The Thomistic Institute

Fr. Philip-Neri Reese argues that while grimdark fantasy (exemplified by George R. R. Martin) can be just as true artistically as Tolkien-style classic fantasy, it is necessarily less good in the fullest Thomistic sense because it structurally valorizes nihilism and hopelessness rather than ordering the imagination toward God and real moral hope.This lecture was given on October 16th, 2025, at University of Edinburgh.For more information on upcoming events, visit us at thomisticinstitute.org/upcoming-events.About the Speakers:Fr. Philip-Neri Reese is a Dominican friar of the Province of St Joseph and a Professor of Philosophy at the Pontifical University of St.Thomas (Angelicum) in Rome. He is also the principal investigator for the Angelicum Thomistic Institute’s new Project on Philosophy and the Thomistic Tradition. He received his Licentiate in Philosophy from the Catholic University of America in 2015 and his Doctorate in Philosophy from the University of Notre Dame in 2022. From 2015-2017 he taught philo