Professor
Department of Philosophy (Chairman)
Contact Information:
Office: Madonna 14
About Me
I am associate professor and chair of the philosophy department at Christendom, and also a novelist and dramatist.
As a scholar, I am foremost interested in reactivating an Aristotelian understanding of art as mimesis or imitation, an understanding long out of favor among philosophers. On June 3, 2024 Word on Fire Academic published my monograph, The Way of Beauty: A Philosophical Reflection on the Arts. Reviews of the book have said the following:
“This is literally the best book on beauty that I have ever read: the most convincing, clear, and comprehensive; the most eye-opening and satisfying; the most insightful and delightful. It is a masterpiece. I do not use that word lightly, but there is no other word for it.” –Dr. Peter Kreeft, Professor of Philosophy, Boston College, and author of Socrates’ Children(Word on Fire 2023)
“Daniel McInerny’s book clarifies why we enjoy works of art—pictures, music, drama and movies, poetry and novels—and it also shows why we revere such works: not as ends in themselves, but because they place us in the truthful presence of what they depict. The book reactivates Aristotle’s understanding of mimesis and Aquinas’s enhancement of it. It shows how art elevates what it displays as well as the community that experiences it. It is a metaphysical and theological reflection on the arts, written in the style and spirit of C. S. Lewis: limpid prose, abundant citations, colorful examples. A book to study and learn from, then to browse in and enjoy.”
—Msgr. Robert Sokolowski, Elizabeth Breckenridge Caldwell Professor of Philosophy, The Catholic University of America
I received my BA in English from the University of Notre Dame in 1986 and his PhD in philosophy from The Catholic University of America in 1994. I have taught at Christendom since the fall of 2019.
In March 2023 Chrism Press published my novel, The Good Death of Kate Montclair, which my fellow Catholic novelist Maya Sinha has called “an instant classic of 21st-century Catholic fiction.”
Acclaimed Catholic poet James Matthew Wilson has said the following of The Good Death of Kate Montclair:
“Daniel McInerny brings us a novel of characters flirting with the temptation to be their own author only to discover the plot of their lives is not up to them. This is a book of and for our dreary moment but one which reminds us that a good story brings serious pleasure and joyful wisdom to transform even the darkest of ages.”
I am also the author of a play, The Actor, about the subversive wartime theatrical activities of the young Karol Wojtyla, the man who would become Saint John Paul II, which will premiere at Christendom November 8-10, 2024.
I also write the Substack newsletter, The Comic Muse, where I share humorous reflections on the arts and culture, as well as some of my fiction.
My wife Amy and I have three grown children and one preternaturally adorable grandchild and live in beautiful Fauquier County, Virginia.
Education
BA, University of Notre Dame, English (1986)
Career Achievements
Assistant Professor of Philosophy, University of St. Thomas, Houston (1994-2000)
Core Courses Taught
Introduction to Philosophy
Philosophy of Human Nature
History of Modern Philosophy
Elective Courses Taught
- Philosophy of Art & Beauty
- Philosophy of Culture
- Philosophy of Technology
- Poetic Experience & Truth
- Senior Thesis Seminar
Selected Scholarship
“Fortitude and the Conflict of Frameworks.” In Timpe and Boyd, eds., Virtues & Their Vices. Oxford University Press, 2014.
“Poised Strength.” In Cessario, Titus, and Vitz, eds., Philosophical Virtues and Psychological Strengths. Sophia Institute Press, 2013.
“Poetic Knowledge and Cultural Renewal.” Logos: A Journal of Catholic Thought and Culture, vol. 15, no. 4 (Fall 2012): pp. 17-35.
“Freaks, Fertility, and Cultural Fiasco.” In Fehring and Notare, eds., Science, Faith, & Fertility: The Third Conference on Ethical Fertility Health Management. Marquette University Press, 2012.
“Commentary on Steven A. Long’s The Teleological Grammar of the Moral Act,” Nova et Vetera, English Edition, vol. 8, no. 1 (2010): 201-207.
“Identity, Divine Filiation, and the Eucharist.”Assembly: A Journal of Liturgical Theology, vol. 35, no. 2 (March 2009): pp. 29-32.
“Sloth: The Besetting Sin of the Age?” Logos: A Journal of Catholic Thought and Culture, vol. 12, no. 1 (Winter 2009): pp. 38-61.
“Hierarchy and Direction for Choice.” Fellowship of Catholic Scholars Quarterly (Winter 2003): pp. 24-34. Reprinted in Di Blasi, Hochschild, and Langan, eds., Virtue’s End. St. Augustine’s Press, 2008.
“Natural Law and Conflict.” In Mark J. Cherry, ed., Natural Law and the Possibility of a Global Ethics. Dordrecht: Kluwer Academic Publishers, 2003.
“The Novel as Practical Wisdom.” In Alice Ramos, ed., Maritain and the Arts. The American Maritain Association; distributed by The Catholic University of America Press, 2000.
“Deliberation About Final Ends: Thomistic Considerations.” In Thomas S. Hibbs and John O’Callaghan, eds., Recovering Nature: Essays on Natural Philosophy, Metaphysics and Ethics in Honor of Ralph M. McInerny. University of Notre Dame Press, 1999.
“A Humble and Trembling Movement: Creative Intuition and Maritain’s Philosophy of Education.” In Daniel McInerny, ed., The Common Things: Essays on Thomism and Education. The American Maritain Association; distributed by The Catholic University of America Press, 1999.
“‘Divinity Must Live With Herself’: Aquinas and Nussbaum on Transcending the Human.” International Philosophical Quarterly, vol. 37, no. 1 (March 1997): pp. 65-82.
“Electric Technology and Poetic Mimesis.” Proceedings of the American Catholic Philosophical Association, vol. 70 (1996): pp. 95-104.
“The Accuracy of Aristotle’s Definition of the Soul.” The Thomist, vol. 60, no. 4 (October 1996): pp. 571-593.