Centre for Aristotelian Studies and Critical Theory

All are welcome to join the Zoom lecture today.

Public Lecture by Prof. Jeffery Nicholas “All things are equal in Christ”: The Need for a Renewed New Left Church in the Face of Christian Nationalism

5 pm (EET), Thursday, 30 April 2026, CR I-312, MRU, Ateities st. 20, Vilnius

Participants are also welcome to attend online via Zoom (link in comments) (passcode: Critique)

In 2016’s The Hillbilly Elegy, J. D. Vance, the now Vice-President to Donald J. Trump, lamented the loss of community by telling his story of growing up in Middleton, OH, a formerly bustling manufacturing town that lost its factory. Surprisingly, or perhaps not, Vance says nothing to condemn the capitalist economy that drove the company from the town. Rather, he blames the loss of community on widespread diversity and the acceptance of President Bill Clinton in the 1990s. Vance’s memoir can be read as a manifesto of sorts, of Christian Nationalism, which he seems to stand firmly behind. In The Case for Christian Nationalism, Stephen Wolfe defines Christian Nationalism as “Christian nationalism is a totality of national action, consisting of civil laws and social customs, conducted by a Christian nation as a Christian nation, in order to procure for itself both earthly and heavenly good in Christ” (p. 14, Kindle edition). For Wolfe, the desire is to institutionalize Christianity, and, again, the only criticism Wolfe offers of capitalism is when it portends to universality. In contrast to Vance and Christian Nationalism, I argue for a renewal of the New Left Church. In a little known work, The New Left Church from 1966, Terry Eagleton argues for a different kind of Christian approach to politics, one that emphasizes community, an idea that in theory Vance would agree with, but a community that is non-hierarchical, one that both Vance and Christian nationalists in general would disparage. Where Christian nationalists want to institutionalize Christianity, a reading of Eagleton would affirm the need to make our institutions sacred, which had less to do with Christianity than to do with honoring what it means to be human. Only through embracing this understanding of community can we move forward toward a new and better world of human flourishing.

Jeffery L. Nicholas is Professor of Providence College, USA. Currently, Jeffery is a Visiting Professor at Università degli Studi di Udine, Dipartimento di Scienze Giuridiche, Italy. He is also the director of CASEP (Centre for Contemporary Aristotelian Studies in Ethics and Politics), a Research Fellow at MRU’s Centre for Aristotelian Studies and Critical Theory, and the author of numerous papers and books, including Love and Politics (Routledge, 2021).

"Na, ir kas, kad DI gali tūkstančius kartų greičiau suskaičiuoti ar atlikti tam tikras logines funkcijas, bet tai nėra mąstymas, nes mąsto tik žmonės. DI yra mūsų sukurtas įrankis. Reikia galvot, kaip jį plėtoti ir naudoti, bet nemanau, kad jis gali pakeisti žmogaus mąstymą."

Prof. A. Bielskis. Kaip išlikti laimingam ir kūrybingam, kai dirbtinis intelektas užvaldo vis daugiau sričių? Technologinė pažanga ir dirbtinis intelektas (DI) keičia ne tik darbo rinką, bet ir žmogiškuosius santykius. Akivaizdu, jog stovime ant didžiulių permainų slenksčio. Ar automatizuoti įrenginiai atims iš mūsų darbą? Kodėl pažangos daugiau, o dirbame nė kiek ne mažiau ir nebemokame ...

Public Lecture “Defending Democracy from Its Christian Enemies”
By Dr David P. Gushee

Monday, 30 of October, 5 pm at Mykolas Romeris University,
LAB Building, Room 101, Didlaukio st. 55, Vilnius.

The lecture will be hybrid, accessible via Zoom: https://us06web.zoom.us/j/81682291694?pwd=byZfsXp1DjfqUB302Z0pbMr0fStI2b.1
(passcode: democracy).

Professor Andrius Bielskis (Director of the Centre for Aristotelian Studies and Critical Theory) will be delivering a lecture on “Aristotle, Normativity and Critical Political Theory”, today Friday 21 May 2021, within the framework of ERASMUS and in collaboration with the Centre for Platonic and Aristotelian Studies of the Department of Philosophy of the University of Ioannina. The lecture will take place via ZOOM: https://zoom.us/j/92515687639?pwd=QlBHY095VHBHMjRlbzluaEQ4aGtWdz09
It would be a great pleasure if you honoured us with your presence, which also marks the official collaboration between our two centres, at Mykolas Romeris University (Vilnius, Lithuania) and at the University of Ioannina (Ioannina, Epirus, Greece).

Round Table on "Aristotle's Relevance Today" at the Onassis Foundation in Athens, Greece. Two years ago from now, that inspired the innovative research idea (groudstone 🙂) for the creation of our Centre for Aristotelian Studies and Critical Theory.

Dalyvauja dr. Mantas Adomėnas ir dr. Andrius Bielskis (Aristoteliškų studijų ir kritinės teorijos centras, Mykolo Romerio universitetas). Moderuoja filosofas prof. dr. Alvydas Jokubaitis, VU TSPMI.
Some photos from the debate (Aristotle versus Plato) on Wednesday 9 January 2019 that was attended by 500 people. Great photos, great people! Cheers to Ancient Greek Philosophy!

Dalyvauja dr. Mantas Adomėnas ir dr. Andrius Bielskis (Aristoteliškų studijų ir kritinės teorijos centras, Mykolo Romerio universitetas). Moderuoja filosofas prof. dr. Alvydas Jokubaitis, VU TSPMI.

Parodos „Aristotelis iš Akropolio. Antikos mąstytojo skulptūros paroda“ renginys.

Nuotr. V. Abramausko (Valdovų rūmų muziejus)

Discussion of the book by Andrius Bielskis (Existence, Meaning, Excellence: Aristotelian Reflections on the Meaning of Life, London & New York: Routledge, 2017)

Šalia Aristotelio biusto Valdovų rūmuose užvirė diskusija apie gyvenimo prasmės paieškas - LRT Pasak Aristotelio, mąstymas yra labiausiais žmogiška veikla. O paties filosofo tekstai ir šiandien yra aktualios mąstymo pratybos, portalui LRT.lt sako profesorė habilituota daktarė Tatjana Aleknienė, antradienio vakarą dalyvavusi diskusijoje „Aristotelis ir gyvenimo prasm...

Vienas minėtos programos dalyvių – Aristoteliškų studijų ir kritinės teorijos centro įkūrėjas filosofas A.Bielskis. Jis įsitikinęs, kad garsiojo graikų filosofo idėjos ypač aktualios šių dienų Lietuvoje. Jo manymu, šiandienė mūsų aukštojo mokslo reforma, kuri orientuota į mokslo ir studijų pavertimą preke, paneigia ir naikina Aristotelio ir viso klasikinio švietimo bei ugdymo, kurio pagrindai siekia Platono ir Aristotelio laikus, tradiciją.

Aristotelio biustas – priekaištas trumparegiškos politikos vykdytojams „Aristoteliui svarbiausia buvo veikla, o ne visokie tabu ir draudimai, kurie šiandien tokie populiarūs Lietuvoje“, – ištarė filosofas Andrius Bielskis, Aristoteliškų studijų ir kritinės teorijos centro įkūrėjas.

The sculpture of Aristotel has left Greece for the first time and arrived to Vilnius.