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Paul Camacho, PhD

Associate Teaching Professor of Philosophy; Associate Director of the Augustinian Institute | College of Liberal Arts and Sciences Villanova University

  • Villanova PA

Paul Camacho, PhD, is an expert on St. Augustine, the Catholic intellectual tradition and the philosophies of love and religion.

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Areas of Expertise

St. Augustine
Pope Leo XIV
Catholic Intellectual Tradition
Philosophy of Love
Philosophy of Religion
Philosophy and Literature
Philosophical Anthropology
History of Philosophy
Metaphysics
Dante
Plato

Biography

Dr. Paul Camacho is an associate teaching professor of Philosophy in Villanova's Department of Humanities and the associate director of the University's Augustinian Institute. His research centers on the relationship between love and freedom in the Western philosophical tradition, and he often writes at the intersection of philosophy, theology and literature. Regularly, Dr. Camacho teaches Humanities and Philosophy electives such as "The Problem of Love," "Wisdom, Faith and Reason" and "Augustine and Late Antiquity."

Education

Villanova University

PhD

Katholieke Universiteit Leuven

PhD (Joint)

Boston College

MA

Select Accomplishments

Junior Faculty Award for Excellence in Teaching

Awarded by Villanova University in 2020.

The Patricia and Vincent J. Trosino '62 Fellowship

Awarded by Villanova University in 2019.

Affiliations

  • American Catholic Philosophical Association
  • American Philosophical Association
  • Metaphysical Society of America
  • American Academy of Religion

Select Media Appearances

Pope Visits Africa and Calls for Peace in Algeria Against Iran War's Backdrop

Associated Press  

2026-04-13

The visit to Algeria is pastoral but also deeply personal. Leo's Augustinian religious order was inspired by the teachings of St. Augustine of Hippo, the fifth-century theological and philosophical titan of the early Christian church who was born in what is today Algeria and spent all but five years of his life there... "I don't know if I have seen a statement, a homily, an apostolic letter or exhortation that doesn't reference Augustine," said Paul Camacho, associate director of the Augustinian Institute at Villanova University, Leo's Augustinian-run alma mater outside Philadelphia.

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What to Know About Pope Leo's Voyage to Africa

The New York Times  

2026-04-13

Scholars expect Leo to emphasize Augustine's African roots, his teachings about the importance of the common good and lessons for the present. "One of the things that was happening in Augustine's life is that the so-called eternal empire was crumbling and people were afraid, they were unsettled, they were often displaced," said Paul A. Camacho, associate director of the Augustinian Institute at Villanova University in Pennsylvania, noting analogies with current global strife.

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Research Grants

Faculty Research and Development Grant

Villanova University

2019

Lilly Fellows Program Small Grant

Villanova University

2019

Veritas Faculty Research Award

Villanova University

2018

Select Academic Articles

The Weight of Love: On the Limits of Autonomy in Augustine's Confessions

Augustine and Ethics

2024

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More Than Manners: On the Significance of Courtesy in Dante's Divine Comedy

Rivista di Studi Italiani

2021

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Educating Desire: Conversion and Ascent in Dante's Purgatorio

Religions

2019

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