Course · 2027 cohort
Philosophy 101The Pursuit of Wisdom
One lesson a week in your own time, and your small group gathered every fourth week. Read the dialogues of Plato with company, not alone.
1 to 2 hrs
Each week
18
Recorded lessons
Every 4th week
Your group gathers
Free
The ICC course
Philosophy begins in wonder, and wonder is easily lost. Most of us were taught facts and skills. Few of us were taught how to ask what justice is, why the examined life matters, or what it means for a soul to be well ordered.
Philosophy 101 is where that education begins. It is a serious introduction to the Western philosophical tradition through the dialogues of Plato, taught by Dr John Cuddeback of Christendom College and made freely available by the Institute of Catholic Culture.
The St Thomas More Trust gathers a cohort to work through the course together, one lesson a week and in small groups that meet every fourth week. Our first cohort ran in 2026. The next begins in 2027.
How it works
One lesson a week, company every fourth
- 01
Watch or listen
Watch the week's ICC lecture, or listen to the reading as an MP3 on your commute.
Each lecture is about an hour, streamed from the ICC website.
- 02
Read
Read the assigned dialogue in whatever format suits you: text, audio or video.
The Trust provides every reading as an MP3 you can copy to your phone.
- 03
Test
Complete the short ten-question quiz that follows each lecture.
You can repeat the quiz as many times as you need.
- 04
Gather
Every fourth week, meet your small group in person, ideally over a meal.
The Trust provides the discussion guide, so no one has to prepare or lead.
A typical lesson is a dialogue from Plato, a lecture by Dr Cuddeback, and a short quiz: one to two hours all up, at whatever time suits you. The content is audio, video or text, whichever works best.
The course runs over about six months, three lessons every four weeks. At the halfway mark the whole cohort gathers for a larger discussion over a shared meal. This is university-level content with none of the written assignments; just the short quizzes and a final exam.
What you receive
Guidance at every stage
For individual study weeks
- A study guide to accompany each lesson.
- Every reading as an MP3, or as text, audio or video online.
- Questions that direct your attention to what matters in the text.
For group weeks
- A discussion guide for each gathering.
- Dr Cuddeback's reflection questions, plus prompts to get the conversation going.
- A group that has done the same reading, no expert required.
Along the way
- A course calendar to help your group plan.
- A larger gathering of the whole cohort at the halfway mark.
The course
Plato and the great questions
Philosophy 101 introduces philosophy through the dialogues of Plato. Socrates and Plato stand at the foundation of the Western tradition, and in reading them we meet the great questions that every serious thinker since has had to answer.
The course gives particular weight to four things: the first principles of reasoning, the foundational concepts of philosophy, docility to reality and to the wise, and a philosophical habit of mind. The thinkers before Socrates are treated as well.
- Course
- Philosophy 101: The Pursuit of Wisdom
- Provider
- Institute of Catholic Culture
- Lecturer
- John Cuddeback, PhD
- Format
- 18 lessons over about six months: a reading, a lecture and a short quiz each week
- Study time
- One to two hours a week; three lessons every four weeks
- Cost
- The ICC content is free. A suggested koha of $10 at registration is optional
- Primary texts
- The dialogues of Plato, read as text, audio or video
How the Trust runs it
Formation happens in company
The lectures are freely available to anyone. Very few people finish them alone.
Ideas sharpen in conversation. Lewis, Tolkien and Williams read their work aloud to one another at the Eagle and Child, and their thinking grew deeper for it. A small group works the same way. Someone catches what you missed. You must put into words what you only half understood, and in doing so you come to understand it. Questions surface in discussion that never arise on the page. And you keep going because others are going with you.
Every fourth week, instead of doing a lesson, your group gets together, ideally over a meal, to talk through what you have been reading. That is where it really comes alive. The Trust supplies the study guides, the rhythm and the conversation in which formation takes place.
- 01A cohort of people working through the same course at the same pace.
- 02One lesson a week, one to two hours, at whatever time suits you.
- 03A study guide and prompts for your individual study weeks.
- 04A discussion guide for each group gathering, prepared in advance.
- 05A small group that has done the same reading and is ready to talk about it.
