The Care of the Soul:
Re-Thinking Virtue in the Contemporary World
9th Annual Summer Seminar
July 5 – July 11, 2019

For I do nothing but go about persuading you all, old and young alike, not to take thought for your persons and your properties, but first and chiefly to care about the greatest improvement of the soul.
Socrates
The Apology of Socrates
The theme of the 2019 Hildebrand Project Summer Seminar was “The Care of the Soul.” Socrates, in saying that he desired the improvement of the soul, wanted more for the Athenians than to consider the moral life in terms of wealth and prestige. He wanted them, before all else, to cultivate moral virtue and good moral character. He stands at the origin of a rich tradition of thought about virtue.
In this seminar, we enter into this tradition, and ask: What is it to be a person of integrity? What does it mean to have a well-formed character? Why is it so vital for one to live an authentic existence? The ancients do not mention authenticity, nor do the great medieval teachers. Is it a real virtue? If so, what constitutes authenticity, and how does it fit in with the classical and Christian virtues?
Max Scheler, Dietrich von Hildebrand, Karol Wojtyla, and other early personalists asked all these questions, and answered them with great originality. We will listen to them, as well as to other voices in our tradition, from Plato, Aristotle, Augustine and Aquinas, to more recent figures, such as Søren Kierkegaard, Martin Buber, Joseph Soloveitchik, and Emmanuel Levinas, as we work toward an understanding of virtue and character that is adapted to the historical moment in which we live.
The Care of the Soul – Videos
Beginning with Socrates
A panel discussion between Josef Seifert and John F. Crosby.
Ninth Annual Summer Seminar
The Care of the Soul: Re-Thinking Virtue in the Contemporary Age
"Beginning with Socrates"
No one before Socrates spoke of the moral life as “caring for one’s soul.” The idea that the life of justice makes the soul sound and healthy while injustice corrupts and defiles was new in Western thought. Socrates is then the father of moral philosophy in the west. Virtue is not posterity nor fame nor possessions but an interior thing of soundness and right order.
A Look at the Virtue Tradition
A panel discussion with Alex Plato, Susan Waldstein, and chaired by Mark Spencer.
Ninth Annual Summer Seminar
The Care of the Soul: Re-Thinking Virtue in the Contemporary Age
"A Look at the Virtue Tradition"
We will discuss how the Catholic, classical tradition understands virtue, why it is important to discuss virtue in our times, how virtue is related to human flourishing, and which character traits are virtues, emphasizing prudence, religion, and magnanimity.
The Virtues of the Saints
A panel discussion with Michael Healy, Josef Seifert, and chaired by Christopher T. Haley.
Ninth Annual Summer Seminar
The Care of the Soul: Re-Thinking Virtue in the Contemporary Age
"The Virtues of the Saints"
Is holiness a virtue? Are the saints moral exemplars or do they transcend the realm of morals? Dietrich von Hildebrand speaks about the “new creation” of the baptized Christian. Are Christian virtues reducible to the natural virtues or are they something distinct?
Self and Other
A panel discussion between John F. Crosby and Mark Spencer (Chair).
Ninth Annual Summer Seminar
The Care of the Soul: Re-Thinking Virtue in the Contemporary Age
"Self and Other"
Certain problems arise when virtues are understood as being only for one’s own happiness or only for that of others. Seeking a more balanced view of virtue, we will discuss the answers provided by Hildebrand’s philosophy of subjectivity and transcendence.
Further Personalist Contributions to the Tradition on Virtue
A panel discussion with Josef Seifert, John Henry Crosby and chaired by Alex Plato.
Ninth Annual Summer Seminar
The Care of the Soul: Re-Thinking Virtue in the Contemporary Age
"Further Personalist Contributions to the Tradition on Virtue"
Personalists retrieve virtue in a (post-)modern context and thereby uniquely contribute to the virtue tradition. They work from a tradition centered on the human will, freedom, and love, and build on the non-Aristotelian insights, for example, of Augustine, Anselm, and Scotus.
Authenticity - Part I
A panel discussion with John F. Crosby, James Harold, Mark Spencer, and chaired by Robert McNamara.
Ninth Annual Summer Seminar
The Care of the Soul: Re-Thinking Virtue in the Contemporary Age
"Authenticity – Part 1"
The contemporary period is marked by a keen interest in personal authenticity, in senses both positive and negative. This extended-panel will involve a wide-ranging discussion of the nature, need, and import of personal authenticity with a focus on its intimate relation to moral virtue.
2019 Seminar Faculty

Tim Hall

Anne Snyder

John F. Crosby

Josef Seifert

Rabbi Mark Gottlieb

Derek S. Jefferys

Robert McNamara

Elizabeth C. Shaw

Mark K. Spencer

John Henry Crosby
