Tolkien is known for writing adventure stories, but in a way his stories are about home. Both The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings begin and end in a hobbit hole, and the dangerous journeys there and back again are punctuated along the way by various safe havens. In this talk, Dr. Toner will explore the nature of home as Tolkien portrays it (its sign is domesticated fire, and its chief elements are security, comfort, and culture), comment on how it is in some ways the same and in other ways very different across various cultures (hobbit, dwarven, elven, and human), and conclude with some remarks about what this might teach us about our own cultural and political situation today.

Speaker
Christopher Toner is professor of philosophy at the University of Saint Thomas, and an associate editor of the American Catholic Philosophical Quarterly. Prior to coming to Saint Thomas in 2008, he was an associate professor of leadership and ethics at the Air Command and Staff College and Distinguished Visiting Professor at the United States Air Force Academy; he also served six years as an Army officer. Dr. Toner did his graduate work at the University of Notre Dame, receiving his doctorate in 2003. His research interests include Virtue Ethics, Ancient and Medieval Philosophy (especially Aristotle and Aquinas), and Military Ethics. He has published articles on just war theory, the relationship between virtue and well-being, the self-centeredness objection to virtue ethics, the unity of the virtues, and Jane Austen on virtues as home-makers. Dr. Toner, his wife Ruth, and their four children live in the Apple Valley.

The Common Good Series
The common good, as defined by the Vatican II document Gaudium et Spes, refers to “the sum total of social conditions which allow people, either as groups or as individuals, to reach their fulfillment more fully and more easily” (GS 26).  This is undoubtedly a high call to make tangible in a fallen world but one that is necessary for all persons of faith to strive toward in their own capacity.

The Murphy Institute’s “The Common Good” series invites St. Thomas faculty from across the university to explore their own areas of expertise as it relates to the promotion and pursuit of the common good.  This initiative is a continuation of the 2020 series “The Common Good in Uncommon Times” which hosted conversations pertinent to the year’s experience within the pandemic, cultural reckoning, and political divisions.  As society continues to grapple with these conflicts and many others, “The Common Good” aims to showcase the role each discipline has to play in the building up and fostering of the fulfillment of all peoples.