a deeper conflict over whether slavery was simply a matter of local preference or a profound moral wrong. Lincoln presses Douglas on a question he struggles to answer: If slavery is wrong, can anyone have a right to it? Douglas, meanwhile, argues that preserving the Union requires leaving the issue to the states and avoiding national confrontation.

Along the way, John and Chris discuss:

• The Missouri Compromise and its collapse

• The Kansas-Nebraska Act and popular sovereignty

• The Dred Scott decision and its consequences

• Lincoln's understanding of natural rights and human equality

• Douglas's defense of states' rights

• Why the debates foreshadowed the coming Civil War

• The relationship between morality, law, and politics

The Lincoln-Douglas debates remain some of the most remarkable public arguments in American history. Their questions about justice, political authority, and the moral foundations of a free society remain as relevant today as they were in 1858.

Learn more about Thomas Aquinas College at https://www.thomasaquinas.edu

#LincolnDouglasDebates #AbrahamLincoln #StephenDouglas #CivilWar #AmericanHistory #Politics #StatesRights #Slavery #DredScott #ThomasAquinasCollege #GreatBooks #HistoryPodcast #PoliticalPhilosophy #Lincoln #UnitedStatesHistory #FirstPrinciples

For centuries, some of the greatest writers in the Western tradition have wrestled with a troubling question: What does evil actually look like? In this episode, join TAC tutors John Finley and Chris Decaen as they examine four unforgettable portrayals of the devil in literature: Dante's silent and defeated Satan, Milton's charismatic rebel in Paradise Lost, Dostoevsky's unsettling visitor in The Brothers Karamazov, and Shakespeare's master deceiver, Iago, in Othello. Along the way, they explore pride, envy, deception, despair, temptation, and the strange ways evil presents itself to the human soul. Why does Dante's Satan never speak? Why do readers often find Milton's Satan compelling? Is Dostoevsky's devil real, imagined, or something in between? And what makes Iago one of the most chilling villains ever written? Join us every week for a conversation about the literary imagination and what the great authors reveal about the human condition. Learn more about Thomas Aquinas College at https://www.thomasaquinas.edu

Is a liberal arts education a "luxury item" for the elite, or a necessary foundation for the human soul? In this episode of The TAC Podcast, host John Finley is joined by alumnus and tech veteran Nathan Haggard to tackle the modern objections to a Great Books education. From the "All-In" podcast's criticisms to Elon Musk's focus on first principles, we examine why the world's most successful technologists often miss the mark on what education is truly for. We discuss the "rigor" of the hard sciences within the liberal arts, why the internet can't replace a classroom, and why AI — no matter how powerful — will never be able to grasp the first principles of the "Good Life." In this episode, we discuss: The "BS" Degree Objection: Addressing the student debt crisis and the "tourism" approach to humanities. The Hard Sciences of TAC: Why 4 years of math and science are core to the liberal arts. Scientific Method vs. First Principles: Why even physics rests on metaphysical assumptions. The Trap of Usefulness: How the market economy diminishes our view of human worth. AI and Values: Why machine intelligence has no concept of "The Good."

00:00 – Introduction

01:15 – Addressing the "Liberal Arts BS Degree" Criticism

03:19 – The Hidden Rigor: 4 Years of Math and Science at TAC

05:18 – Engaging with Original Thinkers: Newton, Descartes, and Euclid

08:21 – Is Education Just for the Elite? Addressing the "Ripoff" Claim

10:05 – Information vs. Thinking: Why the Internet isn't a School

12:50 – Aristotle vs. Nietzsche: Searching for Truth in a Group

16:04 – The Meta-Narrative of Science: Its Own Greatest Limitation

18:45 – The "Dark Mist" of Learning: Why Frustration is Progress

23:10 – Challenging Elon Musk: What Do Physics Principles Rest On?

25:55 – The Goal of Life: Why the Scientific Method Can't Tell Us "Why"

32:20 – Bill Gates & the Market Economy: Is Education Only for a Job?