Course outline
Eighteen lessons and a final exam
Three lessons every four weeks, with your group gathering after each block. Search the syllabus, or open any lesson to see what it covers and what you will read.
I'm keen
How to sign up
- 01Contact your friends and form a group. Decide on a group name. The ideal size is five or six people; the only real rule is that it must be greater than one. If you do not know anyone to form a group with, register individually and we will assign you to one.
- 02Register with the Trust on this page. We ask for an optional suggested koha of $10, which funds a group donation to ICC and the costs of coordinating the course.
- 03Register with the Institute of Catholic Culture through their website to become an ICC member. Membership is free.
- 04Still at the ICC website, register for the PHIL101 course. Make sure you choose the Certificate track.
- 05Make sure everyone in your group has been through all the registration steps.
- 06Start with the cohort. The start date is to be confirmed, but we are aiming for 15 February 2027, the first full week of Lent: a natural moment to take up some classical formation as a Lenten discipline. The Trust will share a course calendar to help your group plan, but keeping each other accountable and getting together every fourth week is up to you.
Questions are welcome at any point. Write to our course coordinator, Dean, at dean.mischewski@gmail.com.
The texts
Read it your way
Read
Text, audio or video
The readings are free online, including at Project Gutenberg. Dr Cuddeback uses a particular hardcopy edition of Plato, but any complete copy will serve.
Listen
Every reading as an MP3
The Trust has converted all the readings to MP3 files, available from this website to registered participants. Listen as you drive, work or walk, without mobile data.
If you prefer a good ebook, we recommend the Delphi Complete Works of Plato (Illustrated), about NZ$3.50 on Amazon. We can convert it to ePub for you once you have purchased it.
The lecturer
Dr John Cuddeback
Dr John Cuddeback is Professor of Philosophy at Christendom College in Virginia and one of the lead academics at the Institute of Catholic Culture. He has taught philosophy for thirty years, lectures widely on virtue, fatherhood, friendship, homesteading and the household, and has published in academic journals and books. He is the author of True Friendship and The Intentional Household (Ignatius Press). Through LifeCraft he offers podcasts, writing and free courses applying perennial wisdom to ordinary life.
About the Institute of Catholic Culture
The Institute of Catholic Culture is an adult faith formation organisation in the United States dedicated to the re-evangelisation of society through education and culture. Its courses are offered to the public at no charge. Participants create a free ICC account to access the lectures. Course page: instituteofcatholicculture.org.
Who it is for
For those who want to be formed
Philosophy 101 is for adults who sense something is missing from their education and want to find it: people with full-time work, study or young families who can give a couple of hours a week. You may have read Chesterton or listened to Bishop Barron and wanted more. You want to be formed, and you are willing to read.
The content is university-level, but there are no written assignments or tutorials, just the short quizzes after each lesson and a final exam, so the study load is manageable alongside ordinary life.
The course is Catholic in its setting and open to anyone who wants to think seriously about the oldest questions. Augustine began his serious intellectual formation at thirty-two. The right time is the next cohort.
The 2027 cohort
The second cohort
Our first Philosophy 101 cohort ran in 2026. The second begins in 2027. The start date is to be confirmed, but we are aiming for 15 February, the first full week of Lent: a natural moment to take up some classical formation as a Lenten discipline. The course finishes in good time for the Trust's Inspirational Event in late September.
- Start date
- To be confirmed; we are aiming for 15 February 2027, the first full week of Lent
- Length
- From mid-February to late September 2027; eighteen lessons, three every four weeks, with catch-up weeks built in
- Gatherings
- Your small group meets in person every fourth week, and the whole cohort gathers at the halfway mark
- Group size
- Five or six is ideal, but any number greater than one works
- Koha
- Suggested koha of $10 at registration, optional (students and seniors: $5; $30 maximum per family)
The koha is a suggestion, not a price: if cost is an issue, do not let it stop you. If you would like to talk about financial assistance, say so on the form. The Trust exists to make this education available regardless of means.
Questions
Before you register
Register
Register your interest
Leave your details and we will be in touch when dates are confirmed, with everything you need to complete your registration.