James M. Jacobs, Ph.D.
Director of Philosophy Programs; Associate Academic Dean; Department Chair and Professor of Philosophy
Dr. James Jacobs has had the honor of teaching at Notre Dame Seminary since 2003. He earned a B.A. in philosophy from Harvard University, an M.T.S. from the Franciscan School of Theology in Berkeley, and a Ph.D. in philosophy from Fordham University. He specializes in the thought of Thomas Aquinas, particularly natural law ethics. He approaches Thomistic realism not merely as an historical interest, but as a vibrant and intellectually fulfilling alternative to the decadent nominalism and relativism which characterize modern approaches to metaphysics, epistemology, ethics, politics, and natural theology. Dr. Jacobs has had articles published in such journals as the American Catholic Philosophical Quarterly, the International Philosophical Quarterly, Nova et Vetera, and the Heythrop Journal.
Teaching in a seminary presents Dr. Jacobs with the opportunity to focus philosophical discussion on the real-world consequences of undisciplined thinking. Many of the deep problems faced by Western Civilization are traceable to faulty ideas of truth, goodness, and freedom. Grounding society in the proper understanding of these notions prepares it to receive the Gospel, whose revealed truths perfect man’s natural longing for the True and the Good.