Naked Without Shame: Identity, Desire, Freedom, and the Meaning of the Body - Dr. Robert McNamara

Dr. Robert McNamara explains how the physical body is a revelatory book of our identity, arguing that we find true freedom and fulfillment by understanding our existence as a gift meant for communion.

This lecture was given on September 29th, 2026, at Queen's University Belfast.

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About the Speaker:

Dr. Robert McNamara is lecturer in philosophy and department head at St. Patrick’s Pontifical University, Ireland, adjunct professor of philosophy at Franciscan University of Steubenville, USA, while also tutoring periodically at the ITI Catholic University, Austria, and the Maryvale Institute, England. Robert is an associate series editor of Edith Stein Studies, an associate scholar of the Hildebrand Project, a research fellow at the Institute for the Study of Man and Woman, and a founding member of the Aquinas Institute of Ireland (currently suspended). Having studied physics, computing, philosophy, and theology, Robert brings a multidisciplinary approach to his work while exploring anthropological and metaphysical themes in ancient, medieval, and phenomenological thinkers, with a defined focus on philosophical personalism in the Christian tradition. He currently resides in Carlow, Ireland, with his wife, Caroline, and their five children.

Keywords: Theology Of The Body, Catholic Anthropology, Philosophical Anthropology, Human Identity, Soul Body Composite, Marriage, Sacraments, John Paul II, Vocation, Self-Gift, Creation, Freedom