In this episode, we welcome back Dr. Joshua Mitchell to discuss his book Plato’s Fable: On the Mortal Condition in Shadowy Times. What is Plato’s Republic, and why does it matter? What is “the Good”, and why is philosophy “bound up with things divine”? How and why does Plato connect the condition of the soul with the condition of the city? Dr. Mitchell takes us through highlights from this foundational text for philosophy, Western Civilization – and one of the more influential extra-biblical texts for Christians. From the mimetic aspect of life, to the purpose of stories to aid the soul, to the embracing of death for new life – Plato’s text can aid even modern man in recognizing the problems inherent in man’s mortal condition, the dangers and necessities of evaluating the traditions of our fathers, the absolute need for the Divine gift, and to evaluate the Fable of Liberalism that informs much of the politics of our own time. Join us as Dr. Mitchell takes us through the religious awakening of our time often masquerading as “secularism”, the necessity of Biblical truth to correct the incomplete religion most wrongly identify with Karl Marx, as well as the dangers inherent in Right or Left embracing either Nietzsche or Thrasymachus. Listen in as we see the lessons and wisdom we can learn from Socrates, as well as the salvation and sanctification we need from Christ Jesus – both as embodied individuals and in our body politic.

Book: Plato’s Fable: On the Mortal Condition in Shadowy Times

Plato’s Republic: here, here or here

Some other resources by Dr. Mitchell:

Video Essay – Identity Politics: Guilt and Scapegoat

American Awakening: Identity Politics and Other Afflictions of Our Time

- Please check out our previous interview here

The Fragility of Freedom: Tocqueville on Religion, Democracy and the American Future

Tocqueville in Arabia: The Anxieties of the Democratic Age

Not By Reason Alone: Religion, History and Identity in Early Modern Thought

Other resources:

Confessions; The City of God by Saint Augustine

On the Incarnation by Athanasius

The Institutes of the Christian Religion by John Calvin

Democracy in America by Alexis de Tocqueville

Gravity and Grace by Simone Weil

Socrates by Paul Johnson