This track is available:
- Session 1 (June 7-12, 2026)
For nearly three millennia, philosophers in the west have grappled with some of the most difficult questions we have ever thought to ask. Seeking answers, they left their conclusions behind, along with the arguments supporting them. In the BCYC Immersion Philosophy program for high school students, we will be looking at some of the better-known philosophical arguments from these past thinkers. From the allegory of the cave to the five ways of St. Thomas Aquinas to Pascal鈥檚 wager, these arguments are a brief introduction to the life and work of philosophers to anyone who would like to learn more about the 鈥渆xamined life鈥�.
鈥淵ou say one must philosophize. Then you must philosophize. You say one should not philosophize. Then (to prove your contention) you must philosophize. In any case you must philosophize.鈥� 鈥� Aristotle
Track Instructor
Professor, Philosophy
Dr. Rioux is a professor of the Philosophy Department at 小草影院. A graduate of Thomas Aquinas College, he earned his Master鈥檚 and Ph.D. in philosophy from the Center for Thomistic Studies at the University of St. Thomas in Houston. Specializing in the thought of Aristotle and Thomas Aquinas, Dr. Rioux has written textbooks in logic and natural philosophy, as well as articles in the philosophy of mathematics. His most recent publication is Thomas Aquinas鈥� Mathematical Realism (291 pp., Palgrave Macmillan). He and Dr. Richard White (a member of Benedictine鈥檚 theology department) regularly offer great books classes in philosophy and theology. Dr. Rioux and his wife, Maria, raise their children in a renovated farmhouse in rural Kansas. They have been designing their own curricula and educating their children at home for many years.