About This Talk
What is happiness? Focusing on the philosopher Aristotle, this talk will explore both common (but mistaken) approaches as well as a more sound vision of where to find true happiness, especially as it relates to virtue or character. We'll finish by briefly considering how Saint Thomas Aquinas adopts and transforms Aristotle's picture.
""Veritas est adaequatio intellectus et rei."
"Truth is the conformity/correspondence of the intellect to reality.""
— Aquinas, De Veritate, q.1, a.1
The Speaker
Victor Saenz, PhD
Executive Director of the Houston Institute
Victor Saenz, PhD is Executive Director of the Houston Institute, a non-profit whose mission is to help the people of Rice and the broader Houston community think deeply about the best way to live through the study of the liberal arts, especially philosophy and literature. He is currently a Lecturer for Rice's undergraduate Program in Writing & Communication and teaches regularly at Rice’s Glasscock School for Continuing Studies. From spring 2019 to spring 2024 he served as Lecturer in the Rice Philosophy Department, where taught courses in ancient Greek philosophy (mostly Plato and Aristotle) and the philosophy of religion. Additionally, Victor is affiliated with the Paul Ramsey Institute, where he serves as a bioethics scholar. His academic writing has appeared or is forthcoming in Polis, Apeiron, Ancient Philosophy Today, and The Journal of Medicine and Philosophy.
Victor holds a BA in philosophy and classics from the University of Notre Dame, an MA in philosophy from Texas A&M, and a PhD in philosophy from Rice University. He serves as a Board Member of Brillante Academy, a Texas public charter school in the classical tradition.