Finding Meaning Amidst the Chaos Or: Why Get Out of Bed in the Morning? – Dr. Robert McNamara

The Thomistic Institute

Dr. Robert McNamara explores the problem of meaninglessness and chaos in contemporary life, showing how wonder, intellectual attention, and the cultivation of virtue empower individuals to find purpose and resilience in the face of suffering and cultural fragmentation.

This lecture was given on September 30th, 2025, at University of Galway.

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About the Speakers:

Dr. Robert McNamara is lecturer in philosophy at St. Patrick’s Pontifical University, Maynooth, Ireland, associate series editor of Edith Stein Studies, associate scholar of the Hildebrand Project, associate member of faculty at the International Theological Institute and the Maryvale Institute, and a founding member of the Aquinas Institute of Ireland (currently suspended). Robert researches anthropological and metaphysical questions in medieval and phenomenological thinkers, especially as both bear reference to philosophical personalism. He has studied physics and computing, philosophy and theology, and received his Ph.D. for research in the thought of Edith Stein and Thomas Aquinas. Robert is originally from Galway, Ireland and now lives in Carlow with his wife, Caroline, and their four children, Vivian, John, Catherine, and Oran.

Keywords: Absurdism, Attentive Engagement, Cultural Fragmentation, Intelligibility Of Reality, Meaning And Suffering, Nihilism, Practical Habits, Purpose In Life, Viktor Frankl, Wonder And Virtue