37:25 – The "Lazy River" Problem: Consumerism in Modern Colleges

41:50 – The Hierarchy of Knowledge: Why Your Worldview Controls Everything

47:45 – Lived Experience vs. Intellectual Training

53:00 – Analytical Skills: Why "Critical Thinking" isn't Enough

58:40 – The Author as Professor: The Unique Pedagogy of TAC

1:04:10 – Steve Jobs and the "Heart Singing" Mystery

1:06:10 – What ChatGPT Says About Values and First Principles

1:09:00 – The Risk of Emulating Machines: Why Humans Must Lead

"Who can say what truth is?" In a world of competing ideologies and "brain hacks," is it possible to find solid ground on the most important questions of human existence? In this episode of The TAC Podcast, we dive into TAC's "Great Books" approach to education, where students are immersed in diametrically opposed worldviews — from the virtue ethics of Aristotle to the radical critiques of Nietzsche. We discuss how a liberal arts education, rooted in the Catholic tradition, provides the tools to judge between these perspectives and move from mere opinion to well-grounded conviction. Key highlights include: The difference between a "Great Book" and a modern bestseller. The "Order of Discovery": Why we study scientific theories that were eventually "discarded." How Euclidean geometry builds a student's confidence in human reason. The interplay between the Socratic method and a definitive Catholic vision of reality. Why philosophy isn't just an "intellectual game" but a path to the immortal soul and the existence of God. Join the Conversation: 🔔 Subscribe for more deep dives into the Great Books. 💬 Comment: When two great thinkers disagree, how do you decide who is right? 00:00 – Introduction: Settling the questions of the Soul and God 01:30 – Why original authors? The integrated Liberal Arts degree 02:45 – What makes a "Great Book"? Influence vs. Weighty Questions 05:45 – Bestsellers vs. The Classics: The "Atomic Habits" comparison 07:15 – Why we avoid "Brain Hacks" and seek the core of the issue 09:20 – The test of time: Why contemporary advice is often time-bound 12:00 – The limits of a four-year program: Why we don't read Dickens 14:10 – Math and Science: Why study "discarded" scientific notions? 16:00 – The Order of Discovery: Epistemology vs. Synthetic Textbooks 18:30 – The risk of taking science as "Revelation" 20:00 – The "Rollercoaster" of 19th Century Atomic Theory 22:30 – Being a driver of your own education through Seminar 23:45 – Freshman Math: The rigor of Euclid's Elements 25:50 – Moving beyond "Scanning": Immersion in an author's thought 27:00 – The challenge of Nietzsche: Opposed worldviews at a Catholic College 28:30 – How to take a "deeply mistaken" author seriously 30:30 – The Primacy of St. Thomas Aquinas and Aristotle 33:10 – Ranking Philosophers: The Tutorial vs. The Seminar 35:10 – Is everything a Philosophy class? 37:45 – Comparing disciplines to find a unity of Truth 40:15 – Mathematics as a habituation to objective Truth 41:40 – Intellectual Progress: Why Philosophy is not just a game 43:00 – Conclusion: The joy of well-grounded views on Truth

In this episode of The TAC Podcast, we explore one of the most influential and challenging works of modern literature: T.S. Eliot's "The Waste Land." Written in the aftermath of the First World War, the poem presents a kaleidoscopic vision of a society in decay, mirroring the fragmentation of the Western tradition. We discuss the recurring themes of sterility, the breakdown of relationships between men and women, and the haunting presence of the "Unreal City." From the "cruelest month" of April to the final Sanskrit calls for peace, we examine how Eliot uses fragments of the past to shore against his ruins — and what that reveals about our own cultural landscape today.

Timecode Chapters

00:00 - Introduction to T.S. Eliot's "The Waste Land"

01:50 - Structure and the Five Principal Parts

02:21 - The Theme of Fragmentation and Unity

04:21 - Recurring Images: London, the Thames, and Tyreseius

06:19 - Dysfunctional Relationships and Modern Sterility

07:45 - Analysis: "April is the Cruelest Month"

10:20 - The Absence of God and the Empty Chapel

12:50 - The Fire Sermon: Rats, Decay, and Casualness

15:00 - Tyreseius as the Principle of Unity

19:50 - Intellectual Elitism vs. the Western Canon

24:20 - The Medium as the Message: Imitating Reality

28:30 - Madame Sosostris and the Tarot Cards

33:50 - St. Augustine, Carthage, and the Burning of Lust

37:10 - What the Thunder Said: The Search for Water

43:55 - The Three Commands: Datta, Dayadhvam, Damyata

50:50 - Final Thoughts: Modernity and the Value of Poetry

Are the writings of Abraham Lincoln and Frederick Douglass merely American, or do they belong among the great texts of the Western tradition? Dr. Adam Seagrave joins us to explore how the American founding contributes to the perennial questions of justice, freedom, and human dignity. At the center of the conversation is slavery—not only as a historical reality, but as a contradiction within the American project itself. Rather than being resolved by force alone, we examine how it was ultimately confronted at the level of principle, rooted in the claims of the Declaration of Independence. We also consider the role of divine providence in the thought of Lincoln, Douglass, and John Brown, and how their ideas about God and history helped shape the course of the nation. About the Show: The TAC Podcast offers a window into the intellectual life of Thomas Aquinas College, where students and faculty engage the great books and first principles in pursuit of truth.

In this episode of The TAC Podcast, we begin our journey through one of the most influential works in Western philosophy: Aristotle's Nicomachean Ethics. We start at the very beginning—Book One—where Aristotle sets an extraordinary aim: to define the "human good" and discover what it is that all human beings are truly aiming at. Is happiness just a feeling, or is it something more? We discuss Aristotle's famous definition of happiness as "rational activity in accordance with virtue" and explore why he believes that living well is a practice, not just a product. We also tackle the "political" nature of man and the sobering reality of how much of our happiness is within our control—and how much is left to chance. In this episode, we cover:

00:00 – The most controversial question: What is human happiness?

04:30 – Aristotle vs. Plato: Practical goods vs. the "Good itself."

07:30 – Why the "human" part of the "human good" matters.

09:50 – Candidates for happiness: Pleasure, Wealth, Honor, and Virtue.

15:00 – Why a good upbringing is a prerequisite for ethics.

20:30 – The Function Argument: What is the "work" of a human being?

31:10 – Happiness as self-sufficient and the social nature of man.

45:10 – The role of luck and "happenstance" in a good life.

Key Takeaway: "Happiness is not a state of mind, but a way of living. It is the fulfillment of our nature as rational beings, perfected through activity and virtue."

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