Daniel Zoumaya

Ph.D. Candidate

Ave Maria, Florida

Education

B.A. Ave Maria University, Politics and Theology, 2018

M.A. Hillsdale College, Politics, 2020

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“I wish to play a role in passing on the great political and philosophical tradition to future generations.”

About

As the son of a U.S. diplomat, I spent much of my childhood overseas where I learned a great deal about foreign politics and international relations. After graduating high school in Istanbul, I went to Ave Maria University for my undergraduate education. There I first seriously studied the great books, and I quickly became especially interested in studying politics, philosophy, and theology. During this time, I spent two summers working as an intern at the U.S. Embassy in Kuwait. Upon completing my B.A., with a desire to continue studying politics in light of the Western tradition, I decided to continue my education at Hillsdale. I completed an M.A. in 2020, and decided to stay for a Ph.D. I am currently working on my dissertation, which is on St. Thomas Aquinas’s natural law theory. Ultimately, I hope to teach at the college or university level. I wish to play a role in passing on the great tradition to future generations and in assisting others to pursue the truth.

Dissertation

St. Thomas Aquinas on the Knowability of the Natural Law and How the Problem of Imperfect Knowledge of the Natural Law Can be Remedied (in progress)

Languages

Latin

Italian

Research Interests

Thomistic natural law

Catholic political thought and Catholic social teaching

This history of political philosophy

The American political tradition

International relations

Conference Presentations

"St. Thomas Aquinas on the Knowability of the Natural Law." The Eleventh International Thomistic Congress, Pontifical University of Saint Thomas Aquinas (Angelicum), Rome, Italy, September 2022.

"Faith, Reason, and Knowing the Natural Law." Thomistic Summer Conference: Faith and Reason, Thomas Aquinas College, Santa Paula, CA, June 2022.

“Aquinas on Vicious Customs, the Natural Law, and Human Law." The Association of Core Texts and Courses Conference, University of Notre Dame, South Bend, IN, April 2022.

"Natural Law, Justice, the Common Good, and Love in Benedict XVI’s Deus Caritas Est." Society for Catholic Social Scientists Meeting-Conference, Franciscan University of Steubenville, Steubenville, OH, October 2021.

"Aquinas, Locke, and Lewis on Natural Law and Tyranny." Association for Core Texts and Courses, Online, April 2021.