148—Being Is Better Than Not Being—Christopher Mirus

By Catholic Culture Podcast ( bio - articles - email ) | Nov 18, 2022 | In The Catholic Culture Podcast

Listen to this podcast on: Apple Podcasts | Google Podcasts | RSS Feed | YouTube Channel

This is a listener-supported podcast! Thanks for your help!

Christopher V. Mirus, your host’s older brother, is a philosophy professor at the University of Dallas, and author of the new book Being Is Better Than Not Being: The Metaphysics of Goodness and Beauty in Aristotle. In this episode he discusses being a philosopher in the Aristotelian tradition, compares Aristotle’s intellectual and pedagogical approach with Plato’s, and touches on some themes from his book.

How does Aristotle identify goodness with the ability to be contemplated—even in the sphere of ethics? What is the relation between friendship and contemplation? How can we call “beautiful” things as different as a morally virtuous human action, the parts of animals, the orbits of the heavenly spheres, and God Himself? What does Aristotle mean when he says that being is better than not being?

Links

There is a 30% discount on Being Is Better than Nonbeing: The Metaphysics of Goodness and Beauty in Aristotle until December 24th, 2022, as part of the American Catholic Philosophical Association’s annual conference. To get the discount, order from the CUA Press website using discount code “ACPA22”. https://www.cuapress.org/9780813235462/being-is-better-than-not-being/

Theme music: “Franciscan Eyes”, written and performed by Thomas Mirus. Download the Catholic Culture Podcast soundtrack.