The Josias Podcast

Restlessly seek power after power ceasing only in death, or just try to be a little crueler every day? Wherein the gang flows along the surface of life’s path as they please; unleash Newman’s critique of political liberalism; ponder what it means for liberal education that Basil and Julian were fellow-students at the schools of Athens; decry the shortcomings and superficialities of great books educations; and ask whether Christians can be gentlemen in the end. All this and much more! Bibliography for pts 1 & 2: Susannah Black, “On Presley Progressivism“ Patrick Deneen, “A Catholic Showdown Worth Watching,” The American Conservative (2014) Patrick Deneen, Why Liberalism Failed (Yale, 2016) Ryszard Legutko, The Demon in Democracy (Encounter, 2016) Thomas Hobbes, The Leviathan [1651], (Hackett, 1994) The Complete Essays of Montaigne, ed. Donald Frame (Stanford, 1958) John Henry Newman, The Idea of a University [1852], ed. Martin Svaglic (Notre Dame, 1984) John Henry Newman, Apologia Pro Vita Sua [1864], ed. Ian Ker (Penguin, 1994) John Henry Newman, “Biglietto Speech” (1879) John Rawls, Political Liberalism [1993], (Columbia, 2005) Richard Rorty, Contingency, Irony, and Solidarity (Cambridge, 1989) Gabriel Sanchez, “Illiberal Catholicism One Year On,” Front Porch Republic (2015) Judith Shklar, Ordinary Vices (Harvard, 1984) Felix de St. Vincent, “Four Catholic Political Postures,” The Josias (2017) Edmund Waldstein, “Contrasting Concepts of Freedom,” The Josias (2016) If you have questions or comments, please send them to [email protected]. We’d love the feedback. P.S. Podcast production is not free—if you would like to help us out or show your support for The Josias, we now have a Patreon page where you can set up a one-time or recurring donation in any amount. Even $1 a month would be awesome. Click here for more.

  The philosophers have only interpreted liberals in various ways. The point, however, is to own them. Wherein liberalism is said in many ways, and revealed in Strauss’s war on the Redemptorists, and whether or not the Abbot of Heiligenkreuz should have the power of life or death over local peasants. The hosts are joined by Felix de St Vincent, for a rousing discussion over what liberalism is, when it began, and whether it is necessary to be “cruel to be kind, in the right measure.” Stay tuned for part 2 where we determine whether opposing liberalism means embracing cruelty, discuss Cardinal Newman’s definition of a gentleman, and much more. If you have questions or comments, please send them to [email protected]. We’d love the feedback. P.S. Podcast production is not free—if you would like to help us out or show your support for The Josias, we now have a Patreon page where you can set up a one-time or recurring donation in any amount. Even $1 a month would be awesome. Click here for more.

Building off our previous conversation, this episode (iTunes, Google Play) takes the question of nature and natural ends more into the modern era. What’s going on with natural order in the work of modern philosophers like Descartes, Hume, and Kant? What should we think about all of this? What does Pope Francis say? We promise it won’t put you to sleep, unless you’re trying to fall asleep. If you have questions or comments, please send them to [email protected]. We’d love the feedback. P.S. Podcast production is not free—if you would like to help us out or show your support for The Josias, we now have a Patreon page where you can set up a one-time or recurring donation in any amount. Even $1 a month would be awesome. Click here for more.  

Do rocks have purpose? Are they essentially headed somewhere? What about plants? Humans? The stars? In part one of this episode (iTunes, Google Play) we touch on a bunch of questions related to the idea that the universe is ordered and things have intrinsic ends. The episode kicks off with some awesome music taken from the film Koyaanisqatsi, and continues with a riveting discussion of Aristotle, celestial bodies, and the implications of the idea of intrinsic ends for our worldview at large. If you have questions or comments, please send them to [email protected]. We’d love the feedback. P.S. Podcast production is not free—if you would like to help us out or show your support for The Josias, we now have a Patreon page where you can set up a one-time or recurring donation in any amount. Even $1 a month would be awesome. Click here for more.  

What does it mean for something to be someone’s “right”? What is “a right”? Turns out “right” and “law” are closer in meaning than you might think. Joined by a guest, in this episode (iTunes, Google Play) we cover the main points of classical and modern rights theory. Along the way we’ll talk about Spanish painters, Austrian democracy, and what to do when a mob of townspeople destroys your property. If you have questions or comments, please send them to [email protected]. We’d love the feedback. P.S. Podcast production is not free—if you would like to help us out or show your support for The Josias, we now have a Patreon page where you can set up a one-time or recurring donation in any amount. Even $1 a month would be awesome. Click here for more.  

Antiliberalism? Illiberalism? Crypto-neo-facsco-socialist-theocracy? In this episode (iTunes, Google Play), we discuss a variety of jargon terms used to describe different schools of Catholic political thought. And we talk about Freemasons. And Mozart. And Sicilian uprisings. And many other things. We had so much fun we just kept going for 90 minutes, so pace yourself, dear listener. Lots of goodness ahead.

“The Common Good” is a bland, empty phrase that gets tossed around a lot. In our inaugural podcast, ( iTunes) the editors of The Josias are here to take back The Common Good and give it some substance. Along the way we’ll encounter some Nazis, do battle with unnamed French Thomists, and record and delete an entire 12 minute segment about Schubert.