Michael Torre

Michael D. Torre received a PhD in 1983 and joined the USF philosophy department in 1989. He is now its senior member. He has served as the department chair and as the coordinator of its ethics sections. Professor Torre has been a past vice-president of the Institut Internationale Jacques Maritain, and is currently serving on its Scientific Committee. He was the second general editor of the American Maritain Association's series of publications from 2009-2013, and its president from 2012-2016. He has taught numerous courses for the department, especially on ancient and medieval philosophy and the major figures of those periods: Plato, Aristotle, Augustine, Aquinas. He has also taught a number of core courses in philosophy: Logic, the Human Person, Ethics, and the Philosophy of Religion.

Professor Torre’s research interests have focused on the "interface" between reason and faith, nature and grace, and philosophy and theology, and with their common issues, such as the existence and nature of God, the relation between providence and free will, or the relation between providence and evil. He has published on various aspects on the thought of Thomas Aquinas and especially on the problem of God's permission of sin. As his presidency of the AMA indicates, he also has written widely on contemporary Thomists, particularly on Jacques Maritain and Yves R. Simon, and given courses on contemporary Thomists. He has recently edited a book on the best of Yves R. Simon’s philosophical writings, with  the University of Notre Dame Press in 2021.

• "interface" between reason and faith
• Nature and grace
• Philosophy and theology
• Existence and nature of God
• The relation between providence and free will or providence and evil

• Coordinator of Ethics sections
• Department Chair of Philosophy
• President and General Editor of AMA Publications
• Vice-President of the Institut Internationale Jacques Maritain

• Thomism and Freedom (essays from the so-named 2021 AMA conference, co-edited with former AMA President James Hanick). [Likely date of publication, 2025.] Likely length: 250 pages.
• God is Love: Thomas Aquinas on the Being and Action of the Holy Spirit, accepted for publication by the Catholic University of America Press. [Likely date of publication, 2024.] Likely length: 300 pages.
• An Yves R. Simon Reader: The Philosopher’s Calling. Edited by me with Anthony O. Simon and John W. Carlson acknowledged. Notre Dame, Indiana: The University of Notre Dame Press, 2021. Length: 496 pages.
• What Is: Introductory Reflections on Thomistic Metaphysics. Strongsville, Ohio: Scepter Press, 2020. Length: 272 pages.
• Do Not Resist the Spirit’s Call: Francisco Marín-Sola on Sufficient Grace. Washington, D.C.: Catholic University of America Press, 2013. Length: 404 pages.
• God’s Permission of Sin: Negative or Conditioned Decree? A Defense of the Doctrine of Francisco Marín-Sola, O.P., based on the Principles of Thomas Aquinas. Fribourg, Switzerland: Academic Press Fribourg [Studia Friburgensis], 2009. Length: 537 pages.
• Freedom in the Modern World: Jacques Maritain, Yves R. Simon, Mortimer J. Adler. Editor. Notre Dame, Indiana: University of Notre Dame Press, 1989; second printing, 1990. Length: 289 pages.

• The Natural Desire to See God: The View of Thomas Aquinas”. In Restoring Ancient Beauty: The Revival of Thomistic Theology. Edited by James Keating. Washington, D.C.: American Maritain Association, 2023, 63-102. [To be excerpted in God is Love, to be published probably in 2024.]
• “What is The Philosophy of Religion?: A Thomistic Account”. In Religions 2023, 14, 253 (16 pp): February 14, 2023. (Published digitally in Prime Archives in Religions and Theology by Vide Leaf: Hyderabad, India.)
• “Yves R. Simon, Disciple of Maritain: The Idea of Fact and the Difference Between Science and Philosophy”. In Facts Are Stubborn Things: Thomistic Perspectives in the Philosophies of Nature and Science. Edited by Matthew W. Minerd. Washington, DC: American Maritain Association, 2021, 19-39. 
• “‘Un Bras d’Athlète et Une Haute Voix du Lamentateur’: Why I Love Jacques Maritain”. In The Things that Matter: Essays Inspired by the Later Work of Jacques Maritain. Edited by Heidi Geibel. Washington D.C.: American Maritain Association, 2018, 339-63.
• “Modest Reflections On The Term ‘Religious Experience’”. Open Theology, vol. 3, issue 1 (January, 2017): 360-69; published on-line by De Gruyter on July 18, 2017.
• “The Nobility of Jacques Maritain’s Witness and Work in World War II”. In Engaging the Times: The Witness of Thomism. Edited by Joshua Schulz. Washington, D.C.: American Maritain Association, 2017, 3-29.
• “The Importance of God’s Wisdom to Thomas’ Account of Nature and Grace”. In Habitus fidei—Die Überwindung der eigenen Gottloskeit: Festschrift für Richard Schenk OP zum 65 Geburtstag. Edited by Jeremiah Alberg and Daniela Köder (Hg.). Paderborn: Ferdinand Schöningh, 2016, 155-92. [To be republished in God is Love, probably in 2024.]
• “The ‘Annex’ To Maritain’s 1914 Lectures On ‘The Spirit Of Modern Philosophy’: The Role Of Germany In Modern Philosophy”. In The Wisdom of Youth: Essays Inspired by the Early Work of Jacques and Raïssa Maritain. Edited by Travis Dumsday. Washington, D.C.: American Maritain Association, 2016, 78-98.
• “Jacques Maritain and Yves R. Simon on Freedom of Choice”. In Human Nature, Contemplation, and The Political Order: Essays Inspired by Jacques Maritain's Scholasticism and Politics. Edited by Peter Karl Koritansky. Washington, D.C.: American Maritain Association, 2014, 3-18.
• “Maritain on the Natural Desire to See God: Reflections Appreciative and Critical”. In Distinctions of Being: Philosophical Approaches to Reality. Edited by Nikolaj Zunic. Washington, D.C.: American Maritain Association, 2013, 128-44. [To be republished in God is Love, probably in 2024.]